Looky what I got!!! mystery lens...

[adam75south]

Well, you can tell what it is, but which one is it???

the autofocus motor is busted, but the manual focus isn't hahahaaaaaa...who autofocuses a macro anyway? anyway, i'll post up how much i paid after someone guesses what it is.

All pics processed, resized, and lightly sharpened in photoshop.

the gf picked up this blackbook tonight...got a great deal on this one too. $750 w/ warranty til 9/2010 MINT!!!
ISO 100 f/11 1/250s
http://adammedders.smugmug.com/photos/398855348_gqeW9-O.jpg

she can type over 100wpm, i thought i was fast.
ISO 100 f/11 1/250s
http://adammedders.smugmug.com/photos/398856291_5q7SM-O.jpg

nothin like some starbucks reflecting off an iphone.
ISO 100 f/5 1/250s
http://adammedders.smugmug.com/photos/398855468_JqhKC-O.jpg

laptop memory
ISO 100 f/10 1/250s
http://adammedders.smugmug.com/photos/398890993_hkqwr-O.jpg

[Nickcanada]

60 dollars for a 60mm macro!

[adam75south]

not quite that good a deal.

i paid about what you would expect to be fair for the lens i got w/ busted AF. i guess what made my deal special was finding a macro with busted AF so i could get it cheap.

[Nickcanada]

ya, 60 bucks is cheap.... I was right about the lens though eh? okay, I'll guess $250 I don't even know what they are worth new so that is a complete out of ass guess.

[adam75south]

i'll let a few more people guess before i tell you if you're right.

[faisal]

60mm for $150 or 100mm for $200

[te1221]

100 bucks?

[zmikers]

Possibly the 100mm macro. If so, $300. But I really think it's the 60mm. I was going to say $250 but that price has already been taken in the pool so I'll say $200.

[droopy1592]

Tamron 90mm
Sigma 70mm or 105

[zmikers]

Tamron 90mm
Sigma 70mm or 105

Hey Droop! You didn't guess a price. You're the next contestant on the price is right! You have to venture a guess:D

[droopy1592]

Oops, was sleepy when I read it. I'll guess $70 for the 70 and 90 for the 90 lol

Or just $100 for the 105

[adam75south]

nobody's guessed it yet but y'all have came close.

[faisal]

just tell us if its a canon or third party????

[droopy1592]

Damn you! Just tell us :P

[Rhys]

If the AF motor's bust, it might be possible to get a similar lens with a broken element and to combine the two parts.

[adam75south]

third party..i'll say what i got it for and that might give an idea of which lens.
$127 shipped.

and like i said, i think i paid right at what it is worth for the busted AF macro.

[faisal]

tokina 100mm???

[droopy1592]

I give up

I'm going back to sleep

[adam75south]

sigma 50mm EX DG Macro

first is 100% crop and next two are at ISO 3200....the shallow DOF shot was at f/2.8. pretty shallow. all at 1:1

[Nickcanada]

Cool! I should have guessed that! Why a macro though? any specific plans for it?

[adam75south]

no reason. came across the auction, saw it had bogus AF and figured i could get it for cheap. i'd thought about getting extension tubes, but this is a full 1:1 macro for about the same price.

i know i can't complain much since it was so cheap...but if i had to give some pros and cons i'd say:
pros: sharp, manual focus gives an added sense of pride to the pics
cons: extends by almost an inch and a half when focusing, screw on lens hood that you have to take off when shooting at 1:1, end of lens is less than 2 inches away from subject at 1:1..so probably no bugs...then again i have yet to try.

[michaelb]

...cons: extends by almost an inch and a half when focusing...

That's one of the reasons that I replaced mine with the 60mm macro.

But that's a pretty good deal Adam; enjoy it.

I liked the optical quality of mine when I owned it...

(By the way for others who are looking for a cheep macro - I saw a Canon 100mm macro (non-usm) for $200 on POTN yesterday)

http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/220183611_EBXsu-M.jpg

[Rhys]

One day I'll put up a comparison between tubes, close-up filters and a macro lens.

[adam75south]

the only other problem is figuring out what to take pictures of.

[cdifoto]

the only other problem is figuring out what to take pictures of.
That's a no brainer.



Toe jam.

[01514]

One day I'll put up a comparison between tubes, close-up filters and a macro lens.

I hope that day will come soon :)

[cdifoto]

One day I'll put up a comparison between tubes, close-up filters and a macro lens.
After you do that, I'll put up a comparison between pencils & notebooks and MP3 players.

[Rhys]

I hope that day will come soon :)

I can tell you what my observations are but I have yet to conduct a full test.

I am not sure when I will be in a position to carry out a full test either as I most likely will be relocating back to Britain on Tuesday unless a miracle happens between then and now.

