Help nikon d40? Macro photography?

I have bought my 1st Dslr. The nikon d40. I want to get into micro (macro) photography for the time being then later get into other things. Anyway I'm not sure how to use camera af the moment. Using a, p, s, m and change the f stop and shutter speed for certain shots. Please help cause I don't want to do something to the camera by fiddling. And 1 more thing. What lens shall I get without spending a fortune as money is abit tight. ( if you do courses or no anyone who does them around the Sunderland area that would be great to).

True specialisation in macro indeed needs a special macro lens and that costs quite a bit, say £200 or more in the UK. But for a start you can buy a 'close-up lens' also called a 'macro filter' for around £10 to screw into the front of your standard zoom lens - any good camera shop can supply. I think that lens has a 52mm diameter screw, but you need to check. You would be better off trying to get hands-on instruction for an hour or two, since long-distance instruction inevitably is frustrating if you don't know the first principles.

Although a close-up filter will get you closer to your subject, another alternative to consider is a set of extension tubes.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...e_Set.html

The best thing about extension tubes is that, unlike a close-up filter, no additional glass is added that can possibly degrade your image quality. Extension tubes are just hollow tubes.

The Nikon 85mm macro lens is shown for $479.95 (US Dollars) at B&H.

Before you do anything fancy, learn to use the camera properly… Read the manual for a start…

If your budget is tight for buying a macro lens, go to youtube and search for reverse lens macro and 2 lens reverse macro setup.