New lens - Nikkor 40mm f/2.8 Micro

Not too long ago Nikon announced their new Nikkor 40mm f/2.8 micro (aka - macro) lens and I got very interested in it.

 

On a number of times I've wanted to take some closeup shots of my girls or detail shots of their outfits but the only macro I had was a 300mm Sigma lens. The problem was that it had a f/5.6 aperture at the 300mm range where it needed to be for the macro to work. That meant I had to be about 8 feet away from my subject to be able to focus. Great if taking outdoor shots insects but not so great with DDs in my room.

 

I decided to finally order the new Nikkor 40mm f/2.8 micro lens as it let's me be just a few inches form the subject and take a shot. It's not perfect for all macro shooting but it's great for what I need with my DD girls.

 

The lens came in on Thursday and my Mio helped me with it:

 

 

 

She was careful unwrapping it as she knows how much I like my photography equipment and I guess she was afraid of breaking something:

 

 

 

The lens doesn't have the highest quality materials around, it's plastic which does help keep the price under the $300 level. I was very happy with it's fast focus speed and so far it seems to be pretty sharp. I do need to spend more time with it but I'm very happy with it so far.

 

I took some test shots of Mio to try out the lens and most of all the macro functions:

 

 

 

I'm very happy with it so far. I'm hoping to get out and take some "real world - 1:1 scale" photos with it as well soon.

 

As I'm shooting with a X1.5 crop sensor Nikon D7000 camera the 40mm is actually giving me about 60mm of focal range which is closer to the classic 50mm range than my old 50mm lens gave me - which ended up being about 75mm.

 

This 40mm also includes an internal motor in the lens so the auto focus is very loud. My old 50mm relied on the camera body motor and was pretty loud.

 

Another nice thing is the feel of the focus ring has a nice little bit of resistance. It's smooth to turn but that little resistance makes it easy to make minor adjustments if you need to use manual focus. It's a small thing but yet another thing I prefer over this lens to my old 50mm.

 

 

**James

Mio is so so so so so so so cute!!!

Wow! That closeup of her eye is so friggin cool! All the different colors captured in her hair is amazing.

 

I hate you even more now.

 

 

 

Billy

That is seriously amazing!

 

I never even thought about macro photography for the DD's but now it just seems like a great idea.. The detail!!!!

I hadn't even thought about how good the 40mm would be for DDs, but it makes sense. I've been wanting a macro lens, but I just bought a full-frame camera, so the 40's definitely not an option.

I say, doll photography quite often is "3 in 1" - portrait, still life and macro at once

 

It's just physics. If You're making a headshot of a person, field of view ~40cm (vertical picture) translates to ~120cm distance with a 105mm lens equivalent.

DD is approximately 3 times smaller, so its 13cm and ~40cm. My zoom focuses only to ~38cm so I can't get closer or have to use macro lens

Thanks!!!

 

I hadn't even thought about how good the 40mm would be for DDs, but it makes sense. I've been wanting a macro lens, but I just bought a full-frame camera, so the 40's definitely not an option.

 

wow, full frame... Nice!!! I figured I'm not comfortable enough with my photography to justify going full frame so it was OK for me to get DX lenses. Plus I'm saving a few grand. haha

 

Kumi, your good with the math!!! haha I just figured I wanted to get closer. I do feel better knowing there is justification for my choice though. haha

 

**James.

I think I'm actually going to need a macro lens now. I just took my first doll pictures with the D3s, and without the crop factor it's really hard to get closely framed portraits. Maybe the 60mm would be nice.