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Hey all,

I know I have been asking about what to buy next for a little while, but I think I may have come down to another choice, so damn decisive of me isnt it? MACRO - make that TELE Macro which essentially boils down to either the Tamron SP 180mm f/3.5 (which I have played with in the past) or the Sigma APO 180mm EX II DG HSM (no exp with but everyone here seems to recommend it).

So the question now is, who has either one of these lenses that I can maybe meet up with on a saturday morning/afternoon with so I can get some hands on time with them. This hopefully means someone in the Inner City Sydney area.

(I am going to do the stupid thing and get the tele macro -this will help alleviate the weak tele end of my kit- now and wait and see about the 70-200 VR replacement, the rumours are really starting to get going on that one, and I am too undecided about the 14-24 atm -no filters, hard to protect)

Thanks guys

The other one to consider is the Nikkon 200 f4 micro lens. I'm just waiting until my redundancy payment comes thru to get this to replace my Sigma 150 macro. There are a few people on this forum with the 200 f4 but I don't know if they are Sydney based.

Cheers
John

I second the Nikkor 200mm f/4. I was going to get the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 (which is also a good lens) but am now leaning towards the Nikkor 200mm. It is quite heavy but can easily be used on a monopod and the extra reach will be a bonus. It can also be used as a telephoto lens.

Hmm the Nikkor 200mm f/4, looks interesting and not that much more expensive, but really is getting past what i wanted to spend on this lens as i still want a 70-200 VR.

Lets just add this on the list of "i want hands on" so if anyone in the Sydney area is willing to meet up and let me loose with any of the trio (Siggy 180mm. Tammy 180mm, Nikkor 200mm) i'd be most greatful.

I have a Nikkor 105mm f2.8 AIS micro and I have a 300mm f4 AFS on order. I suspect this will have useful macro capabilities though that is not my primary reason for purchase. It is said to focus quite close and to combine well at a good working distance with say a (probably single) Kenko extension tube.

Update: I just ordered this lens, via CR Kennedy's 'match grey import price' policy for $1033 but if i had bought it two days ago it would have been $975, the poor pacific peso is sliding! I expect to recieve it on Monday do hopefully I can give some feedback on my initial thoughts of this lens.

Update: Lens arrived 8am Monday morning, have had it for a little over 25hrs now. It is really nice, the manual focus is a little stiffer than the Nikkors and Tamrons that I am used to, but nothing that I wont get used to. The build on this lens is really good, and best of all, from the few shots that i have been clicking with it, it delievers crisp images with nice colour reproduction.

HSM is as silent as AF-S and is definately faster than a screwdriver AF, i'll have to borrow the Nikkor AF-S 60 again, but this lens does not feel significantly slower to focus than the AF-S 60 (going off a memory here).

I have noticed will all the macros that I have come into contact with (AF-D, AF-S, USM and now HSM - Nikkor AF-D 60mm, AF-S 105VR, AF-S60, Tamron 90mm, Tamron 180mm, Canon EF-S 60mm USM and now my Sigma APO 180mm HSM) seem to lack the certainty in focus like normal lenses, often going past focus before returning and locking, not like the my Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 or my Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (screwdriver). Any ideas as to why? I only assume it is to do with the extra care in focusing accuracy in these lenses, am i anywhere near correct?

As promised, here are a few of the first shots from this lens. Not great work though, some of them are pretty high iso

Flower @ 800 ISO


My shoe @ 2500 ISO


Flower @ 800 ISO - not really recognisable but I liked the way it turned out


Moon @ 200 ISO - heavily underexposed