Originally posted by chrism_scotland I do like the look of the Pentax 100mm WR however at almost £500 brand new over here its a bit much, especially when the Tamron can be had for almost half that.
What about the older non WR Pentax 100mm is it still as good a lens? and by extension its sister Samsung 100mm Macro which can be bought new for much less than the Pentax version.
Sorry chris, but I've never used the older DFA 100. I'm not sure if it is optically different than the newer WF version? Somebody here I'm sure will tell us.
If price is a deciding factor, then either the Tamron 90 or the older DFA 100 would be comprable, I suspect. I might be inclined to choose the least expensive, or even entertain some of the other candidates.
The DFA 100 WR is a different lens from the above, not so much because of it's weight (340g)--but because of it's overall form factor (including weight). If you've ever held in your hands an old 105mm 2.8 Super Tak--that is exactly how the WR feels, and shooting bugs that scurry about at high f numbers becomes a real pleasure.
Sorry I can't help you more--the reality is that there are a number of very good Macros for Pentax...and that's a good dilemma to have.