Macro Options for K10d

The first new present for my new toy (though it may have to wait a while) will be a macro lens. Anyone have any experience or views as to the relative merits of the Pentax offerings vis-a-vis the Tamron 90mm or Sigma 105? And between the Pentax 50 and 100mm themselves?
Thanks

The 50 and 100 mm are very similar expect that the 100 mm allows you more room and in macro work this times a help, as they use 49 mm is more common and they are designed to be used just for PENTAX so they should work the best.

I am waiting off on 100 mm, as I want the RING LIGHT which is due sometime in mid 2007 in Canada according to the Pentax rep I spoke with a while ago.

And good luck with your choice, you could always use EXTENSION TUBES in the meantime.

There is also the new Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG lens to consider. I have heard from a Minolta user that this is a superb lens, and make a good portrait lens too. It gives the same field of view on an APS DSLR as the 105mm does on a 35mm SLR.

I have an old (non digital) Tamron 90mm which I am very happy with.

Hi Paul,

I use the Sigma 105 and find it a great lens, got some results I'm really pleased with, and there are a few examples on this forum in previous posts. I've heard only good things about the Tamron, and everyone seems to like the Pentax models too, especially the 200mm, if you could stretch to that.

Two good aspects of the Sigma are price (especially secondhand - mine was £90) and build quality (being an EX lens, they're nice and solid).

Mine's not a 'DG' lens, but I've not had any problems with my digital camera (istD).

Extension tubes are a cheaper option, and produce great results with say a 50mm lens, but they're not as versatile as a macro lens, as you often have to add or subtract a tube when you recompose.

Hope that helps,
Dan

The Pentax-D FA macro lenses are the ideal choice for Pentax cameras. We use the SMC Pentax-FA 100mm f2.8 Macro, which is capable of superb results, so also the second hand market could be a place to look.

Paul,

I have the Tamron 90mm which I use with the Vivitar 6000 ring flash, and I'm happy with the results. I also have extension tubes and reversing rings, all picked up cheaply on "that auction site" and you can get some astounding results for not much money and an existing lens!

Paul,

Like Daniel I am extremely pleased with my Sigma 105 (none DG) which I originally bought for my MZ6, used on DS2 and now K100D. Fabulous build. Like Tim I use the Vivitar 6000 ring flash which for it's modest price is very good.

Hope this helps.

Mike

Thanks, everyone, for their replies. I might look around second-hand sources (any particular recommendations?) since all of these lenses are quite pricey new. It's funny that macro seems to be the one area that comes for 'free' with digital compacts, but is very expensive to achieve with a D-SLR!

Try eBay, but buy carefully, or alternayively try the ads at the back of AP.

You might want to consider some of the older Pentax 50mm macros, like the 50mm SMC-M F4, or better still, the 50mm SMC-A F2.8. Then there are also the older 50mm screw mount Super Takumars, which will fit your camera via an adapter.
I bought a 50mm SMC-M F4 on ebay for £52 about a year ago.

That's a fair point. Personally I don't think AF is all that important for macro work, so maybe a manual focus macro lens will suit you. It depends upon the sort of macro shots you plan on taking.

Hmmm. I think I'm sufficiently wedded to new technology that I'll want a modern bayonet AF-capable lens, not least because most of them are also recommended as portrait lenses.

That's fine, and for portraiture AF can be very useful. The sort of macro work I do does not really benefit from AF, so I turn it off and focus manually, but for other types of work the AF stays on. It's more a matter of what is suitable for the purpose, what is ideal, what can be worked around if budjets are tight, and so on.

The technology is great, but not essential.

You can't really compare the two. Macro photography with an SLR takes you into a whole different ballpark of magnification. The "macro" setting on a compact camera should really be called "close-up focussing"

Yup, I fully accept that. Looking forward to 'real' macro though it may have to wait a little while. Not least because I've still got a lot of learning to do to master the K10D.