VR a rather specialized tool for macro work. Some 99 percent of the time, I shoot
close-ups with my D7000 mounted on a tripod or, at the very least, on a mono-
pod, so camera vibration is not much of a concern. Indeed, subject movement is a
more serious problem, especially when shooting plant life outdoors on days plagued
with even slight breezes. Because my outdoor subjects are likely to move while I am
composing my photo, I find both VR and autofocus not very useful. I end up focus-
ing manually most of the time, too. This lens provides a little extra camera-to-
subject distance, so you’ll find it very useful, but consider the older non-G, non-
VR version, too, if you’re in the market.
■AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D IF-ED. With a price tag of about $1,300, you’d
probably want this lens only if you planned a great deal of close-up shooting at
greater distances. It focuses down to 1.6 feet, but provides enough magnification
to allow interesting close-ups of subjects that are farther away. A specialized tool for
specialized shooting.
■PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D. Priced about the same as the 200mm Micro-
Nikkor, this is a manual focus lens that offers both tilt and shift capabilities, so you
can adjust the perspective of the subject as you shoot. The tilt feature lets you “tilt”
the plane of focus, providing the illusion of greater depth-of-field (the actual DOF
is just distributed differently), while the shift capabilities make it possible to shoot
down on a subject from an angle and still maintain its correct proportions. If you
need one of these, you already know it; if you’re still wondering how you’d use one,
you probably have no need for these specialized capabilities.
You’ll also find macro lenses, macro zooms, and other close-focusing lenses available
from Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina. If you want to focus closer with a macro lens, or any
other lens, you can add an accessory called an extension tube, like the one shown in
Figure 11.16, or a bellows extension.These add-ons move the lens farther from the focal
plane, allowing it to focus more closely. Nikon and other vendors also sell add-on close-
up lenses, which look like filters, and allow lenses to focus more closely.
Chapter 11 ■Working with Lenses 377
Figure 11.16
Extension
tubes enable
any lens to
focus more
closely to the
subject.