All Forum Comments
I think it's amazing how wonderful the macro world looks. I like your lighting on the last one, no hotspots or shadows and the focus on the eye is great.
Comment by walt posted on 2 flies and a beetle at 02/08/2018 - 14:43
I assume there must be some lens quality control issues with the last 2 posts, where purple fringing comes up as a problem on both and neither.... Thanks for the feedback.
Just a note to say, that I did try and make it clear that the working distance was taken from the front of the lens not the sensor in my previous comments.
I'm still unsure on what to do as none of the Pentax fit macros meet all my requirements. I'll keep my eye out but I don't think I've ruled out anything yet. Yesterday I went out with the FA 100 F3.5 on the KP, today I went out with the Sigma 180 F3.5 macro on the KP and my Olympus macro setup. There is no doubt about it the Olympus suits me very well, I just wish there was something in Pentax land that matched it's features as I'm really enjoying the KP, much more than any other Pentax I've owned.
Just a note to say, that I did try and make it clear that the working distance was taken from the front of the lens not the sensor in my previous comments.
I'm still unsure on what to do as none of the Pentax fit macros meet all my requirements. I'll keep my eye out but I don't think I've ruled out anything yet. Yesterday I went out with the FA 100 F3.5 on the KP, today I went out with the Sigma 180 F3.5 macro on the KP and my Olympus macro setup. There is no doubt about it the Olympus suits me very well, I just wish there was something in Pentax land that matched it's features as I'm really enjoying the KP, much more than any other Pentax I've owned.
richandfleur wrote:
That Tamron is really good. When setting the individual lens calibration values on my cameras, this was the only lens I had that didn't require adjustment, and I was blown away with the definition when checking the focus points. Also almost complete lack of chromatic aberration also, which plagued my Tamron 70-300 zoom lens.
Would highly recommend either to be honest, you can't really go wrong and it's more down to do you need WR for example.
Thanks for that. I had 2 copies of the Tamron 70-300 one suffered purple fringing a lot more than the other, but I'd wish not to have any purple fringing to deal with on macros.That Tamron is really good. When setting the individual lens calibration values on my cameras, this was the only lens I had that didn't require adjustment, and I was blown away with the definition when checking the focus points. Also almost complete lack of chromatic aberration also, which plagued my Tamron 70-300 zoom lens.
Would highly recommend either to be honest, you can't really go wrong and it's more down to do you need WR for example.
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 01/08/2018 - 18:01
davidwozhere wrote:
Image quality between the Pentax and Tamron versions is about the same - damned good. I don't find any problem with the Tamron auto/manual clutch. The focusing ring is gigantic and the fore and aft movement is about 1/8th inch.
I think I'd be pretty happy with the image quality of either, although re-reading a test in a close-up photography magazine the Pentax 100 WR was substandard in the image quality. However even the mag said they thought this was unusual and felt that their lens was faulty. The thing it did point out to me that I'd forgotten about is that the tamron SP 90 2.8 Di has a pretty short min working distance from the front of the lens of 9cm, whereas most macros in this range have between 11-15cm with the Pentax being 13cm. Something else for me to mull over. Image quality between the Pentax and Tamron versions is about the same - damned good. I don't find any problem with the Tamron auto/manual clutch. The focusing ring is gigantic and the fore and aft movement is about 1/8th inch.
Thanks to all who took the time to help me try and make my mind up. It may take a while..... or a bargain...
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 27/07/2018 - 18:19
JAK wrote:
The 100mm macro tends to left on my K-1 ready for anything unusual that turns up in the garden!
Sounds good, I'll keep my eye out for one. Thanks.walt wrote:
It's more of a focus barrel than a ring, and it doesn't rotate during AF.JAK wrote:
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Thanks that was very helpful. One more question if I may, does the focus ring rotate during AF?......
The 100mm macro tends to left on my K-1 ready for anything unusual that turns up in the garden!
