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Macro Lenses and other Nikon questions

B

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Hi,

About to order a D800e with lenses for backup to our main Leaf Aptus II-8 setup we use. Shooting ancient documents and books. On the medium format set up we are using (in FF terms) a 60mm and 95mm equivelent lenses all on a copy stand. We need lenses of approximately those focal lengths, Macro lenses and as flat field as possible. Also need a 35mm equivelent lens for very occasional use. These lenses need to be AF (sorry zeiss), sharp on a D800e's amount of pixels and the best quality. The lenses will be stopped down to approx f11 for various technical reasons. Similar filter thread sizes would be nice but not essential.

I'm a canon shooter out of the studio so I don't know anything about Nikon I'm afraid. What else do I need to shoot tethered with a Nikon D800e to Capture One? Cables, software, etc? Do I need a driver for the camera if using C1? Is thethering reliable usually or do I need specific express cards or other cards or mains power, etc like I need with the leaf? I need tethered live view, would I need Nikon software for this?

Many thanks!
 
Last edited:
BSEH

BSEH

New member
Hmm no reply?

try look this, maybe non use macro lenses on D800 they just crop :)

fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1111952
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Ben Rubinstein said:
Hi,

About to order a D800e with lenses for backup to our main Leaf Aptus II-8 setup we use. Shooting ancient documents and books. On the medium format set up we are using (in FF terms) a 60mm and 95mm equivelent lenses all on a copy stand. We need lenses of approximately those focal lengths, Macro lenses and as flat field as possible. Also need a 35mm equivelent lens for very occasional use. These lenses need to be AF (sorry zeiss), sharp on a D800e's amount of pixels and the best quality. The lenses will be stopped down to approx f11 for various technical reasons. Similar filter thread sizes would be nice but not essential.

Many thanks!
Click to expand...
Ben, This isn't a question but a conversation unto yourself. Are you kidding that you can not look up the current catalog and get the lenses that you need? :confused:
 
D

D&A

Well-known member
Hi Ben,

I'm was just out the door and caught a glimpse of your post and although at the moment my response won't be anything that respembles a complete and comprehensive response, I'll pass along one or two things, simply to get the ball rolling. Regarding macro (micro) lenses for the Nikon system, most of the current Nikon Af macro's are exceptionally good as general macro's and one in particular I've used extensively for seriously important copy work. That was the Nikon 60mm micro. It for all intent and purposes extremely flat field for the work I had on hand. Additionally it's edge to edge sharpness on the bodies I were utilizing it on was fairly impresssive. Once you convert that focal length to the effective focal length equivilent of your medium format system, I'm not sure if it will be too wide (short). The 105 f2.8 VR is very good too as a macro but I've not used it for flat field copy work (simply as a close up macro lens) nor have I used their much older venerable 200 f4 micro lens, which is optically superb too. Another issue is the stopping down of these lenses on the D800e. I haven't tested any of these lenses on either varient of the D800, so I am not sure their best, most effective f-stop on that body, especially when it comes to macro/copy work.

There are other 3rd party macro's for the Nikon system which are excellent too...some I even prefer, but again, whether they are extremely flat field I cann't say since most of my use of these lenses were strictly for field use or in a couple of instances, setting up a system for dental applications. Anyhow, just a few basic comments off the top of my head while I had a couple of minutes to quickly jot something down.

Dave (D&A)
 
B

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Vivek said:
Ben, This isn't a question but a conversation unto yourself. Are you kidding that you can not look up the current catalog and get the lenses that you need? :confused:
Click to expand...
Of course I could but as these will be ordered from the states, I won't have a chance to get my hands on them before making the order, I need expert advice. You don't make investments like this solely from the Nikon catalog. :rolleyes:

So far it seems that the 60mm and 105mm Micro are the required lenses from my researches. Mains adaptor, cable release with extension, USB3 5m active cable for tethering, sofortbild on mac for tethering software till C1 gets the SDK and an external screen for the live view using the HDMI out from the camera as sofortbild and eventually C1 will not support tethered LV on the Nikon.

Anyone think I'm missing anything?
 
A

aboudd

New member
Consider the 85MM PC-E lens. It is not only incredibly sharp but give you the ability to shift your image.
 
U

Udo

Member
Ben,

as already was mentioned here, you can't go wrong with macro Nikkors 60 and 105mm. Offerings from Sigma and Tamron are definitely worth looking at. Check out Welcome to Photozone! for comparing those lenses.

Stopping down those lenses on a D800(E) to f11 will cause diffraction (already starts at 5.6 to 8). In this case you may want to focus stack. A good offering for such task is HeliconFocus with HeliconRemote. You get live view, automated capturing and picture stacking.

Another offering for tethered capturing with live view is Nikon CameraControlPro. Actually with USB connection but may later via wifi as well.

Sorry, almost forgot ControlMyNikon for tethered capturing.

Furthermore I'd recommend an AC/DC power supply for the camera. The USB connection for tethered shooting does not supply the camera as opposed to the Leaf firewire connection.

Good luck.

Best Regards from the Red Sea,
Udo
 
B

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Thanks guys! Much appreciated! We are getting the AC power. With flat documents, a shallower aperture shouldn't be a problem.
 
J

jagsiva

Active member
I have been looking at the 105mm (VR and AF) vs. Zeiss 100F/2 (faster). Also, Reichman on LL has great things to say about the Sigma 150mm OS.
 
ustein

ustein

Contributing Editor
>So far it seems that the 60mm and 105mm Micro

I have and like both lenses.

105mm: Cannot focus very close 30cm, Servo-AF(*) maybe not like the Canon 100mm Macro IS, VR may help sometimes

60mm: Very nice, Would like to have it with VR

(*) I use Servo-AF when i shoot handheld (e.g. flowers in wind). Object and my body both move and the Servo-AF should compensate for it.

Trying now the 3-D AF-C on the D800 and it seems to work.
 
D

D&A

Well-known member
jagsiva said:
I have been looking at the 105mm (VR and AF) vs. Zeiss 100F/2 (faster). Also, Reichman on LL has great things to say about the Sigma 150mm OS.
Click to expand...
Agree! The Sigma 150mm f2.8 (OS or even non OS model) is simply an exceptional lens both for 1:1 macro and general use. Of course this is predicated on getting a good sample.

Dave (D&A)
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
I've used Nikon macro lenses for years, they're basically the standard of the industry. The 60, the 105, and the 200 mm are all superb. On any body.

Sure a Leica or Zeiss might image a bit differently and be an interesting alternative. But this is a case where you can just go to the Nikon catalog and pick what you want.
 
Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
One other small point to toss out there --- if you use live view to focus, you get on-sensor contrast focus, which on a flat document should mean essentially perfect focus. Given that, you should easily be able to shoot at f5.6 and have more than adequate DoF.

I will redouble what has been said about the 60 micro -- if I were doing flat copy work, that would be THE lens I used. However, shorter lenses can get in the way of lighting when copying larger flatwork, so the 105 and 200 would be my goto alternatives there.
 
B

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Next question please, what small screen for use with the HDMI out for LV? Say 10" or so, maybe a bit bigger. Is there a standard screen used in the industry for this kind of thing or are people just plugging into computer screens?
 
R

ronvanderkolk

Guest
Ben Rubinstein said:
Next question please, what small screen for use with the HDMI out for LV? Say 10" or so, maybe a bit bigger. Is there a standard screen used in the industry for this kind of thing or are people just plugging into computer screens?
Click to expand...
You might want to start a new thread for this. You could use a computer screen with HDMI input if you'd want to. For video I would recommend a battery operated screen with video options like focus assist, clipping indicator, zebra and such.
 
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