What is AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED lens for?

[daredevil123]

@everyone. Thanks.
@daredevil like at crowded cc events lor. Got a part time job for a cc mah so I'm trying to choose a fast lens
@bigpond yeah and im sure u cook Maggie noodles in the body too ryte?

Macro lenses are by nature very slow focusing lenses. Why? because it is supposed to take very close up pictures, so focus has to be accurate when focusing on a very near object, meaning it has a very wide range of focus distance to cover and do it on a longer turn to allow for finer tuning of exact focal point. How does that translate to shooting events? You may miss a lot of moments because AF is slow. and you will be very annoyed when the focus start from close focusing and move to infinity in a few seconds... by the time you acquire focus, the moment is gone.

And F2.8 is not really that fast. Any cheap Tamron 17-50 or Tamron 28-75 can do better than the 60/2.8 for events, giving you the same aperture. If you want faster, go for 35/1.8 or 50/1.8. If you want even more low light performance, go for the F1.4 lenses.

 

[Fudgecakes]

But the 50mm lenses seem abit tight fittingfor my d5000

 

[rasdeep]

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/60mm-afs.htm
read the part about AutoFocus.. There is no limiter switch on this new lens, which is a shame

what do you mean by 50mm lenses seem tight fitting?

 

[daredevil123]

But the 50mm lenses seem abit tight fittingfor my d5000

If by "tight", you mean the angle of view... 60mm is even tighter.

If by "tight" you mean physically tight... mount and dismount the lens a few times and it will loosen up a little. By the way, tight is good.

You should really brush up your basics. If there is no expectation for your CC shoot, then just have fun there and learn. If the organizers are expecting some good pictures, and you are not confident, you should tell them so now.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

TS, is the lighting condition expected to be bad during this CC event?
If it's during the day, and the place is lit by daylight (even though not direct), there should not be much issue with using kit lens 18-55.

Go try it out once and gain some experience. After that you'll likely know if such focal length is suitable, and if the max aperture is sufficient.

 

[Fudgecakes]

As in the mount can't even turn when I tried at the shop. the Max aperture was too small in that indoors environment. I tried before

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

I'm guessing you answered 2 or 3 posts in a single post without reference to the appropriate one. A bit confusing

Could not turn the lens to lock it in position? Sounds very strange. A bit stiff, I can imagine, but should still be able to turn. Did you mistakenly try to mount a Canon lens onto a Nikon body? Or perhaps you did not push the lens fully against the mount before turning.

So it seems you have tried to photograph a similar CC event and were not successful with using the 18-55 lens.
Probably a flash and/or a fast zoom would be beneficial then.

As in the mount can't even turn when I tried at the shop. the Max aperture was too small in that indoors environment. I tried before

 

[bruggink]

But the 50mm lenses seem abit tight fittingfor my d5000

When you don't understand bokeh, don't understand what the AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED lens is used for and are still thinking of a 60mm lens when you said 50mm lens is tight, I seriously don't know how you can shoot the cc events. No offence but I think you need to do a lot more online research about digital photography on your own. Anything that you come across that you don't understand, then you post your questions here.

 

[Fudgecakes]

I didn't. It came out of a nikon box. And the guy was struggling to force the lens to turn and I just stopped him

If finding all these info was that easy I won't be here yes?

 

[nickzkcin]

I didn't. It came out of a nikon box. And the guy was struggling to force the lens to turn and I just stopped him

If finding all these info was that easy I won't be here yes?

It is easy. All the information that we have provided you is readily available on the internet. Nikon's F-mount is universal(post-AIs) and can be fit on any of their DSLR range. If the lens mount tight on your camera body, 1) your mount is defective. 2) the lens is defective. 3) camera assistant and you are both defective.

the 60mm is generally for product shoots. like DD123 said above, brush up on your basics. I sure hope you aren't shooting at 'Auto' too.

 

[bigpond]

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/60mm-afs.htm
read the part about AutoFocus.. There is no limiter switch on this new lens, which is a shame

Ah, the AFS 60 micro is one of may favourite Nikon lenses, I feel compelled to defend it on this point.

In general, I agree that micro (or macro) lenses focus slowly. But not this AFS 60/2.8. I have used it as a portrait lens (both DX and FX) on numerous ocassions and do not find its AF speed lacking at all. The AF is accurate and fast enough. Not blazing fast like the pro f2.8 lenses but fast enough. In actual use (eg for portraiture) you will NOT be going from 2 inches to 10 feet, and back, all the time! So I humbly disagree with the view that Nikon should have put in a focus limiter on this lens.

