Bob

I have found the same as you, focusing with a macro lens is a whole different ball game.
Depth of field becomes one of the hardest problems to overcome when trying to get too close to the subject. This is why there are available for tripods add on kits for fine adjustments on a rachet.
Trying to take flowers on a branch and getting all in focus is a near impossibility, especially if the branch moves. The answer is to move further away which defeats the reason for using a macro lens anyway.

I suspect that, like my 90 mm macro, your 60 mm one is best suited for table top work where the lens and subject can be fixed allowing for fine delicate tuning on small objects. I found a hallmark on a gold ring which couldn't be read with normal vision, but the macro lens showed it up magnificiently, just as an example. This is where this type of lens excels.

I have gone back to using a "normal" lens for what you are trying to achieve and you may well find yourself doing the same thing.



Bazza

I sure hope you're wrong because this was not an inexpensive lens. I'd hoped to get double duty from it by using it as a general purpose lens as well as macro work. Both my 18-55 & 55-200 zooms have a macro mode but are not true 1:1 macros. I need to practice macro focusing. I wear trifocal perscription glasses and have trouble seeing sharply at certain distances through an SLR viewfinder. The salesman that sold me this lens didn't tell me the autofocus wouldn't work with my D40X. I'll try & make due as that camera shop went out of business.

The lens can be used as a general purpose lens to a certain degree Bob. It is excellent for portraiture and doing features of architecture or general shots of scenes. They of course overlap on what can be achieved with a standard lens or short telephoto but are more complex in design and heavier as they are corrected for close up work. I use a macro 105 and 60mm Nikkor for work related stuff I do which tends to be technical/medical. It was a bit naughty for the salesman not to say it would require manual focussing, but for critical technical shots I always use manual anyway.

Thanks BC your encouragement is welcome.

The macros are not easy to focus, but you will get there with heaps of practice, and I find that the 105 nikkor is fine for outdoor stuff without tripod too - and it weighs a lot more than the 60 mm- I am sure you'll do very well - the photo you posted is lovely!

I don't know what plant it is, but there's one in my garden too!

xx

I will not have a focusing issue for long as my new Nikon D90 body is on its way!