[Tansy]

I have recently purchased a
Pentax K-70
I am looking for
A macro lens and a tripod
Any suggestions on which one to buy
Am on a tight budget so would be interested in second hand

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Last edited by Tansy; 04-21-2022 at 01:05 AM.

[Kevin B123]

Hello Tansy and welcome to the forum.
What is your budget and have you a preference for new or used?
Either way there are plenty of options that members can advise on.

[rogerstg]

I have two of these:
amazon.com : Carbon Fiber Tripod-INNOREL RT75C Super Professional Tripod Monopod Heavy Duty Stand Support Low Gravity Center 360°Panoramic ballhead for Digital DSLR Camera : Electronics?tag=pentaxforums-20&

One for me and one for my wife. It's light, rigid, the 42mm ball head is robust and a leg unscrews to become a monopod. We use them for all around, including travel. Very versatile.

[bdery]

A macro lens and a tripod
Any suggestions on which one to buy

Without knowing the budget, it's hard to answer. The DFA 100 macro WR is of course the most recent Pentax macro so a logical choice. If you can live with MF, the Irix 150mm macro is fantastic, less PF, but bigger. Otherwise, used older lenses could work well for you.

For tripods, really it depends but if you want to do macro, get one with a good head which won't sag. That's a pain! Or get a higher-quality head.

For tripods, you get what you pay for. If you buy a cheap one, you'll end up buying an expensive one a bit later, and the cheap one will be wasted.

[aslyfox]

my suggestions:

check this part of the forums for reviews of tripods, heads and monopods:

Tripods and Rigging - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database


as far as a macro lens:

look at this article: The Advantages of a Dedicated Macro Lens - Tutorial Videos | PentaxForums.com

Macro Basics
On this page we will discuss characteristics that define a true macro lens such as the Pentax 100mm.

Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro WR Review - Macro Basics | PentaxForums.com Reviews

which macro lens depends on your needs and budget

the F, FA, D FA and D FA WR 100mm F2.8 Macros are mentioned quite a bit

Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 WR Macro Review
Specifications
The lens covers the full 24x36mm format, not just APS-C. The aperture blades are rounded, delivering a smoother bokeh which is important for a macro lens. However, unlike its predecessor, it has no aperture ring

The optical design is the tried-and-proven formula of the previous generation D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro lens, which in turn had inherited the optical design from the well-respected FA 100mm F2.8 and F 100mm F2.8 macro lenses introduced in 1991 and 1987, respectively. None of these earlier lenses had rounded aperture blades. . . .

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-d-fa-100mm-f28-wr-macro/specifications.html

[que es tu]

I recently got a DFA 100mm macro used in excellent condition for $240 from mpb. Mine is the older, non wr version, but I discovered that it has a focus clamp which, when engaged allows me to use “catch-in-focus”. I have found that to be helpful if I have to shoot handheld.

[marcusBMG]

For macro, you might want a tripod with features like being able to completely splay the legs to get low, and/or being able to invert the centre column.
Weight wise, any decent tripod will be fine.

[eles]

In addition to budget, there's also your anticipated use of a macro lens. If you only intend to use it for macro photography, and the working distance suits you (one review I found online said it was not so easy to use for document photography, because of the need to get the lens far enough away from the document), and you always intend for it to be on a tripod (or if the weight doesn't bother you hand-held), then the 150mm Irix sounds like a great lens.

But if you also want to use it for general photography (and especially when not on a tripod), then apparently the manual focus "throw" for anything other than close-up is limited to a very small turning radius - I can't find the review that mentioned this, but if true, this might explain why on flickr there don't seem to be a lot of photographs that aren't macros. This person had some issues getting sharp "not close" images: A walk with the IRIX 150mm f/2.8 Dragonfly: Macro and Still Life Photography Forum: Digital Photography Review

Anyone who actually owns and uses this lens, on a tripod how difficult is it to get sharp images for objects/portraits/landscapes that aren't all that close? What about handheld "not close"?

[Wheatfield]

I have recently purchased a
Pentax K-70
I am looking for
A macro lens and a tripod
Any suggestions on which one to buy

Regarding the lens, its hard to find a bad macro lens. I like the DFA100mm macro.
The older A100/2.8 is excellent but is prone to reflections off the rear element.
I think you will find something in the 100mm range will be good.

Don't skimp on your tripod. Your pictures depend on it being stable.
I've been using Feisol tripods for a number of years and am very happy with them. They aren't cheap, but they aren't ridiculously expensive either.

