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Originally Posted by Amano
Thanks so far for the responses. After reading your replies and reading up a bit more about macro photography, I'm torn between either a Sigma 50mm +SB-600, or a longer macro lens maybe the sigma 70mm or tamron 90mm, or maybe even the original idea for the tokina 100mm. What's wrong with the Sigma 50mm autofocus? Is it just slow, or are there other problems?
I already have a tripod, so that's not a problem. But I wonder, some people I've talked to recommend multiple SB-600 or a ring flash so you can avoid unisightly shadows. At this time anything more than a single SB-600 is out of my budget, so I may just forego the light and see what I can do with natural light. Although, a speedlight is nice to have for other purposes aside from macro.... hmm..
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Mainly the Sigma 50mm has a slower autofocus than Nikon lenses. It also will go back and forth trying to decide what to focus on sometimes. For macro, you shouldn't be using autofocus anyways though so I think it's a great option. As far as having a longer one goes, it depends on what you will be shooting and how close you want to be. When I'm as close as I can go with the Sigma 50mm I'm only a couple millimeters away from the subject. With my Nikkor 105mm micro though, I am still a good distance away. If it doesn't matter to you how close you get to your subject think about what length you would like for shooting other things, because with macro lenses you can still shoot everything else. For instance, the 105 is better for portraits.
As far as lights go, I agree that if you can afford it you might as well buy an external flash because you will use it for a variety of things. Try looking at used SB 800s, I use an older one with a remote cord and it works perfectly for shooting macro as well as just about anything else you want to shoot. Used equipment will save you a good deal of money so I would check out used lenses as well.
I also suggest you try to stay away from using on camera flash as your main light. Whether you're using a ring flash unit or the built in unit doesn't matter because light coming from the direction you're shooting often creates boring photos. Or at least, it will hold you back from creating beautiful photos. This is because it usually doesn't create any shadows which gives photos a flat look.
Good luck and let us see the results!
