Advice for Macro lens please

blondie606

blondie606

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Lynne
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Hi all

finally convinced myself that I need another lens ! I really miss doing Macro/close up shots so am looking at a Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX DG to use with my D80 . Bit limited on cash so around the £250 mark is my limit .

Is this a good lens or is there something else out there that would be more suitable for close up work with bugs n flowers etc etc .
I have a Raynox DC250 but struggling with it

any advice gratefully recieived

many thanks,Lynne :-)
 
You might find 50mm a bit short for insects. Sigma do a 105mm which gets some good reviews and should be within budget 2nd hand.
 
I had a Sigma 105mm which I loved to bits, but used infrequently so when money got tight I sold it. I'd certainly recommend that lens.

If you want to save more money, you could do what I did. I decided it would be a good idea to have a macro lens in my bag so I thought I'd forget about AF (which isn't really used for the macro I shoot) and infinity focus (again if it's just for macro who cares about that?) and bought an old manual focus macro lens. It cost me a shade over £80 and it looks to be in great nick. I'm awaiting delivery of the adapter that'll let me use it so if it arrives soon I'll let you know how it is.
 
blondie606 said:
Hi all

finally convinced myself that I need another lens ! I really miss doing Macro/close up shots so am looking at a Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX DG...
Click to expand...

50mm is fine for flowers but bugs will have to be pretty big and stay pretty still while you get right up close... more working distance would be nice and I can recommend the Sigma 150mm f2.8 but it's more money. Something in the 90-105mm range might be a little cheaper but you never know what bargains may be had if you keep looking.
 
What lenses do you have now? Perhaps a set of extension tubes would be a cheap alternative until such time as you can afford something in the 90-105mm range?
 
Thanks for all the replies , glad I asked now as was just about to buy the
50mm!

Happy haggis...I currently have the 18-55 kit nikor lens , Tamron 70-300 & sigma 150-500 .Had thought about extension tubes but been advised I'll lose too many f stops with my lenses? Is that correct ?


rssmrry....hmmmm, not thought about that & know even less about manual focus lenses ! Will one work with a D80 ? Would I need the adapter you mention & if so what adapter is it & where to buy from ?

Sorry for all the extra questions :)
 
Lynne - you will lose some light, but not a great deal. Just push up the ISO until you get a suitable speed for the subject matter. Even a 12mm tube will enable you to focus closer and should work well with your Tammy or Sigma.
Eventually a macro lens is a good investment IF you shoot a lot of close-up stuff and if its insects you're after, then a longer focal length will be best.
A set of tubes on Ebay will cost you about £45 (there was a thread here the other day) good enough for you to use in the short term.
 
blondie606 said:
hmmmm, not thought about that & know even less about manual focus lenses ! Will one work with a D80 ? Would I need the adapter you mention & if so what adapter is it & where to buy from ?
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You'll definitely be able to use a manual focus lens on your D80, but only in manual or AV mode. You have the aperture wide open to start with, focus then adjust aperture to required value the let the camera meter the scene and take the shot. I bought both my lens and the adapter on ebay. The lens was an FD mount Tamron 90mm f/2.5 Macro and I've bought a glassless FD/EF adapter so the image quality isn't degraded, which effectively works as an extension tube so infinity focus is lost (in my case it is - depending on the thickness of adapter required you may not [as I understand it anyway!]).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....rvr_id=227010036863&mfe=sidebar#ht_2229wt_828

That's the adapter I got. But I believe Nikon haven't changed their mount for many, many years you may be able to get a lens that won't need an adapter.

But if you've the funds for a Sigma 105mm I'd highly recommend it.
 
You can get the Sigma 105mm from OSD for around £300.00 its a little over your budget but worth it.
 
Sigma are bringing out the 105/150mm with optical stabiliser these look good, i have the canon 100mm IS and god do I love it,



Opened up my macro no end, for my shaky little paws


Merc

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
 
happy haggis said:
Lynne - you will lose some light, but not a great deal. Just push up the ISO until you get a suitable speed for the subject matter. Even a 12mm tube will enable you to focus closer and should work well with your Tammy or Sigma.
Eventually a macro lens is a good investment IF you shoot a lot of close-up stuff and if its insects you're after, then a longer focal length will be best.
A set of tubes on Ebay will cost you about £45 (there was a thread here the other day) good enough for you to use in the short term.
Click to expand...

