Sony a77 coupled with Tamron 90mm Di macro

[Raynald]

Has anyone tried this match or anything close to it.
Before investing in this lens, I would really like to know if it'd be worth the difference with the close up lens and the reverse ring I'm already familiar with. any advice will be welcome.
Ray.

[gregj1763]

Hi Ray, I'm not familiar with the reverse ring you mention but I have the 90mm Tamron lens and use it on both my A65 & A99.
In short you won't be disappointed. Beautifully sharp macro images and a useful portrait lens as well.
Cheers, Greg

[inkista]

Reversing a lens with a coupling ring drastically limits the subject distances at which you can focus. A macro lens can focus across its entire range, so instead of being forced to a specific framing by where you can focus, a macro lens lets you choose your framing freely, and then achieve focus. So, yes, for most folks who shoot a lot of macro, having a dedicated macro lens is worth it. And it's not like you can't reverse a lens in front of a macro lens...

[rpcrowe]

Kathy hit the nail on the head. The Tamron 90mm Macro (or any true macro lens for that matter) will allow focusing from infinity to 1:1. This makes working in the close-up to macro range far-far easier...

Note: some true macro lenses, such as the Canon 55mm f/2.5 Macro will only focus down to 1:2 without an adapter...

Also note, there is a grouping of zoom lenses from various manufacturers that include the term "macro" in their designators. These are not "true"macro lenses but rather zoom lnses that have close focusing capability...

The macro lens not only focuses close enough to achieve 1:1 imagery but, retains better image quality when focused that close. They are handy tools and almost all of them, even the hundred U.S. Dollar Phoenix 100mm macro, produce excellent sharp images...

[Stagecoach]

Has anyone tried this match or anything close to it.
Before investing in this lens, I would really like to know if it'd be worth the difference with the close up lens and the reverse ring I'm already familiar with. any advice will be welcome.
Ray.

Raynald,

There's is no question that a dedicated macro lens is going to give you both greater versatility and many will say greater image quality.

It really comes down to whether you consider the 'difference' worth it for what you use your existing rig for and the ability to do more with it.

The Tamron 90mm is a highly acclaimed lens with great examples of it's excellent performance all over the web.

Grahame