The ZF.2 100/2 MP goes to 1:1 with the (excellent) Nikon PN-11 extension tube.
The PN-11 has a wonderful built-in collar (see picture) which is much useful on tripod.
At 1:1 the 100/2 performance w/open is not as good as at 1:2. IQ quality is good at f/4 and very good at f/5.6 (set aperture; effective aperture is about 2-stop slower).
At 1:1 the focusing distance is around 37-39 cm, and working distance 14-15 cm.
If you want to increase the magnification without sacrificing brightness, you can use a Canon 500D close-up lens (via an adapter ring 67->72 mm, or 67->77 mm). With the 500D, one can get 1:1.3 magnification at 35-36 cm FD (WD = 15 cm).
The Tamron 90mm macro is the ticket in my books, it is sharp and has great color rendition. If you are after something more exotic others will make good recommendations, but the Tamron is cheap, performs well and is plentiful. I have the old 172E version and it is great.
Arguably the best 100mm macro lens ever built is the Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO Macro Elmarit-R.
The lens is now out of production, but can be readily found on popular auction sites for about the same price as the Zeiss 100MP. It's readily convertible to either Canon or Nikon mounts using a Leitax mount adapter (Leitax.com) which are easy to install and are superb quality.
Not only is it stunningly sharp across the frame at f/2.8 (it's diffraction limited at this aperture, meaning that it actually starts losing some sharpness as it's stopped down), it's APO corrected to avoid most of the colour bokeh issues of most other macro lenses in this range, and has an additional Elpro adapter available that enables the lens to go to 1:1 magnification. It also has a tripod adapter ring available which can be nice for macro work, although it's use does make the aperture ring somewhat difficult to access and isn't the most rigid tripod mount ever created.
About the only drawback of this lens is that by being mount-adapted to work on non-Leica body, it works in stop-down aperture mode only. For most purposes I haven't found this to be too much of an issue.
There's lots of information on this lens on both FM and the internet. Here is a web page that provides more information on the lens and its MTF curves:
thanks guys...i should probably mention i want it to double as a capable landscape lens...so stop down performance is important to. will look into these options though...
drdrew wrote:
thanks guys...i should probably mention i want it to double as a capable landscape lens...so stop down performance is important to. will look into these options though...
For landscape/long focus distance, the Zeiss MP100/2 is an excellent option (in addition to its macro capabilities).
A more affordable (legacy) option: Tokina 90/2.5 macro. Very sharp at infinity, well corrected for CA, relatively compact and light, probably the best bokeh available as far as macro lenses go. It's not as contrasty and colorful as the Zeiss but has a gentler rendering with gorgeous bokeh.
CVickery wrote:
Mamiya Macro A 120/4 with nikon adapter. Not as fast an aperture than some, but near APO performance.
+1
Except I'd suggest the Mirex adapter which gives you tilt/shift which is great with products. I'm not certain you can get the Mirex with tilt and shift for Nikon (in Mamyia mount) but you can in other mounts.
AhamB wrote:
For landscape/long focus distance, the Zeiss MP100/2 is an excellent option (in addition to its macro capabilities).
+1
The performance of 100/2 MP at long distances (landscape) is outstanding:
