NEX-5 owner looking for decent macro lens

[--Laxe--]

Right, after playing around with my NEX-5 for a few weeks I'm looking into extending my lens range to include a macro lens. I've seen that the 30M28 is fairly affordable but cannot find any reviews on it. Has anyone used this lens? Is it any good? If not what would you recommend for a starter macro lens (i.e. value for money)?

I'm open to suggestions from other lens manufacturers also.

[BrianSmith]

That's a very good lens for the money. To use it on NEX, you'd need the Alpha Mount to NEX adapter if you don't already have one..

[pakodominguez]

Hello Laxe,

DK love the SAM 30M28 (and I think i would love it too if I had it...)
I think it will depends on what kind of macro you want to do -and your budget. As Brian said, if you plan to use a-mount lenses on your NEX, you'll need the AL-EA1 adapter.

Then, it will depend of what focal distance is better for your photography. My kit now is the NEX5 + SEL 16mm f2.8, Sigma 24mm 2.8 "macro", Minolta 50mm f2.8 Macro and the 100mm F2.8 SF. I can use the 50mm for macro stuff or even for portraits.

The Sony adapter is 200 US$, plus the price of the new lens... if it is out of your budget, you can get, by example, a NEX to Minolta MD adapter on eBay for about 75 dollars, and a Minolta MD 50mm f3.5 for 60 dollars (Adorama have one for 85 US$ http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20372577.html so I guess you can get one on eBay for 2/3 that price)

If you are going off brand, the new Sigma 70mm and Tamrom 60mm (APS only) have very good reviews.

Regards

[--Laxe--]

Thanks for the input guys! Yeah the mount adapters aren't too bad cost wise compared to the official A-mount for the NEX series so I have no qualms swapping but there are so many adapters out there (some look the same whilst others look plain cheap). Which adapter are you using for the Minolta Pako? Can you recommend a seller? I don't mind if it's a US seller since I'm sure most will ship to the UK.

Also I've noticed that Minolta lens only has manual aperture and focusing on it, how does it work with the NEX-5? Do I set it to program mode or something? Does the NEX-5 still handle the shutter speed automatically also if I use these legacy lenses?

[WaltKnapp]

Right, after playing around with my NEX-5 for a few weeks I'm looking into extending my lens range to include a macro lens. I've seen that the 30M28 is fairly affordable but cannot find any reviews on it. Has anyone used this lens? Is it any good? If not what would you recommend for a starter macro lens (i.e. value for money)?

I have the 30mm SAM macro. As a macro lens it's a bit of a joke, the working distance is way too close. If you just want to do closeups that will work if you don't get too close to macro. But macro itself is going to be a problem for lighting and scaring subjects.

You did not state what sort of thing you want to photograph with macro? That has a lot to do with what's ideal for a macro lens. If you want to cover the widest variety I'd recommend 100mm or so. Sony or Minolta D macro in A mount are quality choices. For macro it does not matter if you have AF or not and macro is best done with MF techniques.

Also what magnification do you want to reach in your macro shooting? A mount macro lenses tend to limit at 1:1, (lifesize on the sensor) but it should be possible to adapt a great many of the true macro lenses to the NEX. It is better to learn 1:1 macro before venturing into the higher magnifications, however.

Walt

[Mark K]

I have my 50/2.8 macro and it looks a huge lens...
DK had great review of 30/2.8 I am tempted to include this on my Nex system...but there comes my belief that Sony will release newer lenses soon

[--Laxe--]

Thanks for the input guys. I went with Pako's recommendation in the end and bought a Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 and a Vivitar Minolta MD 70-210mm f3.5 Macro plus an adapter all from Ebay! Looking forward to trying them! I don't mind using MF as I've been practising with MF on the 18-55mm kit lens. Will report back when I receive them.

[UrsaMajor]

Thanks for the input guys. I went with Pako's recommendation in the end and bought a Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 and a Vivitar Minolta MD 70-210mm f3.5 Macro plus an adapter all from Ebay! Looking forward to trying them! I don't mind using MF as I've been practising with MF on the 18-55mm kit lens. Will report back when I receive them.

