Hello! I've never posted here before as most of my gallery consists of poser & photoshop art, however, I've taken a recient interest in photography (thanks very much to those of you who post such inspiring photos!). I've never had a real camera before, and well, now I do. Hubby dug out his camera for me. It's an ashashi pentax k1000 and he has quite a few different lenses. I'm interested in doing some macro shoots. What kind of lense is best to use when shooting tiny objects? Of course, I'd like to get as much detail as possible. I won't go into it too much as the types of lenses that I have, but, if someone knows of a good website about lenses & their uses, I'd sure appreiceate it. A google search just brought up manufacture sites. Perhaps I'm putting in the wrong phrase :- I two 28mm, 2 50mm and a 50-200mm and some other lenses that screw on to those. Thanks in advance, and sorry for my lack of technical knowledge! Hope you guys understand my question ok, and I hope you're all having a great week! Mercy

Hi Mercytoo ! For me, the best lens is a 105 mm Macro. regards ! gerhard

Thanks Gerhard... ok, I have another dumb question now, lol... for macro shooting, do you need a lense that says macro? LOL.. I feel so stupid. I thought finding the information I want would be easy, but it seems to be eluding me! Perhaps I'll stop at the book store today ;-) Thanks again. Mercy

Hi ! i mean a really macro objektive ( zB. Nikkor 105 mm Macro, not a zoom ), not a 105 mm lens with macro. !!!!!!!!!! for macro also great is a nikon coolpix 995 digital camera, you can turn the objektive for the right position. !!!!!! :o) !!!!! regards gerhard

Thank you Gerhard :) I'd love to get a digital, but at the moment I can not afford one. I'd really like to learn how to use this cammera better for the time being :) Thanks again! Mercy

Attached Link: http://www.photo.net/macro/primer

Macro can be described as the magnification of an image on the film. For a lens to be considered a true macro lens the magnification is/must be 1:1. If the lense does not have this capabiltiy then it is not a macro lense, and will not produce true macro images. You can however still do close-up work (1:2 or 1:3) or very close to that using lenses that have a macro mode or close-up function..... many zooms have these capabilities. You will also find there are other tools available that allow you to get closer, such as bellows, extensions, etc..... Here is an excellent link to a primer on macro photography..... Oh and welcome to the forum!

Thank you very much Michelle! I certainly apprecieate the link and the welcome :)

Welcome to the Forum. The old k1000 is a highly appreciated camera by beginning photo students; inexpensive, manual controls, good quality. One of the attractive things about it is the availability of a large assortment of excellent lenses in the used market, (check out ebay, at least for prices). For close-up work, we had a thread about this a while ago. There are a couple different routes to go, each with different benefits and costs. Getting a true "macro" lens is one way, (argueably the best way). But there are also attachments that screw on either in front, or in back, of the existing lens.

Thank you Misha :) I happened to check out the page Michelle sent, and it had some excellent info. As for ebay, I do believe that's where hubby got this camera. He had one just like it when he took photography classes in college but unforutnatly it went over a cliff with him in Germany. Luckily, he was ok, but his camera wasn't so fortunate! He's helping me too, so hopefully between him & this forum I can learn to take a decent picture, lol.

Hi
A good trick for getting macro shot without a macro lens is to unscrew the lens and turn it round (so it's in reverse). To focus, move closer or further away from the subject. If your camera has a screw on mount you can get a reversal ring to attach the lens to the camera (never actually seen one so I don't know how much they cost), if the camera is bayonet mount you'll just have to hold the lens in one hand and the camera in the other.
Itd be easier with a macro lens but til you get one this will at least let you get some macro shots.

Thank you for the advice, Josh. I do have the screw in lenses, so I think I'd need one of those reversal things. But, Hubby said I could get some macro lenses soon, so, I'll wait :)