Macro - Tamron 90mm or Canon 100

[martinsmith]

For shooting insects mainly but also to shoot portraits on a 400D.

Or another good macro lens at 90mm+.

Thanks

[Jarrad]

Either is fine. I use the Canon 100 and I'm happy with it.

[pmarz]

They are both exceptional lenses.

[Tee Why]

Photo.net has a comparison of the two IIRC. They seem pretty much the same to me.

Tamron is cheaper, especially with the large current rebate and comes with a hood and a bag, but it's AF is slower and noisier and it extends with focusing.

Canon is is more expensive and the lens does not extend with AF'ing, but the front element is very near the front of the lens barrel and it would be a good idea to get a hood, which unfortunately you have to pay for.

Both would be good for portraits as well.

[photobitz]

Both are great lenses but I just love the FTM focus on the Canon.

[martinsmith]

I'm leaning towards the tamron but I hear it's soft past F8, which for macro I'm likely to be.

[Lester Wareham]

For shooting insects mainly but also to shoot portraits on a 400D.

Or another good macro lens at 90mm+.

Thanks

Either are good, but the Canon has interal focus with ring USM. A lot of people don't like extending lenses for macro and of course for normal use IF and USM will give faster and smoother AF.

[Tsmith]

Either are good, but the Canon has interal focus with ring USM. A lot of people don't like extending lenses for macro and of course for normal use IF and USM will give faster and smoother AF.

Although I don't have either but when doing research on these your points are why I'd spend the extra funds and go with the canon.

[ShotByTom]

I thought the 100mm was too long for portraits on a crop camera and wanted and 85, so I went with the 70mm, its a great lens.

There's a great deal on a Sigma 70mm f2.8 Macro down there---\/

[martinsmith]

I thought the 100mm was too long for portraits on a crop camera and wanted and 85, so I went with the 70mm, its a great lens.

There's a great deal on a Sigma 70mm f2.8 Macro down there---\/
It's such a great lens that you're selling it?

[RPCrowe]

Both the Tamron and the Canon macros are great lenses. I don't know of anyone who is unhappy owning either of these lenses.

The Tamron loses value to a greater degree than the Canon when sold used.

This, IMO, makes the Tamron a better value on the used market and may make the Canon a better value if purchased new.

If you REALLY WANT A GOOD VALUE, have patience and watch for the previous model Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Macro. This is the model without the "di" in the Tamron alphabet soup of lens designations.

The Di model ostensibly is optimized for digital but, I have a non-Di model and I don't know how the Di lens could provide better IQ. My non-Di model provides IQ up there with my 17-55mm f/2.8L and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. That is pretty heady company.

I got my Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Macro lens in mint condition, on eBay, for less that $125, including shipping. That is about the price of a good set of extension tubes. I would NEVER sell this lens for the price I bought it.

By the way, there was a Tamron "Adaptall" 90mm f/2.5 Macro Lens. I would stay away from this model.

[Mr. Clean]

If price is not a concern then buy the Canon and get the hood and tripod collar.

[yogestee]

I love my Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Macro..:D

[ShotByTom]

It's such a great lens that you're selling it?

Yes, I am buying a 28-70 2.8 L and need to sell some lenses to cover it. Since I don't have time to do anything fun with it, I need to sell it and a couple of other lenses.

[Lester Wareham]

If price is not a concern then buy the Canon and get the hood and tripod collar.

To the OP:

Tip #1, the tripod collar is the TMA-B, this comes with quite a few lenses so if you are getting one of those shortly share the collar, alternatively there might be cheap knock offs on Ebay.

The retail TMA-B also comes with a plastic ring adaptor only used by the 100mm macro. However this can be obtained very cheaply as a spare part from a Canon parts supplier. I have a page about this here http://www.zen20934.zen.co.uk/photography/macroMTF/tma%20for%20100mm.htm

Having said that the lens is perfectly usable with a camera L-Plate or even just a ball head and straight mount screw into the bottom of the camera (the latter a lot more problematic in real life), so the collar although desirable in some situations isn’t essential.


Tip #2, a hood is essential for ambient light work as the front element is not recessed. As the 100mm macro hood is fairly large I sometimes use the hood intended for the EF-S 60mm macro (which has the same mount). Although this provides less protection from stray light it reduces problems of blocking the light on your subject or giving your approach away in the case of insects.