Want to try macro

after seeing some of the great macro pictures on the forum im inspired to have a go ! have been offered a tamron 90mm f2.5 with case ,hood and 1:1 tube in near mint condition for £140 , do you think i should go down this route or save up and go for a more modern option ? it would be used in conjunction with a k200d . any comments /advice appreciated.
tim.

I thought the Tamron 90mm Macro lens produced 1:1 macro by itself. Where does the 1:1 tube come into it?

Just about any lens that is made specifically for macro work will be a very good lens. Auto focus is not necessary as the DOF available means manual focus is generally the norm.

So, if you can get a 'proper' macro lens, manual or auto focus, for a reasonable price, go for it. My recommendation would be certainly no less than 90mm focal length. The longer the focal length, the more distance you can keep between you and your subject, which means you won't frighten the little devils away (that assumes you are after live subjects).

I am presuming its the Tamron Adaptall 2 52/55B version ?

Does it come with a Pentax mount?

If it does and its the PK/A vesion then £140 is a pretty reasonable price, if its the PK mount or non at all the its expensive.

As for the lens, I have one and without the tube its 1:2 magnification and a pretty good lens for portraits, add the tubes and it turns into a 1:1 macro .. the quality is superb.

For a more modern option you are looking at £2/300 for a AF macro lens and to be honest they are no better IQ wise and you will very rarely use AF for macro anyway.

theres no mount but i already own a pka adapter , i know there are cheaper lens only items on fleabay, but then id need to purchase a sp 2x convertor to get 1:1. ive only ever seen one tamron 1x tube for the sp90 and they wanted £70. in a bit of a quandry !

Well put it this way, I bought mine on Ebay .. I got the lens, case, optional hood, macro tube, some background cards and a mist spray all in mint condition boxed in a presentation pack along with a PK/A and a screw mount adapter. To be honest I only bought it for the PK/A mount itself as I have the Adaptall II 72B macro which doesn't need the adapter for 1:1 and a D-FA 100mm.

I will sell you the full pack I have less the mount for the same price and I guarantee it will be in better condition

It depends on how macro you want to go, I love macro and have been trying with a variety of lenses, just bought a cheapy from ebay, here link have a look at my portfolio to find out which way you want to go.

The Tamron 90mm macro is a quality lens.

Jackitec.I got my macro tubes off fleabay yesterday and i'm off work next week.If the wife doesn't invent loads of jobs i'll be clicking

jackitec have had a look at your pictures ,you got quite a bargain there, that swimming pool looks inviting especilly today !
have made a bid on a sp90 , will keep you posted , thanks,

Martin good luck with your macro's the Sigma 105mm is pretty good and I would love it, but the price