Macro Lens

[Flintstone]

I noticed that there are a number of Tamron and Sigma macro zoom lens with magnification of 1:2. Are they any good for photographying animals, insects and etc from afar? HOw much should I be spending on such a lens?

[chinks]

Well, 'good' is very subjective. At 300mm I guess it's good for insects 1 inch long/wide or bigger. Good for big animals too, but for real wildlife you'll have to be getting 400mm or higher, and those are $$$.

A lot of amateurs also really like the long (300mm) 'zoom-macros' because they don't have to waste time learning to approach their macro subjects, but more advanced photographers will opt for the 100mm (90mm and 105mm also) 1:1 macro lenses as their optics are truly professional quality. Of course, learning to approach some insects will also be part of the package, unless you got $$$ and get the 180mm 1:1 macro lenses. To get beyond 1:1 you can try teleconverters and extension tubes on these true macro lenses, as well as magnifyng filters to capture bugs as small as a few mm across and make them fill nearly the whole frame. :)

[Flintstone]

I have a Tamron 90mm macro lens and it is very sharp. But it is 90mm and for shooting small insects, this means going very close say 3 to 5 inches to get a large shot. By the time, I do this, the insect would have flown away and there goes a shot. Alternatively, I'm looking at the Tamron 70-300mm zoom macro with 1:2 magnification going around RM440. The 180mm macro lens is way beyond my budget and I think it cost close to RM3000.

Will try out the kenko extension tubes we bought from Australia out on insects. Thanks!
:D