macro options for Pentax

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soggy

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I'm looking into trying a bit of macro photography and was wondering what options i have
I see to get a decent macro lens i'm looking at £300+ - any suggestions
Also being a beginner i'd be interested in cheaper alternatives
I've seen macro tubes but i can't seem to find any with electrical contacts to maintain shooting info
Also read about the Raynox lens on here - some of the images look amazing and for the price it seems a bit too good to be true

What does anybody think

Thanks in advance
:)
 
Tamron SP90 DI macro, with no hesitation, I used to have one on my pentax DSLR and it was hardly off it, not only a pin sharp macro but also a first class portrait and walk about lens.

Can be found new for between £315 and £345

Here's a couple of examples.

Picture-589small.jpg


Picture-091-copy-2-1.jpg
 
When i used Pentax i had 50mm M series lens and a set of tubes all off ebay for about £35.

They produced great results.
 
Reversing a lens is to attach the FRONT of it to your camera's lens mount, instead of the back. It will cause it to focus incredibly close, perhaps at the expense of any depth of field to speak of. You will, of course, have to set the aperture and focus manually, and use manual exposure control. It will also look very silly.

There are adapters available that mount to the camera andallow you to screw the camera's filter thread on.

A reversed lens will also work as a good adapter IN FRONT of another lens, just like a close-up filter but stronger. 50mm is ideal. For that, male-to-male adapters are available for the filter threads. You'll need to set the reversed lens's aperture to wide open, and expect very narrow depth of field and severe vignetting.
 
Also, here's some background about macro lenses: technically a true macro lens is one that will project the image of a subject onto your film/sensor at the same size that it is in real life, 1:1. However, many lenses, technically just close-up lenses, will get you fairly good macro shots, and they may be 2:1 or 3:1 lenses (the subject is 2 or 3 times smaller on the sensor). It's worth reading to see what lenses are just 2:1, because they can still get pretty close and may be cheaper. They may or may not be marketed as Macro.

Have you considered the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f2.8 Macro by the way? I've heard a lot of good stuff about that.
 
all this reversing lens/getting suitable adapator/setting everthing manually sounds a bit out of my league for now

still intrigued by the Raynox

OR i may just save up for a 'proper' macro lens

seen a few that look interesting;
Pentax DFA50mm f2.8 macro
Pentax DFA10mm f2.8 macro
Pentax Da35mm f2.8 ltd macro
Tamron Sp90 Di macro
Sigma 70mm f2.8 EX DG Macro

all between £300-380
any thoughts
 
soggy said:
all this reversing lens/getting suitable adapator/setting everthing manually sounds a bit out of my league for now

still intrigued by the Raynox

OR i may just save up for a 'proper' macro lens

seen a few that look interesting;
Pentax DFA50mm f2.8 macro
Pentax DFA10mm f2.8 macro
Pentax Da35mm f2.8 ltd macro
Tamron Sp90 Di macro
Sigma 70mm f2.8 EX DG Macro

all between £300-380
any thoughts
Click to expand...

Sigma 105mm............ just made for the job .............. a few shots here taken with K7 and sigma 105.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidlaws2009/sets/72157623883148100/


Dave ....
 
The shorter the focal length of a macro lens the harder it is to photograph insects because you have to get closer which will frighten them off.

For that reason I normally use a Sigma 180mm f3.5 macro for such things but I also have the DA 35mm (which is superb in every respect and one of the best primes ever made in any format), the Sigma 70mm (very sharp, a good compromise between 50-100mm and excellent for portrait shots) and the D-FA 100mm (which is very compact for its focal length and produces superb results).

If I had to only keep one it would probably be the Sigma 70mm.

The Raynox is actually pretty good but I normally end up using it on a macro lens for extra magnification.

DCR-250 on Sigma 70mm Macro


Ants by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr
 
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