Best macro lens for A6400 + Ikelite housing?

[macado]

I'm looking for a good macro lens for my camera. I'm currently shooting with an A6400 and the Sony 10-18mm lens for wide angle wreck photography. I've also got the kit lens 16-50mm which I've never used. I'm looking to upgrade to a macro lens and associated flat port this winter for my Ikelite housing.

I'm looking at the 50mm Sony f/2.8 Macro or the 90mm Sony f/2.8 G OSS Macro. Is the 50mm macro enough? I realize with a crop sensor that 50mm is closer to ~75mm but might not be great for true macro. I am mostly shooting nudibranchs but I also want to do some black water photography this winter. Are there any other lens options/ combinations I should consider?

Happy to hear opinions and even see some example photos with the 50mm or 90mm lens.

 

[beldridg]

Like you, all of my photos (95+%) are wide angle and the Sony 10-18 is one of my favorite lenses on APS-C.

I shoot both a APS-C (Sony a6400) and FF (Sony a7rIV) depending upon the situation.

Basically, I'm not really qualified to answer the question but I'll give it a shot.

When I was silly enough to be considering macro and photographing squishy things, I did some research and bought a used Zeiss 50mm APS-C Macro lens from Phil Rudin.

Phil knows his stuff and I think it is his recommended macro lens for Sony APS-C macro. I still haven't used it but maybe someday I will -- but rust doesn't really need macro.

IIRC, the Sony 90mm Macro lens on an APS-C might be slow to focus and/or a hard lens to use as a first macro lens (135mm equivalent).

I think that Phil's articles on UPWMag are available to review for free. A link in a Wetpixel forum for an article in particular for a6400 macro is at:

Sony A6400 for macro and super macro?

Hey guys, Im getting into underwater macro and super macro photography. Ive done many dives with GoPro but have not taken any UW photography with a proper rig. I want a camera that takes excellent photo on land (significantly better than iPhone) and great macro photos underwater. Id also like occ...

wetpixel.com

- brett

 

[macado]

Thanks Brett. This is super helpful! Gives me a little bit more to research

 

[Barmaglot]

I've been shooting an A6300 for about five years now. My first macro lens was the Sony 90mm, and I found it to be usable, but somewhat difficult - it does take a while to focus, and both the subject and the camera have to be still while it's focusing. Trying to use it on a blackwater dive, where everything is in constant motion, was an exercise in frustration, although I know a diver who has pulled it off successfully, but that guy is like twice my age and many times more experienced.
These days, my go-to macro lens is a Canon EF-S 60mm on a Metabones IV adapter. The field of view is not as tight as the 90mm, and it focuses a lot faster, although it does require good illumination to lock on - without a focus light, it tends to hunt back and forth forever. I still have the 90mm, but I generally bring it only on dives where I expect to encounter really tiny stuff - when paired with a Weefine WFL05S, it can fill the frame with a subject just 1cm across. I've used it to get some shots of anemonefish eggs where you can clearly see the detail of the baby nemoes inside the egg capsules, like this (full-size, no crop).
I have also tried using the Sony 30mm f/3.5 macro, but found its working distance to be just too short for proper macro usage. It's fine as a fish portrait lens, but doesn't really do anything that a 16-50mm won't, and the latter gives far more flexibility.

 

[Pyndle]

@Barmaglot do you see a big improvement moving from a 16-50mm with an Inon ucl165 (+6 diopter) to the Canon 60m ? (I would have to buy the lens + adapter + new port)

Or I'd be better off buying another UCL 165 to stack up on top of my existing one?

I have 2 main frustrations with my current setup: not sharp enough (but I don't think many will unless I get the 90mm but then I lose too much in versatility) and cannot get close enough/zoom enough.

 

[Barmaglot]

@Barmaglot do you see a big improvement moving from a 16-50mm with an Inon ucl165 (+6 diopter) to the Canon 60m ? (I would have to buy the lens + adapter + new port)

I don't have a UCL-165. I use a Weefine WFL05S which is +13 strength - with the 90mm lens it lets me shoot supermacro, although the working distance is maybe a couple centimeters from the front glass. I've tried it with the 16-50mm and short macro port, but found it too limiting in working distance.

 

[Hoag]

I almost always shoot wide angle, and my "goto lens" (on an A6000 in a Nauticam housing) has always been the Sony 10-18mm f/4. I recently acquired a Sony/Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 lens. I want to stress that the new lens is not a true macro, but with an equivalent focal length of 105mm and a minimum focus distance of about 12inches (30cm), it will likely meet my needs for any macro that I shoot. It also has the advantage that the same port that I use for my 10-18mm lens is the recommended one for the 16-70mm lens.

Full disclosure: I have not been diving since I bought this lens so I have not used it underwater yet.

Here is a review of the 16-70 f/4 lens including a segment where the macro properties are evaluated.

I don't know if it will meet your needs, but it might be worth it to take a look.

 

[BFRedrocks]

FWIW, I use the Sony 90mm Macro lens on my a6500 and while it's a bit tough to use, I have found it exceptional in it's quality, especially with a focus light assisting the focal speed. I'd recommend it based on my experience.

 

[krigg]

Here are a few of my images with the sony 90mm. I love it!. The Auto focus can be slow. You may need a focus light in order to get focus on some subjects.

 

[Craine]

I'll add my $0.02 here and throw in the Tamron 35mm F/2.8 M1:2 for consideration. It's a really sharp lens, with pretty fast AF on my a6400. I'm using a Salted Line a6xxx housing and the Flat Short Port meant for the 16mm f/1.4 Sigma. There's some space (I think I measured about 13mm extra space between the lens front and port glass), but at 35mm you don't see any vignetting. While it's only half-macro, that's a pretty good choice for those getting into macro for the first time.

The really nice thing is that 35mm is a nice length for fish portraits, and you end up with a pretty versatile setup. The photos below are all from the same day of diving, with no changes in setup. For the most part they are full crops of the frames, ordered from smallest to largest subjects to give you an idea of the range of the lens is capable of. I could add a wet diopter too if I wanted to boost my repro ratio. I think I'd need a +10 to hit 1:1, not accounting for flat port magnification.