I'm looking to buy a flexible high quality lens for macro photography. As an illustration, I'd like to be able to be a foot away from a person and be able to capture every detail in a part of the face or eyes, etc. I'd like to be able to shoot droplets on a leaf, texture of flowers, insects, etc. Can anyone recommend a good lens at a somewhat affordable price. I was thinking the new Sigma 70mm f2.8 but it has that fixed 70mm...A nice range for multi purpose would be nice....Please enlighten...

I use a Tamron 90mm f2.8 which I find is wonderful. The Canon 100mm is also a great lens. Sorry no experience with the Sigma 70mm. I would suggest sticking with a fixed macro rather than a zoom.

Julie

Seeing that the Tamron and Canon macros are nearly the same price, which one do you recommend? I am as interested in build quality as much as image quality, (I am hard on my equipment).

Phillip

I use a Nikon D70s. Is the Tamron compatible with Nikons? Any idea on price? Why do you suggest sticking with a fixed macro rather than a zoom?

I'm not sure that true macro lenses even exist as zooms. My zoom lenses are lucky to get a .25 magnification ratio, which may not be enough without extension tubes. Plus, at close focus ranges, you can easily move the camera in and out to zoom/focus.

Phillip

In general a prime lens will deliver better performance than a zoom while also being smaller, lighter, faster and less expensive.

There are good quantitative lens tests at http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html . Qualitative "tests" (aka opinions) are of little use unless you know quite a bit about the person giving the opinion.

The Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP is reported by photozone to be a superb lens.

Nikon's 60mm macro is a good lens and 60mm is an excellent focal length for an APS-size sensor. It has been around for a while and you can find it used at a good price.

Sigma and Tamron are very loose with what they call "macro", even as little as 1:4 gets that designation. I have seen no zooms with better than 1:2, and I doubt those come without major compromises. Zoom design and macro design are both complex things, doing both together is asking for headaches. If there is a *good* zoom with 1:2 macro, I would be tempted, but for serious macro, prime lenses are it.

-Lars

Voigtlander SL 125mm. This lens is totally awesome.

Very true but at its price you could get a Sigma 150/2.8 which gives you both AF and more working distance. A much better deal IMHO.

When you say "affordable price" I guess you mean to say that the 105 VR is not affordable, right? Then what is your budget?

Here is a link that might be of use:


http://www.nnplus.de/macro/Macro100E.html

The Nikon 60mm F2.8 AFD is very nice indeed, but working distance is small. A ~100mm lens might be better for general purpose macro.

I have a Tamron 90mm Di LD 1:1 Macro and a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Macro. They both are excellent, but if you are looking for a broader range, I STRONGLY suggest the Sigma 17-70. The sharpness is exceptional for its price range, and the build quality is quite decent. The minimum focus distance is also very close, you can virtually hold it close to anything. Check out the reviews for it, there is a good one @ photozone.

one of the really nice features of the Canon 100 is internal focusing - at close distences you don't have to keep adjusting the lens-subject distance as you focus

i'm not sure if non-Canon macros have internal focus

I agree with Hacker the Voigtlander is superb - beats both my Tamron 90 and my Sigma 180 easily
and good Minolta macros from the past.

And Yakim if you get the EOS mount version you get full functionality which with a 5D is a great combination.http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon10.gif

Practical photography tested 8 macro lenses this month. The Tamron 90mm f/2.8, Canon 100mm f/2.8 and Nikon 105 f/2.8 all received their highest ranking. The Tamron was their "best buy"

I can highly recommend the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 which, as previously mentioned, has been very highly rated by qualified testers. I have used it on a D70, D200 and S5pro to good effect and it will work perfectly well on your D70s. I have a lot of lenses and I consider this one to be particularly good value, gives nice bokeh for portraits too.

Deciding what you will shoot mostly with such a lens is usually the hardest point. From your initial description I would say something from 70 to 105mm on a APS-c body. You most likely do not want to be right in the persons face. I am a dentist and shoot macro of mouths etc, hehe, almost everyday. I find a 90-105mm more comfortable for both of us. also more room for flash or other lighting, a small detail, but if too close it is hard to light, unless you have a ring light at the end of the lens. I also use my macro lenses a lot outside of office for general shooting. If you do a lot of insects etc, you may even consider going to the 180-200mm macro lenses but these put too much room between you and a person for example. YMMV. I would not be too concerned about AF on a macro lens. Most of what you will shoot will be more or less still, except for an occasional blink and that won't make too much differenc. If you do use AF, put on focus range limiter if the lens has one, or you can expect much time to focus lock. I find I use small fstops like 11-22 mostly, sometimes even more if I need it. Hope this gives some other things to think about. Most companies today make excellent macro lenses and have historically. I have used lenses on my Canon 5D and 20D from 30 yrs ago, like an old Nikkor 105mm MF and it does great even compared to the newer Canon models I have used. These MF lenses can be had for a song today, well at least some of them, some newer ones like the Voigtlander and Zeiss are $$$, but unless you are crazy like me, it might not matter and most normal folk would pick an AF model for general use also. D

Almost a genuine macro made by nikon

I use Sigma 105 with my film camera for many years and I am so happy with it.

There is a $90.00 rebate on the Tamron...until 4/30/07
I just ordered one...couldn't pass this up.....