Photo Jottings

Lens flare/ghosting.  No problems unless the sun is at a certain angle, see images below.  Veiling glare is about average.  Additionally, the lens has plenty of recess for the front element from about 1:2 to infinity focus.  At 1:2 macro and closer, the lens comes out towards the front which can exacerbate ghosting, but that shouldn’t be a problem when you’re shooting macro type subjects.  You don’t need to use the hood with this lens unless super bright lights are near the camera front, and even then it doesn’t seem to make much difference, use your hand for best results, and the elimination of glare.  This lens shares the same hood with the 75-300mm lens, replacement cost, $25.

Light loss at high magnification.

Here are the approximate F-numbers you will get as you increase the magnification, the table below is from the Sigma 105mm F/2.8 DG macro, but is close to the Sony model.  Sony lists exposure compensation in the owners manual, but it’s not nearly as clear as the Sigma table.  These numbers will not be indicated on the camera, and will still read F/2.8 even at 1:1 magnification, but look at your shutter speeds and you’ll notice the loss.  This is for your information only, so just shoot away, the camera will adjust your exposure automatically.  I’m simply providing this in case you’re wondering why your shutter speeds are so low when the LCD says F/2.8.

You’ll see some corner softness at wide apertures, but it’s doesn’t show in regular pictures.  It gradually sharpens up ’till F/8.  It’s really about the same as the centers.  Also notice the color fringing I mentioned earlier.

Requisite macro paragraph.  As with all 1:1 life size macros, sometimes it can be a little tough to focus, and a tripod is highly recommended, especially if you go full size.  Hand held field shooting is limited to 1:2 in my opinion, any more and you’ll fill up a 16GB memory card trying to get a decent shot.  At F/4 the depth of field is razor thin, at F/16 you  lose your shutter speed, so some extra though is required before your photo session begins.  I often have to bump up the ISO to get a sharp picture with hand-held shooting.  Even on a bright sunny day you’ll be surprised at how low your shutter speeds are, and with jittery hands it’s all the worse.  If you like to compare shots from other lenses and cameras, don’t be too critical about it at 100% screen size.  Getting a uniformly sharp image from a flat object like my stamp is very difficult, especially when it’s a full 1:1 macro.  I use the stamp so you will know about how big an area is covered, and get an idea of the sharpness.  Keep this in mind when viewing the macros.

Macro shot.

The Sony 100mm F/2.8 macro is a good lens, but not quite as good as the Sony 50mm macro.  It’s pretty sharp through F/4 to F/11, very sharp from F/5.6-8.  Color fringing is somewhat strong at wide apertures, but clears up nicely around F/5.6.  It focuses good, though keep it on manual up close.  The main differences in the Sony 100mm F/2.8 macro and the Sony 50mm F/2.8 macro are; the 50mm is smaller, lighter, less expensive and sharper at F/2.8 and has better CA control.  The 50mm has a lens barrel to subject distance at maximum macro of only 1.9″ (48mm) as opposed to the 100mm 6.2″ (157mm) distance.  Normally, close working distances will bring you problems with shadows on your subject from the lens, although some people won’t get that close so they won’t be bothered by this.  If you shoot a lot of really close macros, you might want to choose this lens over the 50mm macro.  Both have a smooth background blur or Bokeh.  The Sony 100mm F/2.8 macro could also serve duty as a portrait lens or medium telephoto for low light events where the 50mm might not be enough.

I think the Sony 50mm F/2.8 has about a one stop advantage for sharpness (at or near wide open apertures) and maybe a two stop advantage for color fringing.  If you really need the 100mm length, then go for it.  If you don’t need the length and would rather have a smaller and lighter lens for convenience, consider the Sony 50mm F/2.8 macro or Tamrom 60mm macro below.

APS-C users; don’t forget to check out the Tamron 60mm F/2 macro lens or super small DT 30mm F/2.8 macro.

For full frame users; as usual, light fall-off is stronger, but that’s about the only real negative I can come up with when comparing the differences in coverage.