Mike Moats
12-12-2008, 11:35 AM
In my workshops I teach that you don't have to buy the top of the line equipment (cameras, lenses, tripod, heads,etc.)and mortgage your house to make good macro images. I always recommend for macro that if you can afford it, go with a macro lens in the longer focal lengths (150 or up). In the last few workshops, some of my students were using a Sigma APO DG 70-300 zoom macro lens. Viewing their images in photoshop I was quite impress with what I saw, which was very good sharpness. It has a macro ratio of 1 to 2 instead of the true macro lens which offer a 1 to 1 ratio, but hey its pretty close and none of the students with this lens were having any problems shooting the subjects in the workshops. I went home and checked out the price of this lens and was shocked that it only cost $149.00:eek:. I decide I had to buy one and try it for myself. I compared the Sigma 70-300 against my Sigma 180 macro and will admit that it wasn't as sharp as the 180 but it was pretty darn good for $149.00. The macro range on this lens only works in the 200mm to 300mm range which is what I wanted for. I went out yesterday and shot a ton of different subjects and got very good results. I had to do a tad more sharpening than I do with the 180, but it worked out fine. In the past at my introduction to macro workshops many of the new comers that were there to learn about what equipment was needed for macro were not in a position to buy a lens only for macro and I would let them know that they could still shoot macro with their regular lens and add extension tubes to shoot in closer. The tubes on the low cost end run about $159.00 for a set of three and are a hassle to deal with adding and subtracting as you move in and out from the subject. Now I can recommend a low cost option for less than a set of tubes and less the hassle of working with the tubes. This was one of the images I shot and you can see it looks really nice coming out of a $149.00 lens. I varied shots with standing subjects with blurred BG and it also worked well. This is my usual leaf type image (Leaves are encased in ice) and since I've been posting some ice abstracts I'll show you some done with the 70-300.
Fuji S5, Sigma 70-300 macro, Tripod, Natural light, f/32
Fuji S5, Sigma 70-300 macro, Tripod, Natural light, f/32