I am looking for a lens with macro capability for beauty...anyone
had any experience with lenses for the S2? I was looking at the
Nikkor 105 with macro and the Sigma 105 with macro....any help
would be appreciated.
Suzette,
I'd strongly advise you to NOT buy the AF 105 Micro-Nikkor f/2.8 as a macro lens for beauty. It has a very sharp-edged,chunky-shaped, old-style lens diaphragm. It changes focal length as it focuses closer. It will make "hash" out of your out of focus backgrounds when you shoot photos of people outdoors with natural backgrounds. It has a harsh,yucky look to its images OF 3-D scenes.Sharp,yes,but the "rendition" of the lens on 3-D subjects looks pretty old-style compared to the best of what's out there now. It is in no WAY a good lens for people or beauty photography now in 2003. There are much better lenses for photographing people or animals at this focal length, like the Tamron 90 Macro or Nikkor 105 f/2 AF-Defocus Control or the Nikkor 85mm 1.4 AF-D,or even the 80-400 VR lens. All have nice,round diaphragms.
You'll want a lens that's great at f/5.6 down to f/13 too. A little bit shorter focal length than 105 might be useful (is useful). My vote does not go to the 105 Micro-Nikkor for people--it just flat out does not look good. Look for a lens with a nice, rounded diaphragm opening. This is the "new thing",and it leads to better "bokeh" as the Japanese call it.
I suspect the Simga 105 Macro has a modern-style,rounded,probably 9-bladed diaphragm. I have seen a handful of shots from the Sigma 105,and none have been of beauty of glamour subjects, and some samples have been just "good", while others have been outstandingly sharp. As in "great tele macro resolution". Problem was, the shots were in the Sigma SD-9 forum under "this thread is for the birds",and were ultra-close,frame-filling macros of exotic roosters. No real "background" to evaluate,but some of the most amazing detail rendition I have seen from a tele-macro on the web.Two people I trust swear the Sigma 105 EX-Macro is "the sharpest lens they have ever owned or shot", but they both still shoot film. I can't really tell you more.
You could do a lot better than the 105 Micro as a people lens. Look for the rounded diaphragm in whichever lens you choose. But don't drop $450 on a 105 Nikkor that looks far,far more ugly than about four or five other fine 85-105mm prime lenses from Tamron and Nikon. All I'm saying is the 105 Micro Nikkor is not designed as a people lens--Nikon and Tamron both have much better lenses for this kind of photography (beauty/portraiture/glamour).
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Happy Shooting!
Derrel
