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EXIF Summary: NIKON D80 1/100s f/10.0 ISO100 105mm light: SB800 distance: approximately 5"

still experimenting on this lens. they say AF should be deactivated when vr is active or is it vice versa? the above is just taken handheld so i have to rely on cameras AF w the vr active. i just can't focus manually coz i was breathing heavily and poor eyesight.


cropped:




EXIF Summary: 1/125s f/4.0 ISO100 105mm (35mm eq:157mm) light: SB800

they say AF should be deactivated when vr is active or is it vice versa?

Neither.
VR should be deactivated when the camera is on a tripod. The system works by shaking the lens to counter the camera shake. (grossly simplified explanation) If there is no camera shake, e.g. on a tripod, the VR system can, and often does introduce its own shake.

Because depth of field is so limited when working macro, AF is often advised against as even a slight mischoice in Focus point can render your subject OOF. If you can't see well enough to focus though, it will be better than nothing. Do consider using the dioptre adjustment on the camera so you can focus reliably without your glasses. Similarly a tripod is recommended as even slight movement when you press the shutter button can put the subject OOF despite your best efforts. Stopping down as much as possible (the 105VR goes to f57) helps a lot here, but then you need really bright lighting (i.e. flash)

rex wrote: they say AF should be deactivated when vr is active or is it vice versa?

In general usage, neither. AF and VR are complementary technologies that happily co-exist. VR should be deactivated when you're using the camera whilst it's mounted on a tripod. For macro work, better results may often be obtained by deactivating the AF and focusing manually.

For the first of these images, I'd like to see more of the bee i the image; I don't think you're close enough. While yes, you can crop, as yo've done for image two, there is no substitute for just getting in closer.

As Gary suggests, you definitely need to get closer. The last one is the best of the three for that reason. The last one would be even better with a tad more depth of field. f/8 probably would have been enough.