Anyway the alternatives are not known for blazing AF speed either, ie, the likes of the AFS 50/1.4 of AFS 50/1.8.

Apart from the vignetting in FX, this lens has few weaknesses.

 

[kero89]

Ah, the AFS 60 micro is one of may favourite Nikon lenses, I feel compelled to defend it on this point.

In general, I agree that micro (or macro) lenses focus slowly. But not this AFS 60/2.8. I have used it as a portrait lens (both DX and FX) on numerous ocassions and do not find its AF speed lacking at all. The AF is accurate and fast enough. Not blazing fast like the pro f2.8 lenses but fast enough. In actual use (eg for portraiture) you will NOT be going from 2 inches to 10 feet, and back, all the time! So I humbly disagree with the view that Nikon should have put in a focus limiter on this lens.

Anyway the alternatives are not known for blazing AF speed either, ie, the likes of the AFS 50/1.4 of AFS 50/1.8.

Apart from the vignetting in FX, this lens has few weaknesses.

U get 1 vote from me. Afs 60mm is a speed demon. Likewise for afs 105mm. However, afs 85/40mm speed is almost blood boiling...

 

[rasdeep]

Ah, the AFS 60 micro is one of may favourite Nikon lenses, I feel compelled to defend it on this point.

In general, I agree that micro (or macro) lenses focus slowly. But not this AFS 60/2.8. I have used it as a portrait lens (both DX and FX) on numerous ocassions and do not find its AF speed lacking at all. The AF is accurate and fast enough. Not blazing fast like the pro f2.8 lenses but fast enough. In actual use (eg for portraiture) you will NOT be going from 2 inches to 10 feet, and back, all the time! So I humbly disagree with the view that Nikon should have put in a focus limiter on this lens.

Anyway the alternatives are not known for blazing AF speed either, ie, the likes of the AFS 50/1.4 of AFS 50/1.8.

Apart from the vignetting in FX, this lens has few weaknesses.

I do not think AF speed is the issue. There are reasons why the limiter switch is there, look at the 105mm micro vr. If you do not know why, i suggest you search, in fact the reasons are in the webpage i linked.

 

[bigpond]

I do not think AF speed is the issue. There are reasons why the limiter switch is there, look at the 105mm micro vr. If you do not know why, i suggest you search, in fact the reasons are in the webpage i linked.

As i mentioned, the lack of a focus limiter switch is not an issue in practice. (how often do you shoot spiders one moment and portraits the next instance?)

 

[nickzkcin]

As i mentioned, the lack of a focus limiter switch is not an issue in practice. (how often do you shoot spiders one moment and portraits the next instance?)

what if you're taking portraits... of the spiders??

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

edit: yes i'm being dumb. don't give a serious reply. thanks.

 

[Astroben]

TS, here's the link that could kickstart your way to more understanding on digital photography.
Hope it helps.
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/glossary/

Like the rest said, 60mm has too narrow field of view on events.
An example in short:
60mm - captures 1-2person, portrait shot
18mm - captures many ppl, group shot

If you like best of both worlds 18-55mm kit lens should do the job.
Not enough ambient lights in CC? Getting a flash is more appropriate.

 

[catchlights]

to my understanding, CC won't pay for any event shoots unless the event is grace by MPs, and they usually hire pro photographers, and other ad hoc photographers like uncle Bob or autie Susie are not being paid.
maybe now the time are so bad the CC decide to go cost cutting, instead of hire a pro for one event, now can hire a few weekend worriers for a month.


anyway to TS, you need a flash to shoot events, all they want is sharp sharp clear clear photos, if not print on news letter will be very muddy, an entry DSLR with kit lens plus hot shoe flash is what you need.
you see people shooting with prime lenses, but you may not know they maybe shooting at ISO 6400 and above with the pro bodies.
trust me, the MPs see your set up will know whether you can or can not swim, they are surrounded by so many photographers each day.

 

[Fudgecakes]

The cc is willing to pay $80

 

[daredevil123]

As i mentioned, the lack of a focus limiter switch is not an issue in practice. (how often do you shoot spiders one moment and portraits the next instance?)

Actually, TS did mention he intends to use it to shoot an event... not just simple portraiture.

 

[catchlights]

The cc is willing to pay $80

not too bad for 15year old student, good to know that.

hope you are not getting this for the $80 shoot, you need many many many of this kind of shoots to make back the money.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/thre...AF-S-DX-17-55mm-f-2.8G-IF-ED-and-nikon-sb-700