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	Introduction
	The Tokina story
»	Macro options
	The purchase
	Sample shots
	Portraiture
	Some conclusions

For those of us interested in doing up close close-up's, there are several options: reversing rings, attachment close-up lenses, extension tubes, bellows, macro couplers for stacking lenses, zoom lenses with a macro mode and true macro lenses. Since not all lenses work well on reversing rings and you loose a lot with most attachments, let me concentrate in the true macro lens options, micro in Nikon terms, all of them now with CRC, Close Range Correction technology.
 

The very specialized and razor sharp 85mm f/2.8 Perspective Control Micro Nikkor Manual Focus lens .

The 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro Nikkor is a wonderful lens, capable, as all true AF macros, of a magnification ratio of 1:1. That means that it can reproduce on film an image the same size as the original. Incredibly sharp and contrasty, the one with the most DOF (depth of field).  The working distance from the front of the lens to the subject is really small to achieve those results, being about 2.8 inches it is good for flowers and still objects. The lens perform extremely well also as a non-macro. Street price* Imported ~US$345; USA: ~US$390	..
The 105mm f/2.8D AF Micro Nikkor, on the other hand, has a more manageable working distance. 5.5 inches from the front of the lens (7 if you count from the film plane) is much better if you want to deal with animated subjects and/or use lights. Shorter DOF than the 60mm micro. This is also reputed as a great portrait lens. It has a length of 3.3" and weights 19.6 oz. Street price* Imported: ~US$540; USA: ~US$660 (about the same price of the imported when rebates are in place).
The 200mm f/4D ED IF AF Micro Nikkor is the one lens providing the longest available working distance, 10.2 inches from the front of the lens.  A good friend of mine has one and it is his standard general purpose lens, incredibly sharp throughout the focusing range. Not that big (7.6") and not that heavy (42.3 oz.) as it may look here. Our much admired nature photographer John Shaw swears by this lens. Street price* used -since it has been discontinued- in Like New Minus condition ~US$925
The 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED AF Zoom Micro Nikkor is another very interesting lens capable of very close to life-size magnification ratios, the maximum being 1:1.32; however, 1:1 is feasible with a 6T close-up lens. Many Nikonians like it precisely because it is a zoom lens, allowing for quicker framing with fast moving macro subjects. Street price* brand new, was in the USA ~US$1,050. Hard to find since it was discontinued.

Great manual focus Micro AI-S lenses are available, like the 55mm f/2.8, the 85mm f/2.8 PC, the 105mm f/2.8 or the 200mm f/4.0 IF. From what I've read and the images seen, they are all superb. AF is not necessarily the best for macro shots with single focusing sensor cameras, since such sensor is dead center in the viewfinder. That is seldom the best composition; but if you happen to have a multi sensor camera it works very nicely.

* Lowest prices survey as of January 15, 2006 in the USA