dadorphan

Greetings.

I have a Sony a 6000 and have been using a Sony 30 mm macro lens. Because the lens requires that I practically touch the subject of the photo, I am unable to photograph insects.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Tokina 100 mm F2 .8 lens both as a macro lens and for other uses and would like to find an adapter to use the Tokina on my Sony a 6000.

I would imagine that I can only use it manually, although I understand that there are quite expensive adapters that would have automatic focus. From reviews, however, it doesn’t seem as if they have perfected those. Any help or suggestions of the type and brand of adapter would be welcome. Thank you very much

Dadorphan

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

It appears the lens you desire only comes in Canon and Nikon mounts. Unless, I missed it. The a6000 is an APS-C mirrorless camera with an E-mount. I will be interested to see what adapters can be used, making it possible to use this Tokina Macro lens on your camera. Yes, this Tokina lens has been highly recommended by some uhh members.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

I am happy using my a6000 with a Minolta 100mm f2.8 macro. I couple it with the SONY LAEA1 adapter. Research turned up the fact that the LAEA1 & 2 were designed for the APSC cameras while 3 & 4 are full frame. I'm not going full frame. Bought both the adaptor and the Minolta lens on EBay. I also have the LAEA2 which does AF and use it with this lens and others with the A-mount. When shooting insects I like the control of manual focusing usually but occasionally use the AF adapter. Actually, I could use the LAEA2 manually by flipping the switch. Ended up with both because I don't want to give up a cut of the light to the translucent mirror in the LAEA2 when light is critical. The lens was <$100 don't remember the cost of the adapters but they were under retail.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Sony offers a 90mm FE macro lens, but it’s expensive at $1100.00. Ot’s for full frame, but works well on an APSC camera.

HOT Texas Loc: From the Heart of Texas

I use a vintage Tamron 90mm 2.5 macro on my a6000, really enjoy it!!!!

https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/tamron-adaptall-2-sp-90mm-f-2-5-52b.html

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I would suggest you check Metabones or FotoDiox adapters. You can purchase from B&H or perhaps Amazon. Or go to the Brian Smith website, for a more thorough view of many adapters. Not sure how effective third party lenses would work on these adapters?

repleo Loc: Boston

The Sony FE 90mm F2.8 OSS G Macro is an awesome lens. You can get a good used one on ebay for about $800 which is not much more than the the Tokina and a Metabones adapter. However, you need to be careful mounting the 90mm on an A6000 on a tripod. When I tried it, I found the camera sagging about a half frame when I let go. At first I thought it was a tripod problem but on further investigation I found the weight of the lens was causing the the bottom of the body to twist a little too much for comfort. I had to jury rig a canon lens mount bracket onto the 90mm to get some level of comfort.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I just want to second that lens. I have the Minolta AF 100 f2.8 macro and use it on my Sony A99 with great results. Very, very sharp and those Minolta colors are hard to match. There is just something about the colors you get from the older AF Minolta glass. Especially useful for fall foliage.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Here are links to recommended lenses for the A6000.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/first-sony-e-mount-lenses-to-buy/
https://www.dxomark.com/best-lenses-for-the-sony-a6000-primes-and-zooms/
http://heavy.com/camera/2017/06/best-a6000-lenses-for-sale-sony/
https://www.borrowlenses.com/blog/best-lens-for-sony-a6000/
https://www.switchbacktravel.com/10-great-sony-fe-full-frame-lenses
http://briansmith.com/sony-a7-a7r-a7s-lens-guide/
http://briansmith.com/best-sony-fe-fullframe-e-mount-lenses/
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/top-15-best-sony-e-fe-mount-lenses-2017-29886
https://www.slrlounge.com/first-5-lenses-buy-sony-a7-series-camera/

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

I use two Nikon lenses with my a6000 and a6300. I use a Meike that works well. I think it was about $40 two years ago. You will be shooting macro in manual mode anyway, so you don't lose much. I've gotten some good shots with my Nikon 400mm and a Rokinon fisheye with this adapter.

philo Loc: philo, ca

I have a Metabones adapter which allows me to use any of my canon lens.
Right now I have a Tamron 28-300 on my a6000. It is a nice walk around unit. If I were to buy a sony lens in this range I would have to spend $1000.

tropics68 Loc: Georgia

If you decide to go this route you will need to look at the Nikon version of this lens. I believe it has an aperture ring which allows aperture adjustment even on an inexpensive adapter. There is a good picture on Ken Rockwells page for this lens. The Canon version has no provision for aperture adjustment on the lens itself. I have this lens on a Canon 70D and it is capable of some tack sharp results for sure. Good luck.

dadorphan

Thank you all for the recommendations. The Minolta 100mm f 2.8 appears to be a great lens. I need a little bit of clarification on the adapters. Do third party adapter companies make less expensive adapters that can do the same thing as the Sony brand adapters? If so what are your specific recommendations for brands so I could use the Minolta in manual and for AF?

Thanks again.