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 23:33
JAK wrote:
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Thanks that was very helpful. One more question if I may, does the focus ring rotate during AF?......
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 23:06
walt wrote:
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I see the pentax DFA 100 (not WR) had a focus limiter, but I don't know if it had manual focus override.
Thanks
I've just re-read a review of the DFA 100 (not WR) and it appears it doesn't have a focus limiter but I can't edit my original post.........
I see the pentax DFA 100 (not WR) had a focus limiter, but I don't know if it had manual focus override.
Thanks
It is the FA 100 that has the limiter, but I assume doesn't have quick shift?
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 19:12
Algernon wrote:
The 100mm f/3.5 is a rebadged Cosina. You can also get the Cosina version. It came with a close up lens for 1:1. Cheap and poorly made.
New one for Nikon can be had for £87
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cosina-AF-100mm-f-3-5-MC-Macro-for-Nikon-with-matched...
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Tempting.... now all I need is a Nikon camera to mount it on.The 100mm f/3.5 is a rebadged Cosina. You can also get the Cosina version. It came with a close up lens for 1:1. Cheap and poorly made.
New one for Nikon can be had for £87
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cosina-AF-100mm-f-3-5-MC-Macro-for-Nikon-with-matched...
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Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 18:45
Algernon wrote:
The 100mm f/3.5 is a rebadged Cosina. You can also get the Cosina version. It came with a close up lens for 1:1. Cheap and poorly made.
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Yep it was cheap, £80 new from SRS in the early 90's when it first came out. I've been using it since then on many different bodies, inc Panasonic/Olympus. I liked it's output and light weight so much I tried it on my Canon 30D and the results were good enough for me to go out and buy the Vivitar version of it for my Canon kit.The 100mm f/3.5 is a rebadged Cosina. You can also get the Cosina version. It came with a close up lens for 1:1. Cheap and poorly made.
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As for poorly made it's still going 25 years or so after it was bought and well used, so I'm not sure what more you could ask?
I think the major difference is the smc coating on the Pentax version, you can see quite a difference in coating between that and the vivitar.
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 18:43
RobL wrote:
I find the Pentax 100mm macro gives excellent results and as Jak says works well with the Pentax AF160 ring flash. It zooms in and out to focus and the front element with the filter thread doesn’t rotate. I only wish it had a silent motor built in as it can be a bit slow and noisy to focus, and there is a not uncommon problem of the aperture lever sticking, caused apparently by lubricant leaking onto the aperture leaves. This can be fixed as mine has been and it has worked fine since, but something to be aware of especially if buying secondhand.
Thanks the sticking aperture lever is something I was not aware of, is that the D-FA 100 WR, non WR or all?I find the Pentax 100mm macro gives excellent results and as Jak says works well with the Pentax AF160 ring flash. It zooms in and out to focus and the front element with the filter thread doesn’t rotate. I only wish it had a silent motor built in as it can be a bit slow and noisy to focus, and there is a not uncommon problem of the aperture lever sticking, caused apparently by lubricant leaking onto the aperture leaves. This can be fixed as mine has been and it has worked fine since, but something to be aware of especially if buying secondhand.
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 17:53
johnriley wrote:
The Pentax macro lenses are all excellent, so you can't go far wrong. There are also plenty of other makes that are also excellent - it's quite difficult to find a poor macro lens.
So it's down to features really, and what suits your personal requirements.
I've used quite a few macro lenses and I've been happy with all of them.
I agree, my FA 100 F3.5 is probably one of the poorest macros going but it's still pretty good for me. I'm just trying to nail down what the features are on some of these lenses as the reviews don't always make it clear.The Pentax macro lenses are all excellent, so you can't go far wrong. There are also plenty of other makes that are also excellent - it's quite difficult to find a poor macro lens.
So it's down to features really, and what suits your personal requirements.
I've used quite a few macro lenses and I've been happy with all of them.
Comment by walt posted on Tamron SP 90 macro or Pentax 100 WR macro at 26/07/2018 - 17:52