My observations...

I have a 10x ebay macro filter and some Kenko tubes. With the tubes it's harder to achieve correct focus. With the filter, focussing is a snap but the edges are a bit soft (like 75% of the frame is a bit soft). The filter is a ton easier to use too.

I reckon a macro lens would probably be the optimum as it has true focussing under macro conditions like the filter with the same clean edge-to-edge sharpness as a lens on a tube. The macro lens has the added advantage of having a flat field.

[Nickcanada]

Tubes work best with faster lenses/primes. My 85mm is great with tubes I gotta try my 200mm with a tube one of these days. When I rented the 300mm 2.8 IS I tried the tubes on it and they worked well. The only problem with them is you have to play around a bit to get the proper focus range.

[michaelb]

Tubes work best with faster lenses/primes. My 85mm is great with tubes I gotta try my 200mm with a tube one of these days. When I rented the 300mm 2.8 IS I tried the tubes on it and they worked well. The only problem with them is you have to play around a bit to get the proper focus range.


The best thing about the 85 1.8 plus tubes is the bokeh...

http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/309609105_k3unQ-L.jpg


http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/308879564_bJqsF-L.jpg

Nick, you've really got to try that 200 with tubes.

[Nickcanada]

Those colours aren't too shabby either! I really need to brake my tubes out more often.

Your 60mm macro has some nice bokeh too eh? how do you feel they compare?

[01514]

thats some nice shots michaelb
what kind of tubes do u use?

[Nickcanada]

thats some nice shots michaelb
what kind of tubes do u use?

It doesn't matter actually! there are no glass elements in tubes they are just lens extenders with electrical contacts to keep AF and all the EF goodness. So there is no image quality loss when using them, but normal lenses are not optimized for close focusing the same way macro lenses are so there can be some distortion with some lenses.

I think the consensus is that Kenko makes the best tubes for the money. That is what I have and they are built well enough and they come with three different sizes unlike Canon's overpriced models.

The length of the tube changes the minimum focus distance so it's handy having different length tubes... you can even stack them together. The only thing to keep in mind though is that they also change the maximum focus distance so you end up with a narrow range of focus. That can lead to a lot of tube swaping to acquire your desired composition and magnification.

[01514]

thanks nick :)
I may pick one of those do you think they work good with my lenses?

[zmikers]

thanks nick :)
I may pick one of those do you think they work good with my lenses?

I think they'll work well with your lenses, especially with IS. It's a lot easier to create camera shake when shooting close range. IS would be a big help, or use a tripod.

[01514]

thanks zmikers :)
I see you have a kenko set you mind posting some pics ?

[24Peter]

Tubes work best with faster lenses/primes. My 85mm is great with tubes I gotta try my 200mm with a tube one of these days. When I rented the 300mm 2.8 IS I tried the tubes on it and they worked well. The only problem with them is you have to play around a bit to get the proper focus range.

I've got the Kenko tubes and while I usually use my primes, they work with my 24-105 and 70-200 IS really nicely too...

[Nickcanada]

I've got the Kenko tubes and while I usually use my primes, they work with my 24-105 and 70-200 IS really nicely too...
Yeah, I honestly wouldn't know. I've never tried them with a zoom. :o

[zmikers]

thanks zmikers :)
I see you have a kenko set you mind posting some pics ?

Sure no problem. The image of the bird is with a zoom lens, 300mm and the shortest extension tube, 12mm. That allowed me to get a bit closer to the birds with the long zoom but stay far enough away as not to scare them off. The flower shot is with the 50mm prime and the longest extension tube, 36mm (possibly even the 36mm combined with the 12mm I can't remember) to get right up close.

I prefer using longer FL with the 12mm tube when shooting animals, birds, insects etc. It allows you to stay far enough away without scaring them but still close enough so you don't have to crop your photo and lose resolution. With inanimate objects, you can get right up close with no problem. That's where I love my 50mm prime. The Kenko tubes are great for this reason. You can swap lenses with any combination of tubes to get exactly what you need. I hope these two examples show the differences in what you can accomplish when you mix and match.

[Ray Schnoor]

I am not sure when I will be in a position to carry out a full test either as I most likely will be relocating back to Britain on Tuesday unless a miracle happens between then and now...
So, Rhys, what's the verdict. It's been almost 2 weeks. Are you relocating back to Britain, or did a miracle happen???

Ray.

[Rhys]

So, Rhys, what's the verdict. It's been almost 2 weeks. Are you relocating back to Britain, or did a miracle happen???

Ray.

Ummm... I'm still here so a miracle must have happened. The election results last night narrow the choice between the UK and US as to which is least desirable though :p