I would like to use my ex3 for close-ups of plants and insects and get a Nikon micro lens for this purpose, attached to an "Adaptimax"
adapter. Can anyone please recommend me what type of Nikon lenses are suitable for this? Also any general advice regarding micro/macro photography in general would be most welcome since I have limited knowledge about these types of lenses,

many thanks, Jan

All of the micro Nikons, MF and AF, are good. The old 55 f2.8 micro is one of the sharpest lenses ever made IMHO. For plants a 55mm would be good, but for insects a 105mm might be better, or even a 200mm micro (though these are pretty big).
Sigma also makes some good macros, as does Tamron.
Ideally you want one that gives 1:1 life-size, some only go to half life-size.
Steve

I use the 55mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor together with Steve's new Adaptimax adaptor and can vouch for the excellent quality. You will need to use it on a tripod as this combination gives a 5.4X magnification factor, i.e. the 55mm lens now becomes an effective 297mm lens. Set the lens at f8 or f11 for ultra sharp results.

Check ffordes photographic : Main Index (http://www.ffordes.com) They have a used Nikon 55mm f2.8 micro MF for £179.
Steve

With the magnification factor taken into account,
would I be better of buying a "wide" micro lens?
Still unclear how the magnification factor works on micro lenses,
I know that with a tele lens in turns it into a super-tele lens,
but how does it translate into the micro lenses?
Will they still be proper micro lenses?

All help and advice greatly appreciated, Jan

I would like to use my ex3 for close-ups of plants and insects and get a Nikon micro lens for this purpose, attached to an "Adaptimax"
adapter. Can anyone please recommend me what type of Nikon lenses are suitable for this? Also any general advice regarding micro/macro photography in general would be most welcome since I have limited knowledge about these types of lenses,

many thanks, Jan

Hi Jan, the best micro to use is the 105mm 2.8, which allows you to get a bit further away from the subject but still get excellent results. I own a 55mm 2.8 micro and popped it on the Adaptimax and shot some flower in the garden. You can take a look at the footage here.
55mm Nikon Macro attached to PMW-EX3 via Adaptimax on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/4493133)

Not the greatest footage but you get the jist of it.

There's some more telephoto footage on the Adaptimax website.

Cheers
Steve

One of the many nice things about these adapters is they don't change the aperture or minimum focus distance. I recently used my 180mm about ten feet from the subject for some garden closeups (just playing with the lens).

Im using Zeiss Planar 100 mm w/Macro and with Nikon adapter. It's a manual lens, kind of prime lens-.

After reading this thread I used the Adaptimax adaptor together with the 55mm Micro Nikkor lens fitted to a Nikon Extension tube. The results were amazing. I will post some clips later.

I have been using Steve Shovlars Adaptimax Plus adaptor for a couple of weeks, this allows the use of all Niikor lenses, DX, G series as well as the older Ai and manual lenses. It's a nicely made adaptor at a reasonable price.

I will be posting a full un-biased review on this adaptor shortly.