The MD 50mm f:1.4 is a very nice general purpose lens, but it is not really a macro lens .

As was recommended above, if having a macro lens is important to you, the MD 50mm f:2.8 is a preferable choice in that focal length.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[--Laxe--]

Thanks for the input guys. I went with Pako's recommendation in the end and bought a Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 and a Vivitar Minolta MD 70-210mm f3.5 Macro plus an adapter all from Ebay! Looking forward to trying them! I don't mind using MF as I've been practising with MF on the 18-55mm kit lens. Will report back when I receive them.

The MD 50mm f:1.4 is a very nice general purpose lens, but it is not really a macro lens .

As was recommended above, if having a macro lens is important to you, the MD 50mm f:2.8 is a preferable choice in that focal length.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

Hey Ursa, yeah I know it's more general purpose but it was an affordable piece of glass I found when I was looking for a macro lens so I bought it anyway. Stupid question: why would the 50mm f2.8 be better than the f1.4? And is the 70-210mm not a good choice at all?

[OneGuyKs]

Thanks for the input guys. I went with Pako's recommendation in the end and bought a Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 and a Vivitar Minolta MD 70-210mm f3.5 Macro plus an adapter all from Ebay! Looking forward to trying them! I don't mind using MF as I've been practising with MF on the 18-55mm kit lens. Will report back when I receive them.

The MD 50mm f:1.4 is a very nice general purpose lens, but it is not really a macro lens .

As was recommended above, if having a macro lens is important to you, the MD 50mm f:2.8 is a preferable choice in that focal length.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

Hey Ursa, yeah I know it's more general purpose but it was an affordable piece of glass I found when I was looking for a macro lens so I bought it anyway. Stupid question: why would the 50mm f2.8 be better than the f1.4? And is the 70-210mm not a good choice at all?

It's not about being "better". 50mm F1.4 isn't a macro lens. It maybe be better for low lowlight when you need F1.4 but it's not a macro lens. Since 50mm F2.8 is a true macro, it has shorter minimum focus distance. You can get closer to the subject. Macro lenses are also sharpest at macro distances. The 70-210mm is probably not a true macro either. It's probably 1:2 or :1:3

[pakodominguez]

I don't think that there is a Minolta 50 f2.8 Macro MC or MD lens, but a 50mm f3.5 Macro.
IMHO, handling the 70-210 won't be easy. Then, I don't know if this lens is a real macro or just a "close focus" lens. You have to ask Olaf...
In any case, Minolta manual focus are still cheap, you can create your own collection with little money.
Regards

[KevinBarrett]

I'll bet the 70-210 serves better as a macro lens than the 50/1.4, but getting into MD lenses for your NEX-5 isn't a bad idea by any means. With that adapter, you'll get access to a lot of decent glass for cheap. Also, with live view and manual aperture control, you can get some spot-on focus in your exposures that the more integrated lenses with body-controlled aperture can't achieve. This is due to the tendency for some lenses to shift focus when the aperture closes down. Inexpensive, fully manual lenses with a digital back and functioning auto-exposure? Yes, please!

[Vidgamer]

How much macro do you need?

http://www.computingbits.com/gallery/ne ... 1_crop.jpg

(I can't embed the photo due to the size restrictions here.)

Using the Alpha adapter, I tried using my 55-200 lens, which is supposed to be a "1:4 macro", but I'm not sure it does any better than the kit lens, unless you can't get physically closer.

I do have one cheap lens (I paid $18 for it!) that is about a 1:2 macro, and I want to see if that is enough to allow me to photograph slides. I have a cheap closeup (diopter) filter, and the quality is lacking. With the cheap filter and kit lens, that was enough to satisfy family members with old memories, but I'd like to try to do better.

As for MD lenses, that's going to be your best bang-for-the-buck.

[Dusty]

I do have one cheap lens (I paid $18 for it!) that is about a 1:2 macro, and I want to see if that is enough to allow me to photograph slides. ..................

Hummmmmmmm,

Maybe a NEX and MD adaptor will be my best bet in getting my slides digitized. I still have my old Spiratone slide duplicator.

Dusty