Macro Lenses

[Zenmer]

Strange, as I always leave my on, even with the converters attached. 

In the September issue of Outdoor Photography, even Nikon admit that the VR somewhat degrades as magnification increases !

[anglefire]

Its also interesting that the new canon lens claims 4stops IS normally, but only 2 when shooting macro's.

[alan1572]

i will be getting a new lens from Father Christmas (long wait i know ), is it worth the extra for the sigma 150 over the 105?

I would consider the Sigma 180mm as it can save a great deal of hassle trying to get close to nervous bugs. I have this lens and also the Canon 100mm, but use mainly the Sigma when out shooting bugs. Of IMO equal importance is a decent flash gun such as the Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flashgun.

Harry

seems a happy medium, cheers

[Oldboy]

Strange, as I always leave my on, even with the converters attached.  

In the September issue of Outdoor Photography, even Nikon admit that the VR somewhat degrades as magnification increases !

Well, I can only quote from my own experience. I have used the VR with a 1.4 and 2x converters upclose and never had a problem and handheld.  

[bones615]

Any body used the original Tamron 90mm (72e), is it ok on digital? The few comments & reviews i can find rate it highly and it won an EISA award when it was released. Or save for the digital version?

Simon

[anglefire]

On digital designated lenses all that it means is that they are either designed for crop cameras or that they have a coating on the rear element to minimise reflections back onto the sensor.

It will not be an issue to use the older lens on digital - there is a potential risk to get some ghosting - but its unlikely in the real world.

[bones615]

Thanks Mark, I thought i had better check as I know there are issues with older sigma lenses, never heard of problems with tamron but worth checking.

Simon

[anglefire]

Simon, there is always the potential problem that the camera won't communicate with the lens - thats the same for all 3rd party lenses - the manufactures won't give them the comms protocol, so they have to reverse engineer it, and sometimes new cameras have a slight change to the code making some older lenses not work.
Can often be fixed by the 3rd party manufacture - for about £30 or so I think, but not always!

[greypoint]

I had one of the older Tamron 90mm macro lenses when I had a Pentax K20D - really nice lens, although I used it mainly because it was a fastish prime rather than for it's macro abilities. Would quite like one in Nikon fit. Some samples here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greypoint/sets/72157606259509716/

[alan1572]

can i use my 2x TC (nikon) with a sigma 150?

[Oldboy]

can i use my 2x TC (nikon) with a sigma 150?

No, you only use the Nikon converter with Nikon lenses and Sigma lenses with Sigma converters.  

[bones615]

Tried a 2x with my tamron 90mm, it got me closer to the subject.

[hssutton]

can i use my 2x TC (nikon) with a sigma 150?

No, you only use the Nikon converter with Nikon lenses and Sigma lenses with Sigma converters.  

With my Canon gear I have a similar problem, to overcome this I slip a tube between the Extender/convertor and lens. Could you do the same with Nikon.

Harry

[alan1572]

i can't believe it's this hard to choose between the nikon 105 and the sigma 150, i can get over the shorter length of the 105 with the 2x tc but it would be less hassle with the 150 and of course it doesn't extend which is the one thing that is really holding me back getting the 105 even thou i'm a snob and would rather have the nikon as that's what all my other lens' are.

[alan1572]

just looked on ebay and a 2nd hand nikon 105 went for £535   for not much more a new one can be had, there's another on £430 with 3 days left, is there a short supply of new ones?