Present from the Tax Man... a macro lens

[LeePUK]

Today I received a nice cheque for over £400 from the tax man, so I think I have decided to complete my lens line up with a macro lens.

The Three contenders (in no particular order) are:

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro at £279
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro at £388
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di SP Macro at £280

I have read the reviews at Photozone and all 3 lenses fare very well, although they seem to prefer the Canon.

I know a couple of you have the canon lens, do any others of you have one of the other two and could you all give me your opinions please?

[Landis]

First of all, you have to realize this is not a Gift from the Tax Man. It was YOUR money all along that he borrowed from you and paid you no interest.

I would go with the Canon lens.

[MrsHey]

Landis...don't be so picky! At least the tax man returned the money! I can only speak on the Canon & all I can say is - you won't be disappointed! I love mine, but I've also heard the Tamron 90mm is really good, too! Sorry, not much help! If you have it to spend, go for the Canon! ;-)

[johnh]

I have the Tamron 90mm and although I haven't had much time to use it and what liitle I have I must say I like it. Very sharp and easy to use.

John

[jake_i_am]

After hours of research I went with the Tamron 90mm....It seems the best for the money. But if you have the money to spend, the Canon will probably serve you better. Either one is a winner in my book!

[ScottL]

If I remember correctly. The Canon has a much faster AF as well... I know alot of macro shooters use manual focus technique anyway. But if you are using it for something else, that could be a good reason to go with the Canon.

[Cadwell]

I recently went through the same evaluation process and came down in favour of (and ordered) the Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro. This is not down to brand snobbery. Anyone who is familliar with my lens choices will tell you that my two favourite lenses are in fact Sigmas and that I am very, very fond of the little Tamron 28-75mm.

I came to the conclusion, after reading numerous reviews and talking to several people, that there really wasn't much (if anything) to choose between the 3 lenses as far as optics go. Certainly nothing that fell outside the scope of "sample variation". Two things swung it towards the Canon lens for me. First, the superior focusing speed given by the USM motor meant that as well as macro use, the lens would be a good general purpose short telephoto prime (should be a decent portrait lens) and second, the Canon is the only lens out of the the three that is internal focusing. That is, the lens does not change length whilst focusing. I felt that this would make the lens easier to work with.