Macro lens for D3200?

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AggieDiver

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Looking into adding a macro lens to my wife's D3200 rig for her birthday. I have been looking at lots of options, but keep coming back to the Nikon 60mm. Anybody using this lens on a DX format and have any comments or thoughts? Considered something like the Nikon 85 or 105 but have been seeing some reviewers commenting on very slow autofocus in low light conditions. What other lenses should I be considering in the <$600 range?
 
AF-S 60 mm. VR Macro or AF-S 105 mm. VR Macro + good focusing light will make your life easier.
 
We have a Fisheye Fix Neo Mini 1000 for a focus light, so I think we are good there. I currently have a 8" dome on that we are using with our WA. Any advantage or disadvantage in using the same dome with the 60mm? Or should I consider a flat port for it?
 
Looking into adding a macro lens to my wife's D3200 rig for her birthday. I have been looking at lots of options, but keep coming back to the Nikon 60mm. Anybody using this lens on a DX format and have any comments or thoughts? Considered something like the Nikon 85 or 105 but have been seeing some reviewers commenting on very slow autofocus in low light conditions. What other lenses should I be considering in the <$600 range?
I think you will be disappointed with the 60mm. To use it for macro your subject will only be around 3" in front of the lense
 
I like the 60mm, especially on a crop sensor camera. Much easier to learn focus techniques and much more forgiving in terms of DOF. Yes, you will need to be closer than with a 105, but an effective 90mm lens is a nice sweet spot for most fish pictures. The 60mm is also nicer in lower vis situations. Plus, the housing setup just feels more manageable - topside and UW. I have found the 60mm lens to be very useful on a FF sensor as well, as it allows greater flexibility in shooting larger fish (angelfish, porgies, parrotfish, etc.) where you end up with facial portraits with a 105.

If your goal is true macro photography - small stuff - then, yes, the 105 is the lens to go after.

You should use either lens behind a flat port.
 
I like the 60mm, especially on a crop sensor camera. Much easier to learn focus techniques and much more forgiving in terms of DOF. Yes, you will need to be closer than with a 105, but an effective 90mm lens is a nice sweet spot for most fish pictures. The 60mm is also nicer in lower vis situations. Plus, the housing setup just feels more manageable - topside and UW. I have found the 60mm lens to be very useful on a FF sensor as well, as it allows greater flexibility in shooting larger fish (angelfish, porgies, parrotfish, etc.) where you end up with facial portraits with a 105.

If your goal is true macro photography - small stuff - then, yes, the 105 is the lens to go after.

You should use either lens behind a flat port.

My thoughts exactly. I find the 60 a very versatile lens, although not "super-macroey". I added a +5 wet diopter and the combination is really useful. The 105 is really nice too, but as Wetlens pointed out, it's more challenging to use and I wouldn't call it a beginners lens. The 60 (or 85 as they are very similar) is probably my "go-to" warm water lens. Plus, you can giver her the diopter for Christmas... See, shopping is done!

This shots were all taken with the 60, or the 60 plus diopter in the case of the hermit crab face...

Reef Shark Final DSC_9247 sm ©.jpg

Stumpy © -6322.jpg

Christmas Tree on Polyps © DSC_5825 Resized.jpg

Hermit face.jpg
 
I have the Nikon 60 macro and the Nikon 105 macro. I have used them on both full frame and crop sensor cameras.

As stated above, if you want true macro with the 60 you have to get really close. You have to get so close that getting the subject lit by your strobes is tough. Also anything that might move will move. You can help it with a subsea wet lens. It is a nice versatile lens. It focuses very fast. It has superb optics. It is the only lens I use on night dives.

The 105 macro is the one to get for true macro. You have some standoff distance with this lens. It has a pretty narrow depth of field but that can result in dramatic bokeh. It is also a nice lens for shooting small, active and wary fish. Because it is actually a short telephoto, the lens can hunt a bit in auto focus which is understandable. It also has great optics. it is a more specialized lens than the 60. A subsea wet lens works nicely with it on a crop sensor camera.

i tend to use the 60 mm lens more than any other especially on a full frame.

Now you could get a 1.4 teleconverter and a suitable extender ring for you port and use it with either lens.
 
Thanks for the helpful ideas and advice! I should have clarified that while we are looking for a "macro" type lens, we are not necessarily wanting to do true 1:1 macro all the time with it. We are more looking for a lens that will give us good sharp clean focus at macro distances, but that will also allow us to shoot more general fish portrait and other shots. The WA we are using under the dome takes great shots and we have been very happy with it. But where it fails slightly is on the focus sharpness when trying to shoot very small subjects...which is what I would expect trying to do that with a WA lens. So we are just looking for a lens to use on dives where we know we will likely have more of those kinds of subjects and fewer opportunities for the WA. It sounds like the 60 is the way to go for that and that maybe the 105 would be too limiting in the other direction. Thanks again for the responses!
 
I would not shoot macro lens behind a 8" dome. Get the flat port and focus gear so you can use manual focus, if available (and you want the ability to do that). This was shot w/the 60mm micro on a D7000 ... its a stellar lens (I was quite close, but nudibranchs don't move quickly)


Nudibranch - Chromodoris willani by James R, on Flickr
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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