Best D-SLR camera/lens combo for macro photography

[howards]

99% of the photos I take are extreme close-up macro photographs. For reference of the size that I want to shoot, I'd like to be able to take a single digit of the date on a nickel and fill the frame with it.

I'm currently using a Nikon 995 with a 3rd party macro lens. It does okay, but the camera is now several years old and I'm sure better quality photos can be had with newer equipment.

So, for these extreme macro photos what digital SLR body/lens combo do you recommend? I'd like to make my choice from among the sub-$1000 D-SLRs.

Thanks for any advice.

[meanstreak]

howards wrote:

99% of the photos I take are extreme close-up macro photographs. For reference of the size that I want to shoot, I'd like to be able to take a single digit of the date on a nickel and fill the frame with it.

I'm currently using a Nikon 995 with a 3rd party macro lens. It does okay, but the camera is now several years old and I'm sure better quality photos can be had with newer equipment.

So, for these extreme macro photos what digital SLR body/lens combo do you recommend? I'd like to make my choice from among the sub-$1000 D-SLRs.

Thanks for any advice.

I may be incorrect, but I don't think it is a question of which combination is best for Macro. I think that is mostlya function of the quality of the lens. Having said that, some cameras do have better results in overall picture quality and may end up giving you better results in Macro by default when doing comparisons with the same lens. Someone else may have a better more definitive answer for you, but I'm thinking it might pay to spend a liitle more on a quality lens since even the best camera body will be limited by what the sensor sees through the lens. A cheap lens just doesn't cut it if quality is important.