Tamron 90mm macro

[Stormchase]

I know this is a little burned out of a question :-/ Been looking at it tho. Is it a Good choice for the money? It's a 2.8 I believe.

 

[Overread]

Is it good for the money: Yes and no. Yes it is a great macro lens and yes it is a great price and a very popular choice.

However what are you intending to use the lens for? That is the key part which will determin if the lens is the correct choice or if there are better options.

 

[rocdoc]

I have been looking at this lens as well. It seems extremely interesting. The competitor for me is the Nikon 85mm 1.8, which is smaller, better built and has better bokeh (or yeah, and another 1+ stop...), but the Tammy is a macro, slightly longer reaching and slightly cheaper. I am very interested what others have to say.

 

[Derrel]

The Tamron's bokeh is actually quite lovely--prettier than the 85/1.8 AF-D Nikkor in my opinion. At wider apertures, like f/2.8 to f/4.5, the Tamron 90 compares pretty favorably with many short and medium telephoto lenses.

There are versions of the Tamron 90 that have in-lens focusing motors,and other versions that rely on in-body focusing. Most macro lenses are considered rather slow at autofocusing,and so for action work, or moving subjects, a short telephoto lens will almost always autofocus faster and more reliably and with greater accuracy at "portrait" or 'field" distances. Macro lenses have long,slow focusing throws in the 1:1 to around the 2 meter focusing range--but farther than about 2 meters, and a macro lens typically has an ultra-short focusing range that moves from 2 meters to 3 meters and directly to Infinity in a scant few degrees; this makes focusing, either AF or manual, very hair-trigger at typical portrait and field distances.

For shooting regular,everyday subjects, an 85mm Nikon or Canon lens will work great,even on moving subjects; the Tamron 90 is optimized for close-range focusing,and at longer distances, you might experience mis-focusing, focus hunting, and downright 'missed' focus in a lot of situations where the 85/1.8 will simply nail the focus. This behavior is not particular to the Tamron 90--in fact most macro lenses behave similarly,and establishing precise focus with a macro lens beyond 10 feet can often be a very taxing endeavor; many AF systems will,in fact, ever-so-slightly miss the focus point in continuous AF mode, and in Single Shot AF mode, establishing a focus lock with a macro lens at 15-20 feet can be somewhat challenging on a consistent basis. Not that a modern AF system can not ever focus a macro lens at longer distances--it is just that the "hit rate" using a macro lens is far below that of a regular field telephoto, especially in fast-moving or challenging situations.

 

[chip]

I have read good reviews on the Tamron [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AF SP 90mm macro lens.

AF272NII700 Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di 1:1 AF Macro Auto Focus Lens for Nikon AF - with 6 Year USA Warranty

Costs about $400 which is reasonable. It does not have IS or VR is the only drawback.
[/FONT]

 

[Stormchase]

Is it good for the money: Yes and no. Yes it is a great macro lens and yes it is a great price and a very popular choice.

However what are you intending to use the lens for? That is the key part which will determin if the lens is the correct choice or if there are better options.

I'm looking for a a lens to learn macro photography. I want a lens faster then my current kit lens.

 

[verticalization]

I bought this lens from a friend last spring.. it was between the tamron 90mm, or the canon 100mm macro. The tamron ended up being cheaper for me, so I went with it. Couldnt be happier, havn't gotten a chance to use it for portraits, but.. by the DOF and bokeh i've gotten on just my general shots, I think it will be awesome.

the 90mm makes it nice for shooting insects and what not, not having to be soo close.. gives you a bit longer before you scare them off.
but, hand held up super close (with the hood on, your subject will almost be inside the hood at minimum focus distance) makes for a shaky shot.. so a fast shutter speed, or tripod is definitely needed.

just my thoughts

 

[Derrel]

I took this shot with the Tamron 90mm macro at an effective aperture of f/4.8, using out of focus foreground bokeh to frame the upper right hand quadrant's bloom. I used a Nikon SC-17 remote cord and a small,air-inflated soft box (approx. 5x7 inch model) held off to the side to simulate daylight on a very cold, cloudy February afternoon when these miniature crocus came into bloom. The photo loses a lot of impact seen this small, as a web-reduced shot. The original shot is quite stunning compared to this small one.

 

[thebeatles]

^^^very nice^^^

 

[TJ K]

Nice man.

 

[Inst!nct]

^^^very nice^^^

yea, i really want this lens, i want A macro lens to begin with, its such a cool world and i wish i could be "part" of it without having all these sharpness issues

btw what happened to your camera beatles?

 

[Stormchase]

Yup great shot Derrel! From what I have learned about bokeh it looks good. I think I'm going to get it. I think that with some tubes I should be busy for a while. Thanks for all of the good info peeps!