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  4. What do you have for a macro lens?

What do you have for a macro lens?


13 years 3 months ago #15731 by Moossmann
Now I have a 50mm, but would like to get something with a little more kick to it. I was told by a few that the 105mm f/2.8 is a very good macro lens. I was wondering if there was any need to get upward of a 200mm lens for macro photography?

One gent was telling me that I could go with a 105mm and add some extension tubes to get much closer. He told me about the Kenko extension tubes. Now I'm looking at those online and was wondering if a 105mm with a 36mm extension tube, would that give you closer macro capabilities than a 200mm lens?
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13 years 3 months ago #15747 by Screamin Scott
The longer the focal length, the more working distance between you & your subject (good when shooting insects so as not to scare them away)...If you use the extension tubes on your 50mm lens, you will get greater magnification than you would with a longer focal length lens. The drawback to tubes are that you lose light, so you have to either open up your aperture, or slow down your shutter speed to compensate for the loss. Neither option is good as you will want maximum DOF & you need to stop down rather than open up the aperture to do that. As for using a slower shutter speed, if you are shooting a mobile subject, you want a faster shutter speed to stop their movement. As for another drawback to tubes, in order to change the magnification ratio, you need to add or remove tubes, not good with faster moving subjects. A true macro lens (& 105mm is a good balance between working distance & cost) allows you to change the magnification by simply twisting the focus ring...BTW, don't opt for a zoom lens with a "macro" feature as they aren't as good as a true macro lens. They are not optimized for macro work...
Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/
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13 years 3 months ago #15752 by Moossmann
I hope this question isn't out of line, but what is better a 50mm with extension tube or 105mm with extension tube?
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13 years 3 months ago #15753 by Moossmann
BRB, my dog just got out!
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13 years 3 months ago #15808 by Yasko
Good advice from Scott. All I'm adding is to remember that using tubes makes your focusing distance much nearer the lens, and this would compromise your ability to shoot insects, if that's your goal.
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13 years 3 months ago #15822 by Moossmann

Yasko wrote: Good advice from Scott. All I'm adding is to remember that using tubes makes your focusing distance much nearer the lens, and this would compromise your ability to shoot insects, if that's your goal.


I see, I'm clear now. So now I just need to find a good deal on a 105mm or 200mm macro lens.
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13 years 3 months ago #15935 by bhowdy
I have the old reliable Canon 100mm macro lens. I occasionally use extension tubes with it. Hoping to add the Sigma 150mm macro to my kit. The Sigma is a well thought of macro lens

Sigma 150 Review
Bob Howdeshell

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera" ~ Lewis Hine
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13 years 3 months ago #15992 by Moossmann

bhowdy wrote: I have the old reliable Canon 100mm macro lens. I occasionally use extension tubes with it. Hoping to add the Sigma 150mm macro to my kit. The Sigma is a well thought of macro lens

Sigma 150 Review


So what is the catch? That is a big difference in price from Nikon lenses. Heck you can't get a 105mm for that price. What is the trade off?

Also can you help me understand this please: "Vignetting is the Sigma 150's weakest image quality factor. Even stopped down to f/8, full frame users are going to see over 1 stop of shading in the corners. Users of 1.6x bodies should be happy at f/4 and beyond. "

So when they say 1.6x bodies should be happy at f/4 and beyond, are they talking about a wider aperture like f/2.8 or other direction like f/5.6?
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13 years 3 months ago #16019 by Yasko
That part of the review about vignetting refers in the direction towards 2.8. Vignetting should cease if you're using a 1.5x crop camera and closing the aperature smaller than f4.0. @ f5.6 you'll be fine. I checked this lens out at slrgear.com, and it indeed has ALOT of vignetting, but it's about average if you're using a 1.5x cropped Nikon camera. I'd only worry if you're doing full frame.

Regarding price - well, the 105mm is a Nikon lens. It's a rare instance you'll find a comparable sigma lens that's more expensive than a big name manufacturer lens like Nikon, Canon, or Pentax. The 105mm Nikon is pricey because it has VR too.

I'm a big fan of Sigma macro lenses. Sigma "EX" macros have image quality at par with the pricier manufacturer lenses. Macro lenses is probably what Sigma does best. You may have slightly noisier, slower autofocus with the Sigma, but if you like to focus manually, it won't even matter.
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13 years 3 months ago #16029 by Screamin Scott
You will find that most if not all macro lenses (even the lowly Vivitar 100mm F3.5 AF macro) give excellent optical results. The difference in macro lenses comes down to focal length, build quality & resale value....Some of the 3rd party brands tend to suffer from build quality issues (especially the "plastic fantastic" Vivitar mentioned above". Of course the longer focal lengths are going to cost more as they give increased working distance & the OEM lenses tend to hold their value more than 3rd party lenses do (that doesn't mean that the 3rd party macro lenses can be bought inexpensively though, it seems that all brands command high prices nowadays) .
Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/
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13 years 3 months ago #16037 by effron
I used to own the Sigma 105/2.8. It was a very fine macro lens, and I miss it. Currently, I have the Nikon 60/2.8D, the Sigma 150/2.8, and the Nikon 200/4D. These are all great lenses. When I want to go on a bug hunt, the Nikon 200 gets on the camera. The Sig 150 is also a good bugger.
Most of the Macro/Micro lenses available, as stated above, are fine performers limited only by user technique......;)
Why so serious?
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