Tamron SP90 Di

[roadrider]

Hi,

Just got my Tamron SP90 Macro 1:1 DI version. Kinda dissapointed cause most of the macro pics are blur. Even at shots taken at 1/125 @ f2.8 were dissapointing. Out of 20 macro shots taken, only 2/3 were ok. I was able to take nice macro with my ultra compact camera. Is there anything wrong with my lens? Or my technique? Thanks for any feedback.

[Alan Neilson]

Can you post some shots so we can see what they are like. See if it the lens or what you are doing. I have this and it's ok. What you have to remeber is that you get very shallow DoF with macro shots and have to really stop down to get a lot in focus. Hope this helps.

[Jon]

When you're playing in the macro range, 1/125 is pretty slow for hand-held, and the DoF at f/2.8 and 1:1 is 1-2 mm. You might want to use a tripod and stop down a couple. Remember, your lens is extended out to 180 mm length at life-size, so you have to figure your safe hand-held speed on that length rather than on the actual focal length.

[roadrider]

Thanks for the replies guys. Appreciate it. Also I noticed the focusing motor is quite noisy. Is this normal?

[Alan Neilson]

Yes the lens is quite noisy, certiainly compared to a canon lens with USM or simliar on other makes.

[Olegis]

The blurry macro pictures result mostly from extremely narrow depth of field. Even if the shutter speed is fast enough to freeze the motion of the photographer, the slightest camera movement to or from the subject will create out-of-focus photograph - that's why it's so important to use a tripod for this kind of shooting.