Good Macro Lens for Nikon D3300?

[AVTrout]

I would love to get a macro lens for my Nikon D3300 so that I can take close up detailed pics of my beads. I have researched and come up with 2, but one is over $500 and the other over $800! There has to be a better option. Does anyone have advice to steer me in the right direction?

[SnowFox]

Perhaps something like a 70-300 zoom would work well enough. The Nikon one might not be able to focus close enough, but some of the third party ones could be better. They aren't 1:1 'true macro' but might be worth trying. I've got both the 70-300 and the 105 macro, I'll see if I can get some shots later tonight and see how they work (I've been meaning to get my photo setup going anyways )

Another option (I've never tried) is a close up lens on the front of your existing lens.

[AVTrout]

Thanks, Brittany! I'll look into all 3 of those lens suggestions.

[SnowFox]

Let's see if this works

105mm Macro:






This one is the closest focus I could get on the 105mm:


And this one is the 70-300mm zoom (pretty much closest focus on this lens):



The macro focuses to 1ft, while the zoom only goes to a minimum focus of 5ft, which is why the perspective changed as I had to back up to get focus for the last picture. I also had to stop down a lot to get focus over the whole bead with the macro (means long exposure and steady tripod).

Everything was a bit wacky as I was using the lenses on a Sony body with an adapter that wouldn't do auto exposure or focus (need to read the manual on that still).

Anyhow, unless you like long working distances, look for a macro-ish lens with close focus and 1:1 (if you can get it) or 1:2 or 1:4 magnification. I'm sure the Sigmas, Tamrons, etc. can do something like that for cheaper.

Hope you're not more confused than you started Cheers!