Tech Talk – Tamron 90mm Macro Lens Review

A little while ago I bought a Tamron 90mm Macro lens, an early Christmas Present (yes Moth got a new lens too! But that’s another post), and as much as I was excited to get it and use it, I really have not had much of a chance to do anything with it! So I carved out some time recently to spend with my new little friend, although he really isn’t that little!

At 405g (14oz) and 9.7mm (3.8″) it’s not that little. It has 9 diaphragm blades and f/2.8 (macro 1:1), so it is quite a jump from my 50mm prime (I still love my nifty 50!)………. I really wanted something that would create a lovely bokeh effect (9 blade diaphragm is supposedly very good for this), and something I can shoot my flowers and things with, not so much bugs (not really a bug person), but I also like random textures, rusted nails sticking out of wood, that sort of thing. You can get all the specs here from Tamron. It is supposed to be the lightest 90mm lens on the market (at the time of purchase, [Canon 600g, the Sigma 450g]). add that to the weight of my D7100 and it’s fairly hefty!

I know when shooting macro, you are better off to use a tripod, but honestly I often find it a pain, as I am down low, or on a really strange angle, which I cannot get the tripod at. Tripod is OK for still life type shots, but for the everyday shots I am OK with out the tripod…………….unless I want to attempt a stacked shot. I find it is also really nice for portraits (well of the dog anyway 🙂 )I find it is a little soft, not as crisp as my Nikon 50mm, I have found that with some lenses (Sigma and Tamron) where as with the Nikons, they are all super sharp. I don’t mind, perhaps I need to play with the manual focus a little more?