Nikon Lens Recommendation?

[Iguanasan]

A friend of mine has a Nikon D90 and finds he's not getting enough detail in his flower shots. He wants to take shots like this: Close Up Flower | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/uersel/1170793513/)

My first instinct is to suggest the Nikon version of the nifty fifty but I was wondering if any of the Nikon shooters have any suggestions?

[Marko]

What lens is he using now?

[Bucky]

A budget would also help.

My first gut would be the 60mm 2.8 micro. It is an incredibly sharp lens.

[Marko]

I was gonna suggest the 105mm 2.8 Micro, but bucky is right - budget is key here. The 105 is around 800. (New) plus tax. in canada

[Barefoot]

My first gut would be the 60mm 2.8 micro. It is an incredibly sharp lens.

I have the 60mm 2.8 and it is sharp as a tack. It's great for botanical work but not so much for insects or anything else thats scared away easily because you have to get so close to your subject for true 1:1 representation. It also serves as a fairly good portraiture lens on a crop sensor. It will auto focus on the D90.

I

[Iguanasan]

I'll suggest both of these, however, he said that he's only looking to spend a couple of hundred dollars. He's not a photographer as much as he is a gardener I think. :) He's currently shooting with the 18-105.

[Marko]

He's going to need to give up coin to get a good tool.
Tokina 100 - is about 5 hundred Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D Macro ATXAFM100PRON B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/393446-REG/Tokina_ATXAF100PRON_100mm_f_2_8_AT_X_M100.html) but I have not used it.
Maybe he can find it used....

[Bambi]

or if he's more of a gardener as you say, perhaps he'd be better off with a nice p&s for close ups

[Barefoot]

Maybe he could plan ahead for the bloom and rent a really nice one for a few days. That way he could try a few out and see which one suites his needs best. Three days usually goes for less than $100 at most rental spots and they have used ones for sale sometimes. A good place to look is borrowlenses.com (http://www.borrowlenses.com/category/nikon?wm_lpID=31744585&wm_ctID=372&wm_kwID=19378087&wm_mtID=1&wm_content=0&wm_g_crID=7741239166&wm_g_kw=borrowlenses&wm_g_pcmt=&wm_g_cnt=0&gclid=CM_-svDJ4LQCFQiqnQodrFEAAw&wm_kw=borrowlenses&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=nikon+lenses+%26+camera+bodies&utm_campaign=borrowlenses%2Ecom+%2D+brand+terms&wm_sd=1)

[QuietOne]

They're nowhere as sharp as a macro, but he could always go for a set of close-up filters. They'd be as sharp as the example you linked to. I see them used on KEH for $40 on a regular basis. I once saw a set of B+Ws, but didn't move fast enough. Otherwise, Barefoot's idea of renting and seeing what he wants badly enough sounds like a good idea.

[JAS_Photo]

If taking closeups of flowers on a tripod is what he is doing, he could look for an older second hand 105mm micro. You have to manually focus anyway, so it does not matter if it has auto focus or not in this case and he may be able to find a decent lens for cheap.

[JustinRyan215]

Does Nikon make a reversing ring for any of their lenses? If there is one compatible with the lens he is using, that may be the most "budget conscious" way to go......

Justin

[Barefoot]

I'm not entirely sure that the photo used as an example was made with a macro lens to begin with. Maybe a cropped shot using a telephoto? With any of the macros I'm familiar with the DOF would be shallow somewhere even stopped all the way down without some stacking software.

[Iguanasan]

He said. "Thank you, that helps." from the comments people left and I asked him to let me know what he ends up doing. As for the sample, that was just some random shot I used as an example and he thought it was close to the type of stuff he wanted to photograph.