[ramseybuckeye]

Buy a tripod and head that has a weight capacity rated much higher than the actual weight of the camera and lens, and I would recommend an arca type Quick release system.
For doing macro you really don’t need autofocus, use live view with focus peaking and magnification to focus manually. I have had the DFA 100 macro and it’s a great lens, I sold it to buy a DA 300 which gets a lot more use for me. I currently have a manual focus Sigma 50 and the Tamron 90 autofocus macro. Both are excellent, I bought both used for little money compared to new lenses. There really aren’t many bad macro lenses, unless they are damaged.

[K2 to K50]

A macro focusing rail might also be a good investment if you are going to be doing a lot of tripod-based macro work.

You might find this interesting:
Essential Gear for Nailing Focus in Macro Photography | B&H eXplora
Or if you want to go in-depth, try Murray O'Neil's free e-book, down-loadable from this page:
The Pentax Macro eBook - Articles and Tips | PentaxForums.com

[wadge22]

For tripods, I definitely advocate for buying used name brand gear. You can get very good equipment that way without paying the crazy prices of top range stuff brand new. That said, there is excellent knockoff stuff these days for very good prices (such as arctise or innorel), and that's also a very viable way to go. I also agree with @ramseybuckeye that Arca compatible is probably the right choice.

Remember that the head you get is at least as important as the tripod legs: I would probably budget about the same amount for both items. Also I suggest you do everything you can to stretch your budget as far as you can, and find the best deal that you can, for the support gear purchase. It will probably last a lifetime, and be useful with any lens or camera body you buy for your whole photography 'career,' so it's surely worth getting the best you are able.


The macro lens shouldn't require as much of an investment, as almost all macro lenses have been terrific for a long time (excluding zoom lenses with "macro" modes, which are much more hit or miss, and are rarely if ever true 1:1 macro lenses).

Here's a (not necessarily exhaustive) list of some good macro lenses that shouldn't break the bank (buying used):
Pentax 50
Pentax 100
Sigma 50
Sigma 105
Vivitar/Tokina 90
Vivitar/Lester Dine 105
Tamron 90
Sigma 70 (maybe a bit more than the others)
Some of these have several different versions available.
I believe you can get a good copy of any of those (except probably the 70) for under $200.

If you're more comfortable with new, there's:
Pentax 35 Limited
Pentax 50
Pentax 100
Pentax 100 WR
Samyang/Rokinon 100
Venus Laowa 60
Venus Laowa 100
Irix 150

I think some version of a Pentax 100mm is probably a great choice, but it would probably be hard to go wrong with any of the lenses I listed, and there are certainly even more options than those (such as older manual focus lenses).

[HawaiianOnline]

I have recently purchased a
Pentax K-70
I am looking for
A macro lens and a tripod
Any suggestions on which one to buy

What are you going to be taking photos of? Different macro lenses might see use with different subjects, or to get a different field of view.

[disasterfilm]

What are you going to be taking photos of? Different macro lenses might see use with different subjects, or to get a different field of view.

Exactly! Came here to say this.

A lot of rec's in this thread are based on high experience shooting bugs, critters, flowers, high detail stuff, etc.

However - I could see someone being advised to buy a DSLR, tripod, and macro lens for a variety of other conventional uses.
Document reproduction, film scanning, digital art archiving, engineering/forensic documentation, crime scene documentation, dentistry, etc.
Each different purpose can have their own quirks about what equipment would best fit your use.

I'd just hate to recommend stuff that isn't well suited for precisely what you need.

[Papa_Joe]

As has been said, there aren't bad contemporary macro lenses. But there is a range from good (Cosina/Pentax 3.5/100) to excellent ones.
First thing to think abotu is, if you will mainly use it for macro or not. Second one is, which magnification ratio you will probably use. Third is, if you want to use it for tabletop or nature.

If you will use it for macro in outdoor photography with around 1:1 a longer focal length is better to have at least a minimum distance to your subject 90/100 mm is the minimum lens I would suggest. 150 mm is even better and you are with the IRIX then. As has been suggested a focusing rail is a must as well then.

If you want to do free handed macro photography for example by chasing butterflies, I would suggest an AF lens. It is much more convenient, for magnification around 1:4 or all day photography.

I own a 70mm/2.8 Sigma EX DG which has outright briliant sharpness and contrast, but which is a bit to short if one wants to take pictures of a ladybug, while for butterflies it is OK. So it is not a good choice for macro photography only. On the other side it is an excellent short telephoto and portrait lens on APS-C and FF and has probably the best image quality of every lens I own.
The Pentax D FA 100 mm 2.8 WR macro is a very good lens as well. Only thing to complain about is it does not have an aperture ring, which you will not need for the K-70. Just stand away from the D FA 100 mm 2.8 with an aperture ring, as it's built quality is subpar for a Pentax macro. The FA or F variant is the better choice then.