Macro Lens.

[Akshay Kumar Manjunath]

Dear All,

I am planing to buy Sigma Macro lens F2.8 USM , It will cost me 22K.

Wanted to know much about this lens and can you guys suggest me any other lens for my macro photography.

Regards,
Akshay

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Are you talking about the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG HSM lens? That costs about 22k INR.

If budget is not a big constraint, then I would suggest you to go for the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro autofocus lens. It costs about 24k INR in US, and should cost the same in India as well. Its a very sharp and good lens.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Akshay Kumar Manjunath]

Hi Sabyasachi,

Ya i am talking about the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG HSM lens

Thanks for your suggestion and i read reviews about the lens which you have suggested its reall good and i will check out the price with the nearest dealer in Bangalore.

And Another Query what is the difference between HSM nad USM lenses?

Regards,
Akshay

[Jitendra Katre]

tamron 90mm macro has very good ratings in many reviews(e.g.Bob Atkins,better photography,the-digital-picture,etc.),at par with canon 100mm and better than sigma 105mm,check before you buy anything.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

HSM in Sigma lenses stands for Hyper Sonic Motor.

USM in Canon lenses stands for Ultra Sonic Motor.

The Tamron 90mm is a fine lens, less weight and cheaper as well. The build quality is slightly lower than the Sigma 105mm, but is acceptable. The front element extends to about 2 inches or so during focussing. In some cases, when you are close focussing, that can become an issue. So before buying better to check the lens physically and take the decision whether it suits the needs or not.

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Dear Sabyasachi,
Your thoughts on the new EF 100 f2.8 L IS macro and toss up between this and the older 100 f2.8. The newer one is almost double in price at rs.50,000/-
Regards
Dipankar

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Since I dont have a DSLR system, I dont know much about macro lenses, but I have heard that the Sigma 105mm is good. I have heard that its only disadvantage is the autofocus system, but manual focus is usually preferred when photographing small subjects like insects. Of course, the fast and accurate autofocus system of the Canon would be an advantage when shooting things like skittish reptiles. The stationary front element of the Canon is also an advantage.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Dear Dipankar,
I haven't tested the Canon EF 100mm f2.8 L IS USM lens till date. I am awaiting a copy to test.

This lens is the first in Canon to have the hybrid image stabilisation system. Canon claims that this new image stabilisation system gives 4 stop benefit. I am not sure at close range ie. at 1:1 magnification how effective it is.

Considering that the depth of field at 1:1 magnification will be pretty low, one has to employ a narrow aperture like f11, f16, f22 etc to bring more areas into focus. Naturally, at such apertures, the shutter speed will be too low. Theoretically the 4 stop IS benefit sounds good, however at 1:1 magnification the benefit is supposed to be 2 stops. If you consider rule of thumb, a 100 mm lens needs 1/100 shutter speed to give sharp images. 2 stops IS benefit on that means 1/25th of second shutter speed should give sharp results. If this comes true, then in some situations you can get away handholding.

This is a L series lens. L denotes Luxury in Canon's lens lineup. So this is expected to be better quality wise.

Apart from the macro use, this lens can also be used as a general purpose lens. It would be good while shooting video. Lets see when I can test it.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi