Barry - I can’t give you specific detailed comments on the two Pentax lenses. But I have never heard anybody complain about the image quality from any Pentax macro- that has always seemed to be a particular niche for them. Using them in AF mode is a challenge, they will tend to be slower than most non-macro lenses. But macros are mostly about manual focus anyway.
I have the 100 DFA. I tend to use either the 35mm or 200mm macros and seldom pull out the 100mm, but have no hesitation using it when that focal length is called for. I am quite surprised to see the Amazon pricing on the two Pentax lenses. I would have expected the newer WR lens to be the same or more than the D FA; the Amazon links show the WR to be a couple hundred $ less? Now you’ve got me thinking… I may sell the DFA and switch to the WR. I quite like having the WR capability. stan On Jun 16, 2014, at 1:49 AM, Barry Rice <bamr...@ucdavis.edu> wrote: > Hey Folks, > > Looooong time reader to this list, although I tend to be very sporadic. (By > the way, sorry if this is a duplicate posting, but I reposted in plain text > in case it was necessary.) > > So, I do a lot of plant macro work for stock photography. I never use my > camera off-tripod. Also, with my K7 (my primary camera body), I always shoot > with locking the mirror up first, by either using the 2-sec lock up, or in > live view mode. > > ANYWAY, my mid-length camera lens of choice has long been the 90 mm Tamron > F/2.8 manual focus. My wife is starting to use this a lot for butterflies, > but would like an autofocus lens of the same approximate length. By the way, > I’ve learned to hate the adaptall mount, as I’ve gone through a couple, even > though my lens is working great. > > So, I see that there is a Tamron AF 90 mm f/2.8 Di SP A/M lens on Amazon and > the other usual markets, for about $438. There are also two Pentax f/2.8 > 100mm lenses, a WR FA smc for about $650, and a D FA for about $850. > > For complete clarity, I’ll include Amazon links to the three lenses below. > > So, to the Pentax gods and prophets here, I pose my questions. > > 1) I’m correct in thinking that all three lenses are autofocus, but can be > used in manual focus too, right? > 2) The Tamron for Pentax does not need a damnable adaptall mount, does it? > 3) What is the skinny on how these lenses all perform? > > Your wisdom is most appreciated!!!! > > Tamron 90: > http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007YZLIK/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&c > olid=22I5NPVQK4MNX&coliid=I2Y6DA5UN15NTR&psc=1 > > Pentax 100 WR: > http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030GGS3O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&c > olid=22I5NPVQK4MNX&coliid=I29Z64M1ERC674 > > Pentax 100 D FA: > http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002YE65Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&c > olid=22I5NPVQK4MNX&coliid=I1AP5RPZPWJ7QN > > Cheers > > Barry > > > Barry Rice, Ph.D. > Sarracenia.com > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
