Just Got a Nikon D80 And Need Help

My wife just suprised me with a new nikon D80 for my birthday. I am new to photography so please bear with me as I learn. The camera has a 18-135 lens is this a good to do macro work with this camera, or do I need to invest in another lens? Also if you have any pointers to help me with this new camera.

Close up lenses are a cheap way to get into macro photography, extension tubes are more expensive and lose a lot of light. If you have a 50mm lens you can buy a reversal ring to reverse the lens on the camera and get very close. Of course you have to focus and adjust aperature manually.

DaveO

Go ahead and buy a macro lense as it will be the easiest to work with as a beginner. I have used my macro to take stunning butterfly pix at the local conservatory butterfly show. I have to admit that it isn't a nikon but it was affordable at the time and has served me well over the years. I own a D80 body and am very pleased with it also. It is the camera that goes everywhere with me in case there is an opportunity to get a shot or some pix that require more resolution than a cellular phone. As a Nikon shooter since the 1980's I found the D80 to be easy to learn and use. Until recently it was my primary digital body as I have an upgrade to a D90 now. Also try to use a camera support such as a monopod or tripod for macro work as your pix will be that much sharper when shooting small objects and bugs,flowers etc. Good luck and happy shooting.

I'll have to agree with Rob here as a dedicated macro lens will be the best option in terms of features & convenience. That said, they are not exactly cheap lenses. Most any "true" macro lens (not including zoom lenses with a macro feature although there a a few dedicated macro zooms but they are very $$$) will give you good results. If you ask the question in a forum as to which one to get, you will get a broad spectrum of makes & models with everyone suggesting the lens they have. Personally, I use an older manual focus macro lens from the mid 80-s. It's a Lester A Dine 105 F2.8. It was marketed to the Dental profession back then. Unless you are going to use the lens for more than macro, don't worry about it having Vibration Reduction as that feature isn't recommended as you get closer to life size images. Auto focus isn't recommended as you get closer to life size either.The main feature you want to look for is focal length . The 55-60mm lenses are good for flowers, large insects & static subjects. 90-150 mm focal lengths are good for the aforementioned plus smaller insects as you don't have to get as close to your subjects (thereby scaring them away). 200mm lenses offer you the most working distance, but as with telephoto lenses in general, the cost goes up as the focal length increases. With your D80, older manual focus lenses will not meter with that model. That said, they don't meter with any of the consumer grade bodies (except the D7000 but is that considered a consumer grade body?)...You can get your exposure by "chimping" with these consumer bodies, that is, using the LCD & histogram to determine your exposure. It's slower, but most times macro shooting isn't "fast" anyway. All of my macro shots are done this way except for when I use either a speedlight or my ring light, which I often do as most of my macros are hand held.

You didn't specify a budget for a new lens either....If during your search you find that prices are too high for you to get a dedicated macro lens, let us know & we can lay out other options for you...