What do you think of the Tamron 60mm F2/2.0 macro lens?

[Zoa Junkie]

I can't really afford a 100mm macro lens, so I was wondering what others thought of the 60 macro lens from Tamron. Basically using it to take pics of random corals, and mostly top down pics of my zoas and palys that I intend to sell. Your tonight's and review are greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Asureef]

Have you considered Canon's 60mm f/2.8 macro?

 

The only thing I don't like about the tammy is its sluggish AF, but it has an extra stop over the Canon. But, really if you're going for detailed macros, you'll likely be shooting in the f/8.0+ range anyways. Though, I will say both are amazingly sharp.

 

I'd go

Tammy for the f/2.0 or Canon for the quiet USM AF motor.

 

BTW, I have the Canon 60mm and love it.

[Roam]

Hello Zoa, most of my macros are accomplished using an older manual focus lens. You will want to stop down quite a bit to increase your depth of field so don't get stuck on needing a fast aperture lens. There are many great manual focus 100mm or even 85mm. If you can find a 70-300mm with a close minimum focus you can use it as well, and they are cheap.

[Bishop]

I just don't like tamron lenses. Sigma is certainly a better aftermarket option. In the end though, the 60mm is gonna be nice for being a prime and the 2.0 stop on the tamron 60mm would make in a nice multi use lens great for everyday use and nice bokeh for portraits etc. The downside to a 60mm mm is that you need to be closer to the subject to get the macro which means a lot when you are using a macro for the reef tank.

[fort384]

I use the Tamron 60mm f/2.0 and have attained decent results using it with just a Canon Rebel T3. The AF is sluggish, but I never use the AF for reef Macro anyway. I don't find the need to be close to the subject to be too challenging - my pics are coming out of a 57 gallon tank and I can usually find the shot I want. It is also great for portrait shots and full tank shots, and the AF works much better for that application. Overall, the price and quality are right on it in my opinion. Here are some sample shots:

 

[Withers]

interesting, are those cropped at all? They look great

[TeflonTomDosh]

I'm looking @ picking up a macro lens for my sony nex-5rk. Is this one worth a shot?

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666347951

[fort384]

interesting, are those cropped at all? They look great

 

Yes, they are cropped, but no other post processing besides adding a water mark. They are all shot in full manual with a custom white balance.

 

I'm looking @ picking up a macro lens for my sony nex-5rk. Is this one worth a shot?

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666347951

Seems to have decent reviews for an entry level macro. It could have some difficulty, depending on where your subjects are located within your tank in terms of how close you can get.

[Withers]

Yes, they are cropped, but no other post processing besides adding a water mark. They are all shot in full manual with a custom white balance.

 

You don't have any of the uncropped versions hanging around do you? I would think that the major limiting factor for that lens would be working distance. I'd be interested to see how close it can get.

[fort384]

Yes but I'll have to WM them. Give me a few minutes.

[fort384]

Ok, here are some uncropped versions. These may not all be the exact same original image as the cropped versions above, since I have hundreds of raw images on my hard drive, but they should all be close - and they are all uncropped. I should also note that these don't necessarily represent minimum distance. Generally the camera is set back in these photos to make sure I capture the entire coral in frame, since my plan is to always crop anyway.

[fort384]

Here would be a good image that shows capability too - this is a non-cropped pic of a ric.