Macro mode on tamron 70-300mm lens

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objohn

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Hi all
As a newbie to the photography world I'm looking for some advice on macro. I have a nikon d5000 with the kit 18-56mm and 55-200 vr. I bought a cheap tamron lens from jessops to get longer range and bought the £99 tamron 70-300. Whilst I did not buy this specifically for macro, I notice that it does have a macro setting
most of my photography is landscape and portraits so I am happy with the range of focal length that I have for this

With the tamoron, I've tried a few shots with the Marco mode selected and find that I cannot get particularly good magnification and have to stand at least 24 inches away from the subject to get any focus. ( manual mode). I cannot get anywhere near as good shots as some of the macro I have seen on this forum as the details is simply not there ( using sb600 flash)

I know that macro is not the main forte of this lens, but would I be better off buying tubes for my kit lenses or a dedicated macro lens? I'm not trying to specialise in any particular type of photography and this is just a hobby rather than anything else so don't want to spend a fortune

Many thanks for any replies
 
it's "macro" mode is only 1:2 at best.
It's good for the money but it's not going to compete with a proper macro prime.

You also may want to consider something like a Raynox 150 or 250 instead of tubes.
 
Raynox 250 is very good!, although I've had mine for 1 month and want to get closer now :L im considering tubes. Depends on your budget. £50 tops get the dcr 250(raynox) stretch to £70/£80 go for tubes!
 
Just to add that I would not give up on the 70-300 altogether. I have the Sigma 70-300 APO "macro" lens and managed to get the following shots with it. You just have to stop down to about f/8 for sharpness and make sure you have loads of light or use a tripod. They work fairly well on larger bugs and give you some working distance.

I must say my Siggy 70-300 does not get used much since I got a Tamron 90mm macro for small stuff and a Nikon 300mm f/4 AFS for larger, both with tubes and TC and SB600.

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Banded Demoiselle by jomike, on Flickr

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Painted Lady by jomike, on Flickr
 
Cracking shots! Thanks for the advice everyone. I really appreciate your input.
I'm not going to give up on the tamron 70-300 but I think I will invest in a proper macro lens. Budget is probably between £100-£150 although that may change depending on how much I can pick a replacement for my 18-55 kit less which I dropped!!! Oooops!
 
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