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I own or have owned the 40mm DX, 105mm FX, 70-180D FX all F-mount, 50mm Z and 105mm Z. All are good for purpose. However, the Z 105, in my opinion, provides the best overall image quality and is my go to macro lens for most purposes.. So much so that I gifted the 105 F-mount to my granddaughter, and traded in the 40mm DX. I have kept the 70-180 because I love the "character" and zoom capabilities on my D850. The 50mm Z is for the ES-2 slide/negative copying. These are my preferences. Others will have theirs.
 
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The Nikon 105Z can be manually focused, excellent autofocus for single shots, and you need the ā€autofocusā€ for Focus Shift shooting (the images are then ā€œFocus Stackedā€ in Zerene (my program of choice).
 
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Lots of great information on this. I appreciate all the responses and probably will get the Z 105 Macro. The picture below mis with Nikon Z 70-200mm 2.8. A super large crop on this one.
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Once again Thank you everyone who responded with answers and guidance. Now that we got that answer how about flash units? I have a few Nikon SB-910 or do I need one of those close up rings that mount to the lens? Any advice would be helpful.
Screenshot 2024-06-15 at 3.36.58ā€ÆPM.png
Screenshot 2024-06-15 at 3.37.33ā€ÆPM.png
 
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When it comes to flash can you consider a small flash like a Godox V350 or TT350 along with a Godox remote.
That will allow to flash to the area you prefer but that is really depending on your style of macro photography. A reflection screen is sometimes also enough to bounce light on your subject. It sure is a while since I have seen somebody using the ancient Nikon R1 system (but still performs nicely I presume).
 
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I have purchased the Nikon Z 105MC 2.8. What extension tubes do I need for this lens or close up filters to get closer? Any advice would be helpful

Thanks
 
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I have the

Sigma 50mm F2.8 (great for flowers & mushrooms)
Nikon 105mm F2.8 F-Mount (love it)
Sigma 150mm F2.8 (sadly it doesn't work on the Z mount), but that is really an great lens for bugs as it is designed to take the 1.4 and 2.0 tc)
 
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What is great about the Nikon R1 setup with multiple small speedlights is that one can adjust the output and lighting ratio from the SB-800 master quickly. In the real world the light is coming from one direction and only scattered ambient light will illuminate the other side. Underwater I used a ND filter on a slave speedlight to cut the output by 50% but on land the R1 setup works the best. The light rings were developed for medical use and so the quality or naturalness of the light provided was not important.

The R1 kit is not cheap but it is compact enough for travel and it includes adapter rings for the different filter sizes on Nikon lenses. With Nikon cameras that do not have the internal commander flash I have needed to use the SB-800 instead so not really an added expense for the macro kit.

I have used a rule of thumb of a 60mm macro for subjects the size of a tennis ball and 105mm for subjects the size of a golf ball or smaller. The 200mm was great as it afforded a longer camera to subject distance and worked well when photographing small frogs moving through the forest or venomous snakes. As Mike showed with his great image the Nikon S 70-200mm works quite well as a replacement for the 200mm f/4 non AF-S lens when using a Z camera.
 
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Calson said:
What is great about the Nikon R1 setup with multiple small speedlights is that one can adjust the output and lighting ratio from the SB-800 master quickly. In the real world the light is coming from one direction and only scattered ambient light will illuminate the other side. Underwater I used a ND filter on a slave speedlight to cut the output by 50% but on land the R1 setup works the best. The light rings were developed for medical use and so the quality or naturalness of the light provided was not important.

The R1 kit is not cheap but it is compact enough for travel and it includes adapter rings for the different filter sizes on Nikon lenses. With Nikon cameras that do not have the internal commander flash I have needed to use the SB-800 instead so not really an added expense for the macro kit.

I have used a rule of thumb of a 60mm macro for subjects the size of a tennis ball and 105mm for subjects the size of a golf ball or smaller. The 200mm was great as it afforded a longer camera to subject distance and worked well when photographing small frogs moving through the forest or venomous snakes. As Mike showed with his great image the Nikon S 70-200mm works quite well as a replacement for the 200mm f/4 non AF-S lens when using a Z camera.
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I'll be using the R1 system with Z8 or Z9. Im thinking this will probably provide me the best light.

Thank You for the information
Screenshot 2024-06-20 at 1.57.31ā€ÆPM.png
 
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Mike Delgado said:
I did purchase the R1C1 system and got a great deal on it.

Once again everyone has been very informative and helpful. Thank You so much

View attachment 91915
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Great shot Mike! Are you using diffusers with the sb-200ā€™s? I was looking into the Trik Bit Diffusers which are custom made for this flash.
Mike Delgado said:
I did purchase the R1C1 system and got a great deal on it.

Once again everyone has been very informative and helpful. Thank You so much

View attachment 91915
Click to expand...
Great shot Mike! Are you using diffusers with the sb-200ā€™s? I was looking into the Trik Bit Diffusers which are custom made for this flash. I have heard complaints that the diffusers that come with the sb-200ā€™s donā€™t work that well?
 
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Mike Delgado said:
I did purchase the R1C1 system and got a great deal on it.

Once again everyone has been very informative and helpful. Thank You so much

View attachment 91915
Click to expand...
Mike, Iā€™m assuming this shot was taken without a flash. Iā€™m new to Macro but I understand (maybe incorrectly) that the shutter speed needs to be set in a certain range in order for the flash to work (much less than 1/3200)?
 
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Rookie Roy said:
Mike, Iā€™m assuming this shot was taken without a flash. Iā€™m new to Macro but I understand (maybe incorrectly) that the shutter speed needs to be set in a certain range in order for the flash to work (much less than 1/3200)?
Click to expand...
I use the flash with diffusers on most of my pictures. I know I used some kind of lighting for that picture.
 
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