Dadorphan

Dadorphan

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I noticed the earlier response regarding the vintage Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5 Macro lens and second that recommendation. This is a manual focus, manual aperture Adaptall2 lens... designed to utilize interchangeable mounts, which are easily swapped out and available to fit virtually any DLSR or mirrorless system. I checked to see if an Adapall2 is available for Sony E-mount and found several, including:

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Lens-Mount-Adapter-Mount/dp/B0054EORII
https://www.amazon.com/Fotasy-Adaptall-NEX-VG900-NEX-FS100-NEX-FS700/dp/B00L6BZE5S

I have used several copies of the Tamron 90mm Macro lenses over they years, and still have Adaptall2 mounts that allow me to use them on six or eight different vintage and modern camera systems (incl. Canon FD, Konica K/AR, Pentax P/K, Nikon F, Canon EOS/EF and more). Adaptall2 mounts are relatively simple and, as you will see at the above links, much less expensive that the fancier Metabones, etc. designed to use more modern autofocus, electronically controlled lenses. The lenses themselves are pretty easily found selling used at bargain prices.

The 90mm f/2.5 is a 1:2 lens on it's own, but sold originally with matched 2X teleconverter that fits between the Adaptall2 mount and the lens body to make it full 1:1 (but also a more difficult to hold steady 180mm, also with much shallower depth of field at any given aperture). Instead of using that, I simply use standard macro extension tubes of various lengths to increase the lens' magnification, when needed. For example, I added a 20mm macro extension tube to mine to make the following images at somewhat higher than 1:2 magnification:



For comparison, the following is another shot of the poppy buds above, except it was done at 1:2, without any macro extension, using the lens alone:



All the above were shot at f/11 with the lens mounted on one of my Canon 7D cameras using an EOS/EF Adaptall2 (installed on the lens shown below, in left hand image, with a Nikon F Adaptall2 mount shown alongside).



The right hand image above shows the relatively compact Tamron 90mm alongside other macro/closeup lenses I use (Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM, EF 180mm f/3.5L USM, and TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift). The best part... it's by far the least expensive of any of the lenses shown. I bought this Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5 Macro lens used at a local secondhand store for all of $20, in like new condition including caps, hood, the matching 2X and with a Nikon F mount installed. I spent another $40 to get a "chipped" EOS/EF Adaptall2 sent from China (on Canon cameras, the chipped mounts and adapters allow Focus Confirmation to work). $60 total for a macro lens! Not bad, IMO.

There were four versions of the Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5 Macro lens... Original model 52B from the early 1980s shown above is all metal, even the grip of the focus ring (hood is rigid plastic, bayonet mount). Optically identical I think, model 52BB was introduced in 1988 and can be most easily distinguished from the earlier model by it's checkered, rubberized focus ring. (Models 52E from 1990 and model 152E from 1994 appear to be early autofocus models, which will have non-interchangeable mounts.)

In 1996 a Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Macro Adaptall 2 lens (model 72B) superseded the earlier f/2.5 models. It's also a good, manual focus, interchangeable mount lens. It is able to do 1:1 all on it's own, without any added extensions or converters. In fact I think this lens is the basis of the more modern and current autofocus lenses. I also think some variant of the Adaptall mount version (B57-100?) may have remained in production until fairly recently (seems more plasticky than the earlier models).

If you prefer, I see that Samyang/Rokinon offer a 100mm f/2.8 in Sony E-mount... a manual focus/manual aperture design. It gives full 1:1 and is internal focusing (doesn't increase in size when focused closer, the way the Tamron 90mm and some other macro lenses do). Cost is about half that of other 100mm macro lenses in E-mount... about $550 in either Rokinon or Samyang version (it's the same lens). No adapter needed... this lens is designed for E-mount. Note: The Samyang/Rokinon is a rather heavy lens, which might be a bit challenging to use with a tripod or monopod while mounted on a relatively small, light Sony E-mount camera. I read somewhere that someone had found one of the tripod mounting rings for a Canon lens will fit and worked with it (but am not sure which one). I'm sure that helps a lot (in fact, one of the top reasons I like the Canon 100mm macro lenses is that they can optionally be fitted with a tripod ring). The optional/replacement Canon OEM tripod mounting rings are rather pricey (around $150)... but there are third party, Chinese-made clones that cost about 2/3 less: $50 (metal ones... avoid the even cheaper plastic ones, ~@25). If you want to try this, you'll have to research which ring fits the Samyang/Rokinon lens.

Manual focus really isn't a big deal when shooting macro. In fact it's often preferable to autofocus, which I sometimes turn off on my macro lenses that have it. Manual aperture control may be a bit slower... But on my Canon, if I wish I can still get auto exposure using aperture priority mode or by enabling Auto ISO in manual exposure mode. (I just can't use shutter priority or program AE modes with a manual aperture lens such as this.) I imagine it's similar on Sony. Presetting a smaller aperture manually does dim down the image in an optical viewfinder such as my Canon DSLRs use. That can make manual focusing a bit trickier and really small apertures may cause Focus Confirmation to struggle or fail, particularly if shooting in low light conditions. But I believe your Sony uses an electronic viewfinder, which may be able to overcome these relatively minor inconveniences. On my Canon I can use Live View with Exposure Simulation to help a lot in those situations.

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

The adptors from A-mount to E-mount are two: the Sony EA3 and the Sony EA4 . I enjoy the EA3 with my DT lenses and the EA4 with full-frame lenses.