Nikon D3500 macro lens

[Melman Giraffe]

Hi All

My son has a D3500 DSLR and would like a macro lens for his birthday. Is anyone able to point me in the right direction? Budget around £200 - £250

Many thanks

[Gad-Westy]

I bought my mum a Nikon 85mm 3.5 VR for this kind of money.

Looked at loads of options. The tamron and sigma 90 and 105's are worth a look but much bigger and heavier which would not have suited her at all. VR is useful for her but maybe not if a tripod is to be used.

[Melman Giraffe]

thanks for the info

is this the Lens?

https://www.parkcameras.com/p/SH-87-1638/used-niko...

[toohuge]

No...

You'll be looking for a 'micro' lens (micro is Nikon's way of saying macro)

At park cameras these 2 will be ok:
https://www.parkcameras.com/p/3240092G/nikon-lense...

https://www.parkcameras.com/p/3240145L/nikon-lense...

[8bit]

I've got the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro, I love it. At that focal length on a crop sensor you'll effectively have 157.5mm focal length. I'm no macro fiend so not sure what they reckon is the best focal length but certainly it does mean you have plenty of scope to get really close or stay back a bit, for things like bugs etc. which can help. I used it on my old D5100 which is also a crop. It has autofocus and image stabilisation too so I use it fairly often just as a long, fast prime lens. Works great in that scenario too, capable of very, very sharp images.

[David_M]

Melman Giraffe said:

thanks for the info

is this the Lens?

https://www.parkcameras.com/p/SH-87-1638/used-niko...

No - misleadingly a lot of "ordinary" lenses are labelled macro as well.

This one is a proper macro lens:
https://www.parkcameras.com/p/SH-57-0015/used-niko...

As a rule, true macro lenses are single focal length not zooms.

I have bought a few used items from Park and have always found their prices very good and the condition of the equipment very good (and accurately described).

[Melman Giraffe]

Thanks im glad i checked, could have been a costly mistake and a disappointed 14yr old

[Simpo Two]

Gad-Westy said:

I bought my mum a Nikon 85mm 3.5 VR for this kind of money.

It's this one: https://tinyurl.com/y8vu9pvq

£399 however.

A true macro lens is 1:1, and Nikon call them 'micro' so there's no confusion.

Most are f2.8, main difference is focal length ( = working distance) and AF-S vs AF-D. Former is preferable.

[Gad-Westy]

Simpo Two said:

Gad-Westy said:

I bought my mum a Nikon 85mm 3.5 VR for this kind of money.

It's this one: https://tinyurl.com/y8vu9pvq

£399 however.

A true macro lens is 1:1, and Nikon call them 'micro' so there's no confusion.

Most are f2.8, main difference is focal length ( = working distance) and AF-S vs AF-D. Former is preferable.

Yeah, that's the badger. Was more like £250 when I bought one though.

Some things for OP to consider.

Longer length helps in terms of not scaring bugs away and not blocking light on your subject. Longer lenses tend to get bigger, heavier and more expensive though. Trade off as ever.

I personally think 40mm is way too short for 'traditional macro'. 60mm probably okay on crop sensor as per OP.

D3500 doesn't have it's own focus motor so if it's a nikon lens, check it's AF-S if you want auto focus. Sigma probably needs to be HSM. Can't remember what Tamron designate their motorised lenses as.