Getting closer with Tamron 90mm macro lens

[rwalker]

Hi,

I am tempted to lay my hands on the Tamron 90mm macro lens. However, as the magnification ratio is only 1:1 and MOD is ~1 ft, this may not be enough to take smaller insets such as small butterfly or moth.

Is that true? How can we enlarge the magnification, eg via add on filters or extension tube? Appreciate if you can share your experience.

Thanks.

[benny]

The minimum focusing distance for this lens should be less than 30 cm (1 ft). I should think that it's in the region of 3 to 5 cm.

Cheers,

[budak]

This guy uses a Tamron 90mm macro. No issues taking tiny bugs.

[rwalker]

Thanks for the input.
3-5 cm? wow, that's good.
May be I misunderstood the term, Minimum Focus Distance (MFD). According to the Tamron web site, MFD for 90mm micro lens is 0.29m / 11.4".
http://www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/90mm.asp

[budak]

Read this review: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx

"The MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) is 11.4" (290mm) which allows for a minimum working distance of 3.9" (99mm) from the end of the lens (without the hood in place). A lens that extends this much at this short focus distance requires a little extra effort to prevent bumping a subject while making adjustments."

I haven't used the Tamron before but the available information indicates its effective working distance is in the expected range for a macro lens of its focal length. Your best strategy is to try the lens at a friendly shop to verify if it fits your expectation. From what I can see, it's certainly adequate to capture small insects, as long as you have the right method.

[Goondoo]

You can verify by fully extending your lenses in manual mode and slowly rocking your camera aiming on a dummy subject. It should be about 2-3 inch if I remember correctly.

[benny]

Sorry. My mistake. It's 9.9 cm. Read this link.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx

Hope it's clearer to you now. Another interesting read.

http://photo.net/equipment/canon/can-tam-macro/

Cheers,

[rwalker]

Thanks guys.
Learning something new today .

[hwchoy]

I believe minimum focus distance is from the image plane to the subject, but definitely not from the front element of the lens. both the tamron 90 and the canon 100 have roughly 30cm MFD.

[XnSdVd]

I have that lens. No problem shooting small subjects. Granted the following was blown up several times but you can imagine how close you have to be to the tank to get a shot like that.



Here's another, un-cropped shot

[hwchoy]

don't ever forget that, regardless of how close or how far you are from the subject, it is the magnification that counts. digicam adverts always hypes about "0cm macro" as if this magical short distance will produce a magically large magnification. it is patently wrong.

a 1:1 macro lens, regardless whether it is 60mm, 90mm, 100mm, 105mm, or 180mm, will always give you the same maximum magnification ie "life size" at the lens' minimum focus distance.

[StanChung]

With APSC we get 50% more magnification. So some consolation for us who don't have 5D or D3 to play with.