Macro Lenses for Nikon D60 and D5000

If you'd like to get really up close and personal with your subjects, a regular old kit lens just isn't going to cut it.

The main limitation of a standard lens is something called minimum focusing distance.

With a standard lens, if you get the front glass of the lens too close to your subject (closer than the minimum focusing distance of the lens) your autofocus won't be able to make the subject appear clear.

You might even hear the focusing motor in the lens tracking back and forth: the autofocus is trying to get a lock, but isn't succeeding.

However, if you're using a specialized lens called a macro, minimum focusing distance is no problem at all - you can get your lens up close and personal with even the smallest of subjects.

If you're the owner of a Nikon digital SLR camera that does not have its own focusing motor - like the D40, D60, D3000 and D5000 - then the macro lens that you're looking for needs to have its own focusing motor. Nikon calls these types of lenses AF-S.

If you're not fond of tons of options, then you're in luck: there are three Nikon macro lenses with AF-S that you can choose from:

1. Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR
2. Nikon 60mm f/2.8G AF-S ED
3. Nikon 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR

A quick analysis: both the 85mm and 105mm have Vibration Reduction (VR) which helps you capture clearer shots when you hold the camera in your hands. Note: camera shake is especially apparent in macro shots, so this is a nice feature to have - unless you intend to use a tripod all the time.

The 60mm and the 105mm have a slightly wider maximum aperture than the 85mm (helpful for shooting hand-held in dim available light) but they also have another advantage: they're not DX lenses.

DX lenses - like the 85mm - will only work on digital SLRs with cropped sensors. If you ever decide to upgrade in the future to a full-frame digital SLR, the non-DX lens is the better option here.