Bigma for macro?
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens
for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes on
their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably impractical
place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of
you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a
fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I
processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my bigma
a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
Larry Colen LRC@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc
Henk Terhell uses his K70 & HD 55-300 PLM very successfully for insect
shots. The big advantake is that the photographer is distant from easily
disturbed subjects. A difficulty with a Bigma is that it is a bit soft
at 500mm. I have tried it with my screw-drive HD 55-300 & K5 but the
focusing is rather slow by comparison.
Alan C
On 09/06/2025 00:03, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens
for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes
on their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably
impractical place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of
you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a
fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I
processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my
bigma a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com
I have no experience with the Bigma, but I think you loose some stops
with extension tubes.
For me, indeed the HD 55-300 PLM is most convenient for fast moving
insects. It has fairly fast focussing, is light weight and has a minimum
focus distance at 300 mm (450 eq.) of 95 cm. Therefore most of the
times I leave my Tamron 90/2.8 macro at home.
Here two shots (somewhat cropped) of bumblebees taken with the 55-300
PLM yesterday.
https://flic.kr/p/2r9AvQ2
https://flic.kr/p/2r9BtUV
Henk
Op 2025-06-09 om 06:43 schreef Alan Cole:
Henk Terhell uses his K70 & HD 55-300 PLM very successfully for insect
shots. The big advantake is that the photographer is distant from
easily disturbed subjects. A difficulty with a Bigma is that it is a
bit soft at 500mm. I have tried it with my screw-drive HD 55-300 & K5
but the focusing is rather slow by comparison.
Alan C
On 09/06/2025 00:03, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro
lens for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension
tubes on their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably
impractical place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any
of you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a
fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I
processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my
bigma a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
On Jun 8, 2025, at 11:46 PM, Henk Terhell henk.terhell@gmail.com wrote:
I have no experience with the Bigma, but I think you loose some stops with extension tubes.
Yeah, you do, probably related to the delta in equivalent crop area. I would guess that at an extra mag factor of 1.4 linear, you would lose a stop.
For me, indeed the HD 55-300 PLM is most convenient for fast moving insects. It has fairly fast focussing, is light weight and has a minimum focus distance at 300 mm (450 eq.) of 95 cm. Therefore most of the times I leave my Tamron 90/2.8 macro at home.
Here two shots (somewhat cropped) of bumblebees taken with the 55-300 PLM yesterday.
https://flic.kr/p/2r9AvQ2
https://flic.kr/p/2r9BtUV
Those are great shots.
I suppose I could calculate magnification by photographing a ruler at minimum distance and dividing by the width of the sensor.
Henk
Op 2025-06-09 om 06:43 schreef Alan Cole:
Henk Terhell uses his K70 & HD 55-300 PLM very successfully for insect shots. The big advantake is that the photographer is distant from easily disturbed subjects. A difficulty with a Bigma is that it is a bit soft at 500mm. I have tried it with my screw-drive HD 55-300 & K5 but the focusing is rather slow by comparison.
Alan C
On 09/06/2025 00:03, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes on their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably impractical place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my bigma a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
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Larry Colen from Lothlorien
lrc@red4est.com
I was never satisfied with the images I could get from the Bigma. It was
Ok out to about 250mm, but I have better lenses in that range.
I have done "closeup" photography with a 300/2.8 - getting in as close
as it would allow me to get & still focus. The images were pretty good
even when all I had was the *ist-D.
On 6/8/2025 6:03 PM, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens
for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes on
their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably impractical
place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of
you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a
fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I
processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my bigma
a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
Vivere in aeternum aut mori conatur
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
On 2025-06-10 14:15, John Sessoms wrote:
I was never satisfied with the images I could get from the Bigma. It
was Ok out to about 250mm, but I have better lenses in that range.
I'm very interested in your suggestion for a better "affordable" lens in
the 500mm range.
I'm less than thrilled at what mine does at full throw, but even at used
prices, haven't found anything better for less than $2,000.
I have done "closeup" photography with a 300/2.8 - getting in as close
as it would allow me to get & still focus. The images were pretty good
even when all I had was the *ist-D.
On 6/8/2025 6:03 PM, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens
for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes
on their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably
impractical place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of
you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a
fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I
processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my
bigma a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
Vivere in aeternum aut mori conatur
--
Larry Colen LRC@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc
The DFA 150-450 4.5-5.6 is excellent on the k-1 and sells for about $1800 new. For truly long lens work I use it with the DA 1.4 X converter on the K-3 for great 900mm plus field of view.
Paul
On Jun 10, 2025, at 6:28 PM, Larry Colen LRC@red4est.com wrote:
On 2025-06-10 14:15, John Sessoms wrote:
I was never satisfied with the images I could get from the Bigma. It
was Ok out to about 250mm, but I have better lenses in that range.
I'm very interested in your suggestion for a better "affordable" lens in the 500mm range.
I'm less than thrilled at what mine does at full throw, but even at used prices, haven't found anything better for less than $2,000.
I have done "closeup" photography with a 300/2.8 - getting in as close
as it would allow me to get & still focus. The images were pretty good
even when all I had was the *ist-D.
On 6/8/2025 6:03 PM, Larry Colen wrote:
On another photo list, someone was asking about borrowing a macro lens for a trip to Costa Rica, someone suggested putting extension tubes on their telephoto. As usual my mind went to a silly, probably impractical place.
What if I were to put extension tubes on my Sigma 50-500? Have any of you tried doing something like this? Putting extension tubes on a fairly long telephoto, to make a ridiculously long macro?
For them that like photos, on a related subject, here are 3 photos I processed last night of a cropped fence lizard that I took with my bigma a couple of weeks back:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720326695531
It's probably a blue belly, I didn't get close enough to check.
--
Vivere in aeternum aut mori conatur
--
Larry Colen LRC@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc
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FWIW, that 300/2.8 was $1800 when I bought it in March 2005. It's a
Sigma in Pentax KAF mount & was new.
According to the guy I dealt with at the camera store I got it from
(they found it for me), it was the LAST of the film version lenses Sigma
made in Pentax mount before redesigning their lenses for digital.
Since you started this thread I've been looking for Pentax KAF mount
extension tubes, but I don't think such exist.
On 6/10/2025 6:28 PM, Larry Colen wrote:
On 2025-06-10 14:15, John Sessoms wrote:
I was never satisfied with the images I could get from the Bigma. It
was Ok out to about 250mm, but I have better lenses in that range.
I'm very interested in your suggestion for a better "affordable" lens in
the 500mm range.
I'm less than thrilled at what mine does at full throw, but even at used
prices, haven't found anything better for less than $2,000.
I have done "closeup" photography with a 300/2.8 - getting in as close
as it would allow me to get & still focus. The images were pretty good
even when all I had was the *ist-D.
--
Vivere in aeternum aut mori conatur
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
How well does the teleconverter work on the K-1?
On 2025-06-11 07:24, paul stenquist wrote:
The DFA 150-450 4.5-5.6 is excellent on the k-1 and sells for about
$1800 new. For truly long lens work I use it with the DA 1.4 X
converter on the K-3 for great 900mm plus field of view.
Paul
--
Larry Colen LRC@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc