Zoom and Macro?

I have recently acquired a K-5II and so my K-r now has less use. But a friend of mine has expressed an interest in Macro photography although is not too fussed about having to change lenses for general photography and I thought if I could find a reasonable walk around lens with macro facility included then it might be an option for the K-r.

However I did some research and found a Sigma 18-250 Lens which supposedly has a macro mode but the more I delve into the detail the more I think that it is not really a proper macro close up ability, just marketing hype to sell more lenses.

So I am now wondering if a MX-1 would be more suitable as it is more compact, has a macro feature and a zoom from 28-112mm equivalent.

Has anyone any thoughts on these two options for macro photography with a general walk around zoom facility or can you suggest another lens suitable for use the the K-r or something else completely?

Many thanks,

As far as I know there is no such thing as a true 1:1 zoom macro lens, they are (as you rightly presumed) just able to focus a little closer than most zooms. If I am out and about and not carrying my macro lens then I usually take a Raynox DCR-250 which is a small add on element that attaches to the front of the lens and allows you to shoot macro. It works best on longer zooms (allows you to get closer) but is perfectly acceptable from about 150mm.

this was taken with the Raynox on a 50-135mm f2.8 (cropped)


Fly by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

Hi Andy,

I have a K-r and use it for macro photography. I don't profess to be anything other than a beginner but to experiment and see how it goes the K-r works well and you do not need to get a mass of expensive kit.

I initially tried a cheap set of extension tubes with a manual Pentax M 50mm, and occasionally a tele-converter. Reversed lenses and finally a Raynox and a zoom.

The Raynox and a 70-210mm zoom was most convenient and produced some reasonable shots and it is easily removed to use the lens for normal photography. I preferred the DCR 150 as I used the camera flash. The 250 will need a flash as the lens tends to shade the subject when using the camera flash. I also had some issues with vignetting. Although this could also be due to the lens I used with it.

The example below is with a Vivitar Series 1 70-210 and a Raynox DCR 150 on camera flash, the zoom would be set at around 150mm but I can't remember how much the image is cropped. There are better lenses to use it with but it was what I had at the time.

cheers,

Jez

Well thanks to both of you for your input. I had never heard of a Raynox before but it does sound like a pretty good solution. Thank you.