Kinda hoping to do lots more insects ie Butterflies..seen some stunning shots on this forum .May get a set of tubes as well .Thanks for all the info :thumbs:

rssmrry said:
You'll definitely be able to use a manual focus lens on your D80, but only in manual or AV mode. You have the aperture wide open to start with, focus then adjust aperture to required value the let the camera meter the scene and take the shot. I bought both my lens and the adapter on ebay. The lens was an FD mount Tamron 90mm f/2.5 Macro and I've bought a glassless FD/EF adapter so the image quality isn't degraded, which effectively works as an extension tube so infinity focus is lost (in my case it is - depending on the thickness of adapter required you may not [as I understand it anyway!]).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....rvr_id=227010036863&mfe=sidebar#ht_2229wt_828

That's the adapter I got. But I believe Nikon haven't changed their mount for many, many years you may be able to get a lens that won't need an adapter.

But if you've the funds for a Sigma 105mm I'd highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

Hi ,thanks for the info on the focusing etc , probably a bit above my level at the mo as not really used manual focusing yet .(have enough trouble with auto focus sometimes :lol: )

dracaj said:
You can get the Sigma 105mm from OSD for around £300.00 its a little over your budget but worth it.
Click to expand...


Just managed to buy a 2nd hand body off this forum so got a little more cash to fund a lens . Sigma 105mm is looking like the best option but who/what are OSD ? Have been looking on the web this afternoon but all the one's I've seen are around the £400 but thats new, not spotted a 2ndhand one yet

mercmanuk said:
Sigma are bringing out the 105/150mm with optical stabiliser these look good, i have the canon 100mm IS and god do I love it,



Opened up my macro no end, for my shaky little paws


Merc

Sent from my iPad using TP Forums
Click to expand...

A Sigma 105/150mm....sounds interesting....off to have a look see but would guess out of my league cost wise


thanks again for all your help chaps :thumbs:
 
OS is Sigma's equivalent of Nikon's VR - so the lens reduces the effect of camera shake.
 
Don't discount the Tamron 90mm Di f2.8 - s/h you can pick them up for around the £200 mark. I have one on my D300 and love it.

You could even look at the older adaptall mf f2.5 but that only goes to 1:2 unless you get an extension tube - I swaped one to upgrade to the newer lens but it was a very nice lens to use ( I just needed the af for portraits).

Nick
 
Back again with another question !

Narrowed it down to the Tamron 90mm Di f2.8 or the Sigma 105MM F2.8 EX DG . Read a couple of reviews both of which rated the lenses quite closely

Neither seem to have image stabilisation though....how important is it ? The D90/D80 that I'll be using it with don't have inbuilt stabilisation . Spent the last hour searching the web to find lenses with IS but failed miserably
...anyone point me in the right direction please ?

Prices for the pair are quite similar new from digitalrev though I guess they're imports but the place has good reviews on here so not to concerned .

thanks again for all the replies:thumbs:

Cheers
 
The only macro lens available for nikon with VR or OS at the moment is the nikon 105mm, which is out of your budget. It's not that important anyway as it has very little use at such short distances. Both the tamron and sigma are great lenses, you won't go wrong with either of them.
 
This may help you out - have a look here Pixel-Peeper regarding what the lens could do just input the camera body & lens which you are looking at...
 
I use a sigma 105mm. It's a great lens. Makes garden weeds look appealing :)
5634678753_754394e768.jpg


All the ones in the set its from were taken with it.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuivCpZ

I think there's a flickr group for that lens too so worth having a look in there to see what it can really do.
 
I bought my Sigma 105mm f2.8 - second hand for £275 from a Camera shop in Sth Wales

I can highly recommend this lens :thumbs::thumbs:

BlueInsect3EXIF.jpg


Les :D
 
I think the Tamron 90mm f2.8 marco is a great lens, I love mine..

The sigma also gets good reviews, I would think you would be happy with either.

IS is not very important but is a nice thing to have, Another nice thing to have would be full time manual focus overide.
 
dont forget you'll need a diffused flash to get the best from any macro lens, as you'll be shooting small apertures.
 
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