Macro lens for Nikon?

I'm planing on buying a Nikon D5100 and was wondering what some good Macro lenses are.

The 18-55mm kit lens is enough to get you started, while not great for closeups, it isn't exactly shabby.

40mm f/2.8 is pretty good, but if you want even closer up pictures…

60mm f/2.8

105mm f/2.8

or if you feel rich, the 200mm f/4 micro
http://www.kenrockwell.com/...-micro.htm

you can also look at third party lenses such as the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 (I have this lens and it is excellent)

I have both the Nikon 40mm f/2.8 micro and the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro lenses.

You might want to know why two?

The 40mm lens has a much greater depth-of-field, which can be a real issue at macro distances as the DoF is usually wafer-thin at 100mm. But the 100mm lens works better for some macro work as you can stay further back, while the 40mm requires you to get exceedingly close.

But for general macro work, either lens works well. The 40mm Nikon is $279 and the 100mm Tokina is $450.In fact the Nikon is so good, I bought one for my son for his D3100 so he would not use mine.

Be aware though that the Nikon is an AF-S lens while the Tokina is an AF lens (no focus motor). That means you can't autofocus the Tokina lens with your camera.

But for true macro work, you will want to use manual focus anyway. But the 100mm macro lens also works great for a portrait lens, so in some respects, it is a dual purpose lens. While autofocus for that lens would be nice, in portrait work, you could easily manually focus it in that case too.

40mm 2.8
Good close ups and can also be used as a normal/portrait lens.