My 60mm Micro Nikkor has been sitting on the shelf for years, and even been on the market. I expected poor visibility on todays dive, and then macro photography is the obvious choice. I had yet to try this lens behind a super macro converter, so that was todays mission.
With very little Depth of Field (DOF), shooting with a super macro converter (SMC) isn’t easy. You will need a steady hand, or even a tripod.
The 60mm brought me closer to the subject, and it focuses much faster than the 105mm I normally use for macro, all as expected. With a slightly wider lens I was hoping for a bit better DOF, but this was not noticeable at all. Shooting this close to the subject, lighting becomes challenging, and flashguns needs to be positioned close to the SMC.
When shooting nudibranches, make sure the rinophores are in focus.
This Doto fragilis was approximately 1cm long. Stopping down to f20 the back of the nudie is still well into the background bokeh.
In summary, this is a combination worth exploring further. It takes you very close, which is good in poor visibility. The biggest advantage over the 105mm is the faster focus, which makes it a lot easier to use. That will produce more images. And with more images, more good ones.
By the way, the visibility was absolutely amazing below 10m today. Fantastic wide-angle conditions. That’s life.