DSLR for Electronics inspection - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dreaquil
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 11:41:43 am
content: Hi,I was wondering if any of you know what type of lens I should buy for my DSLR (Nikon D3200) in order to use it for electronics inspection (gonna hook it up to my monitor)- whethere its a telephoto lens or a macro lens? I'd preferably like to buy a telephoto lens as then i would be potentially able to use it for astrophotography but a problem im seeing is that the minimum focus distance is quite large of course.. (1.4m for a 55mm-300m lens)? Any tips or current setup specs?

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 12:07:36 pm
content: 18-55 VR suffices easily, if used properly.Old Micro-Nikkor 55s are a tad sharper, though. But harder to use.

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 12:59:00 pm
content: A couple of suggestions to meet your wants:Tamron 90MM F/2.8 Di MacroSigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG MacroSigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG MACROSigma 105mm f2.8 EX MacroNikon AF-S DX Micro-NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8GNikon AF Micro-NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8DThere are many with different prices. All I have listed are great lenses but you don't say where you live nor what price range you are looking in.

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 01:05:56 pm
content: The 18-55 VR is a really fine lens, even for close up work.I - personally - don't understand why people get autofocus macro lenses ; AF is near unusable close up anyway. So my recommendation would be to get, if any dedicated macro lens, a manual focus lens. E.g. 55/2.8, 55/3.5, 105/2.8 (all micro-nikkor). They're all super-sharp and optically very good. 55 mm is fine for electronics ; getting very close up is usually not an issue. Note that some of these (notably 55/3.5) require an additional extension tube to get to a 1:1 reproduction ratio, w/o they only go to 2:1

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 01:10:24 pm
content: Yes, for what the OP says they want to do, a good used manual focus lens will work very well. The problem, like always, is people asking for buying advice but giving no clue as to what country they are in nor how much they want to spend. It wastes everyone's time.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 01:22:10 pm
content: Don't bother buying a new lens. If you're just going to hook the camera up to a monitor, get yourself a set of extension tubes and use them with the lens (any lens) you already have.Using an extension tube with a lens means you can no longer focus at infinity, but you gain the ability to focus much closer than usual.You may not get the image quality that a dedicated macro lens would offer, but it's a whole lot cheaper. I get good results from a set of Kenko tubes and my Canon 50mm f/1.4 prime lens.

author: MatthewEveritt
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 02:05:29 pm
content: It depends on that kit you already have - if you've got midrange lens with manual control a set of bargain basement extension tubes is a very cheap way to try it out. If you have the kinds of lens which completely rely on the camera for control that becomes a lot less economical as the cost of tubes goes right up.I once had the pleasure of trying a very expensive 100mm af macro lens (Sony I think, can't really remember) and it did brilliantly at reasonably close range. Standard, low cost 'pseudo macro*' lenses are hopeless though.I have been known to inspect boards using a 75-150 zoom on about 3cm of extension tubes. Focus does nothing, but zoom control gives a decent range of focus control. That lets you vary the working distance from close inspection to just about being able to solder under it.That said, 90% of the time I find myself just holding a strong lens (wide angle in photography parlance) up to my eye and getting my head as close as possible.*once upon a time macro was taken to mean that the image on the negative was at least as large as the actual object. What I call pseudo macro was roughly defined as producing 4x3 print that was at least as large as the object. This is what the majority of 'macro' lenses actually achieve these days.

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 02:24:02 pm
content: Nomenclature fun fact: Nikon hasMicro-Nikkors (reproduction ratios inf:1up to 1:1) andMacro-Nikkors (reproduction ratios ~1:1 to1:90or something like that)

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 02:43:47 pm
content: The extension tube idea is good, if you don't mind the reduced working area between the lens and the subject. A longer focal length macro will give a really good working distance.

author: ion
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 22, 2015, 02:50:44 pm
content: As others have said, a set of extension tubes with any lens you have is a very cheap set up and I've found it to work well with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D.If you go down this route however, you should probably use the first calculator on the following link to figure out the closest focusing distance (from the sensor) for your particular combination of lens and extension tubes. With certain combinations this could end up being inside the lens, and combined with the typical razor thin DOF at high magnifications, it could be impossible to focus.http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/macro-extension-tubes-closeup.htm

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 23, 2015, 01:30:40 pm
content: Hint about use of macro lenses (including normal lenses with extension tubes or reverse mount):It is often easier to focus a macro lens by setting the lens to the desired "scale of reproduction" (reciprocal of magnification), and then shifting the camera position to focus on the object plane. One can get cheap rack-and-pinion camera mounts that allow easy motion (parallel to the lens axis) from a tripod.