Thoughts on these 4 lenses please

Rocket

Rocket

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Looking for some personal thoughts on these 4 lenses please. looking to work on some macro with my D750.

Tokina At-x 90mm macro.
Tokina AT-X 100 PRO D macro
Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro.
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro.

Thanks

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Rocket said:
Tokina AT-X 100 PRO D macro

Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro.


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As far as sharpness goes I think most macro lenses are hard to fault.

I had the Tokina and it was fine. The clutch operation for switching from auto to manual focus is useful. It's small and light too.

I've got the G2 Tamron now and think it's a little better. Certainly faster focusing than any of the other macro lenses I've used, and there are three choices for focus limiting which is good when using it as a non-macro lens (which is what I use it for mostly).

Both lenses used on a D750.
 
I know the sigma to be a quality lens, but as Ed says above, macro lenses from reputable manufacturers are generally excellent.

something at the back of my mind thinks the tokina changes length during focussing (could be wrong though) which is something to be aware of if you want to get close to live beasties

Mike
 
I think that although macro lenses can tend to be very good there are still a few things to think about including the working distance you want and perspective and also any other use for the lens. For example some macro lenses are quite slow to focus and may therefore be less suitable for other uses needing a faster acting lens.
 
Thanks all, good advise. Think i will have a shop round.
 
The Tokinas are screw drive I think, not sure about the Tamron unless a newer model....

I have the other iteration of the Tokina 100, the Pentax D-FA. Great lens, and sharp but when your other lens is a Nikkor 105 VR, screw drive is a considerable disadvantage.

I also had a Sigma maco, but the 180 f3.5, same attributes as the Pentax but rendered useless when D810 firmware was upgraded. Still worked on the D500 but not the D810. Hence it got replaced by the Nikkor.

So, I would suggest you looking at Nikkor 105s.
 
Played with the Tamron and Sigma options some years back and ended up with the Tamron purely because a copy ended up on a local second hand shelf before a Sigma did. Now replaced with the Nikkor which is certainly better but possibly not as much so as the price difference suggests. It does have VR though which is great when it's being used for other things than Macro.
 
welshwizard645 said:
I also had a Sigma macro, but the 180 f3.5, same attributes as the Pentax but rendered useless when D810 firmware was upgraded. Still worked on the D500 but not the D810.
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Could you please explain how a firmware upgrade rendered a lens useless?
 
Lost all AF functions. It worked fine on the D500, while there were no issues with other lenses on the D810.

Sigma refused to rectify the lens I had because it was an EX and not 'Global Vision' (ie Art/Sport/Contemporary) and I wasn't going to reverse the D810 update.
 
welshwizard645 said:
Lost all AF functions. It worked fine on the D500, while there were no issues with other lenses on the D810.

Sigma refused to rectify the lens I had because it was an EX and not 'Global Vision' (ie Art/Sport/Contemporary) and I wasn't going to reverse the D810 update.
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Sure sounds like ignorant engineering to me. I'll stick with what I have, thank you!.
 
Winslowe said:
Sure sounds like ignorant engineering to me. I'll stick with what I have, thank you!.
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It's probably more like Sigma can't be expected to take old lenses back and make them compatible with cameras and firmware released years after the lens was made. Unfortunately this is an issue with 3rd party lenses when the lens maker has to back engineer the camera manufacturers AF tech because the camera manufacturer wont supply the lens maker with technical information.

If you look at Nikon their camera/lens compatibility is IMO a minefield even if looking at only Nikon lenses so it's quite easy to understand why a Sigma lens, for example, designed to work on a camera 10 years ago wont work well or at all on a 10 years newer camera with different AF tech and firmware.
 
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woof woof said:
It's probably more like Sigma can't be expected to take old lenses back and make them compatible with cameras and firmware released years after the lens was made. Unfortunately this is an issue with 3rd party lenses when the lens maker has to back engineer the camera manufacturers AF tech because the camera manufacturer wont supply the lens maker with technical information.

If you look at Nikon their camera/lens compatibility is IMO a minefield even if looking at only Nikon lenses so it's quite easy to understand why a Sigma lens, for example, designed to work on a camera 10 years ago wont work well or at all on a 10 years newer camera with different AF tech and firmware.
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Sure glad I have no need for autofocus!
 
I have the Tamron 90mm F004 version. It's really good, though I've not really compared it to anything else. I used it on crop sensor first, then on full frame and now full frame mirrorless.
I did need to send the lens off to get the firmware updated (for free) to allow it to function on my mirrorless Canon RP, but still functions beautifully.
 
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