Macro Lens confusion, advice please

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villafan82

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Steve
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Hi all

I did a Thread on here a week or so ago regarding macro lens advice.

After thought an deliberation and research I have opted against the Nikon 60mm macro lens. I had doubt that if I got the 60mm I would regret it and want a better, longer length lens.
Thus my budget has now increased to around £400 for a 2nd hand lens.

I have now decided a longer glass would be more beneficial.

My Camera is a Nikon D5100

The choices I am confused about are:


Nikon Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AF-S VR IF ED G Lens (possibly a little bit out of reach in the 2nd hand market)
Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro OS
Sigma EX DG Macro HSM 150mm f/2.8 Lens

The sigma 105mm is not a weather sealed unit, would this be a factor in making a decision?

Thanks

Steve
 
Sigma 150mm is a cracking lens, internal focus, 194mm working distance lovely bokeh , sharper than a sharp thing, just takes a little getting used to hand holding due to the weight.
 
You'll like the longer working distance with the 150mm... have just bought a 2nd hand in mint condition and with the Sigma 1.4 TC for £450. :)

And have never ever come home with that many out-of-focus and blurred shots! :D


You should add the Tamron 90 to the list btw. (y)
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
Sigma 150mm is a cracking lens, internal focus, 194mm working distance lovely bokeh , sharper than a sharp thing, just takes a little getting used to hand holding due to the weight.
Click to expand...

Agreed, a kilo to hold would add some bulk and make the muscle work for sure!
 
I wouldn't worry so much about weather sealing, as far as I'm aware your camera body isn't weather sealed anyway.

I would be thinking between:

Tamron 90mm SP - budget price great optics

Nikkor 105mm - great optics

Sigma 150 - great length but very heavy

Tamron 180mm f3.5 great optics and under 1kg
 
iancandler said:
Sigma 150 - great length but very heavy
Click to expand...
No, it isn't! :D

I also imagined it to be a lot larger, but was pleasantly surprised.

Tried it yesterday on a D5100 and though some frontheavy, it didn't look totally out of order! (y)
 
Hey thanks for your comments so far. Plenty more to ponder.

anyone had experiences/owned the Sigma 105mm?
 
villafan82 said:
Hey thanks for your comments so far. Plenty more to ponder.

anyone had experiences/owned the Sigma 105mm?
Click to expand...

Yes.... The main drawback is doesn't have internal focusing. The MWD is 122mm which is more than the Tamron 90 which is only 99mm. I had one as my first macro lens and was happy with the IQ and usability
 
iancandler said:
I wouldn't worry so much about weather sealing, as far as I'm aware your camera body isn't weather sealed anyway.

I would be thinking between:

Tamron 90mm SP - budget price great optics

Nikkor 105mm - great optics

Sigma 150 - great length but very heavy

Tamron 180mm f3.5 great optics and under 1kg
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. The Tamron 180mm is a bit steep in price, even used. quite sought after I imagine, hence the price retention used.
 
I forgot to mention what I would be shooting with a macro.

Flowers, bugs such as ladybirds, Butterflies etc.

Steve
 
For flowers and slow moving bugs, the 100mm area should be fine, so on a budget, my money would (and did!) go on either the Tamron 90mm or the Sigma 105mm. A Tamron turned up on a 2nd hand shelf first so that's what I ended up with (and still have, although I now have and use a Nikkor 105mm VR). Mine was the older type with screw driven AF (as all my bodies have the screw driver for that), the latest version is motor in lens (but not that much cheaper than the Nikkor).

I use my 105 as a portrait lens and for other short telephoto uses so the VR is handy. On pure IQ grounds, the upgrade isn't massive, the Tamron is very good. The other reason for the upgrade is that a friend wants to buy the Tamron off me so of course I have to deliver it to him in person (for safety and to collect the cash!). Shame he lives in Crete!!!
 
Thanks for your info Nod. Informative.

I have narrowed it down to the Sigma 105 and Nikon 105mm now. So Have to try and decide which would be the best of the 2?
 
villafan82 said:
Thanks for your info Nod. Informative.

I have narrowed it down to the Sigma 105 and Nikon 105mm now. So Have to try and decide which would be the best of the 2?
Click to expand...

I'd be looking at MWD between the two (love the Nikon internal focusing, dislike this about the sigma) and autofocus speed.

The Nikon is surprisingly fast and I've used it for ice skating with commendable results. The sigma I'd imagine to be quite sluggish since it doesn't have IF...

Obviously that's going outside the world of macro but it's all information needed to make your decision on.
 
Phil Young said:
I'd be looking at MWD between the two (love the Nikon internal focusing, dislike this about the sigma) and autofocus speed.

The Nikon is surprisingly fast and I've used it for ice skating with commendable results. The sigma I'd imagine to be quite sluggish since it doesn't have IF...

Obviously that's going outside the world of macro but it's all information needed to make your decision on.
Click to expand...

I have just seen I have not giving the full product info for the Sigma.

Its is the Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM version.

Is the IF for Nikon and OS and or HSM for sigma basically the same thing?
 
villafan82 said:
I have just seen I have not giving the full product info for the Sigma.

Its is the Sigma 105mm f2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM version.

Is the IF for Nikon and OS and or HSM for sigma basically the same thing?
Click to expand...

IF = internal focusing but the other two are sigma equivalents to vibration reduction and fast AF.

I'm sure they are equally as good really, in terms of what they can produce. If they were the same price get the Nikon for IF but if there's a big difference go for the cheapest :)
 
Hi all

Thank you for all your tips and much appreciated advice.

I am now the proud owner of a Nikon 105mm Macro VR. It some effort though as I was let down twice after buying a mint used one from 2 different shops only to find the following day that they had already been sold. After the disappointment first time of failure, the second tipped me over the edge, so I bought new from Amazon.

How do I add some sample images? Do I have to first upload to a site i.e. flickr to do so?
 
Flickr is good if you have it. tinypic, or photobucket etc will do the job.
 
I use this site's gallery space. Far easier to upload to than Flickr as well as to get the img link for posting. You do need to resize to meet the gallery criteria but there's a good guide on here somewhere!
 
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