Which 'macro lens' advise

[ColinC]

Marc,

I too have a 400D and also use the Tamron 90mm and would throughly recommend this lens. I find you can stalk most species with this combo and for flighty butterflies I either get up early or use a 2x converter or 400mm F5.6 (my birding lens) with a extension tube.

I personally liked the handling of the Tamron over the Sigma 100mm plus its resolution wide open is second to none which makes it ideal for underwing shots with blurred backgrounds; plus those early morning shots when light's at a premium. Its autofocusing however is slow and noisey compared to a Canon USM lens buts that's what you pay the extra £100 for. I didn't bother with a 150mm lens as I also have a 1.4x converter - easier to go up than down.

My only bug bear is that the 400D can be noisey when shooting raw at ISO 400 and even ISO 200 with the shutter speed around 1/50 sec. Roll on the 50D.

Colin

[NickB]

Marc,

I too have a 400D and also use the Tamron 90mm and would throughly recommend this lens.

My only bug bear is that the 400D can be noisey when shooting raw at ISO 400 and even ISO 200 with the shutter speed around 1/50 sec. Roll on the 50D.

Colin

Ah - Nikon do seem to be a little better on the noise front then - Grand Poohbah?
(At least I didn't mention in-body image stabilisation and give Eccles a chance to remind us...! Oh, damn!)

[eccles]

Nick, I don't think you can compare noise across the board any more as different models in a manufacturer's line up have different noise levels and types. They have all been developed at different times, and the 400D has been around for long enough now for other models to have overtaken it. It is still a fine entry level camera though, and you should be able to get good photos at iso 400 from it. However, the further you push a sensor up the scale the more accurate your metering has to be. Even a slight underexposure will punish you with noisy photos.
BTW, there is no need to mention in-body image stabilisation any more as those without it will already have decent tripods to compensate.

[it344x]

I've had the pleasure of owning a 150mm sigma macro for about a year, and despite its slow focus it produces pin-sharp images with my canon 30d body. It also has the advantage of being a pretty decent 150mm telephoto lens at the same time , which does come in handy. I have no experience of other macro lenses , but I trawled for advice and reviews before choosing & I am very happy with it.
My father bought it for me from B&H Video in NY, where it cost the same in dollars as it does in pounds here

regards
Martin
( www.mgnastro.org )