how does the macro work on sigma lens

Bolerus

Bolerus

Bolerus

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I have a sigma 70-300 II lens (on a nikon d50)

it has a macro feature, and a little slider button.

but all it seems to do is lock the zoom to be between 200 and 300, I have tried focusing through it at a target with the macro mode on and off, but in all honesty it doesent seem to make any difference to the image or the focol length.

can any body enlighten me please
 
How I think it works. Note that the scale is off, the ranges in fact start much closer than they appear. (Someone correct me if this is wrong :P)

The actual ranges are something like 1.5m for zoom, and just under 1m for macro. So get to 1m from your subject, turn macro on, and start zooming. With macro off you should get no focus, with macro on you should find a focus as you zoom in.

macro.JPG
 
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Yeah, there's just a difference in how close you can get to the subject while still allowing the lens to focus. I'm not entirely sure what's going on inside the lens, but it does work.
 
As in the excellent diagram above - the Macro mode enables a closer focus distance.

Standard min focus distance = 150cm
Macro mode min focus distance = 95cm
 
im at work at the moment, when i get home i will try it again. but from testing last night, I couldnt focus any focus with th efocus mode on.

with it on and off the min focus was about 3 foot (i focused on some text on a magazine)
 
I have the Sigma 70-200 APO DG EX Macro, and that has a minimum focusing distance of 100cm.

Compare that to the old non macro version of the same lens, and the similar Canon 70-200, which both had/have a minimum focusing distance of around 180cm.

The "Macro" in the title does mean that it can focus closer than a similar lens, so you can get decent close up images, however as it is still a compromise between macro work and telephoto work, it will not focus as close as a pure bred fixed focal length Macro lens, which can focus down to as close as 18cm from the lens.
 
Wierd. I just got the APO 70-300 (my god it's awesome!) and was wondering the same thing. Glad to have ti explained. If i could hijack for a second too, could someone explain what the manual is on about when it says this:

Sigma said:
Setting the Exposure Mode:

(For Nikon AF/MF, Minolta MF)
When you use the Program exposure mode or Shutter speed priority mode, the Diaphragm control ring must be set to the smallest F-stop (i.e. largest number). All Nikon AF/MF and Minolta MF lenses have a safety button which must be moved to the lock position. When you use the aperture priority auto mode or Manual Exposure mode, unlock the button and set the Diaphragm value by turning the ring.
Click to expand...

Me being the same as probably everyone else, i just wacked my shiny new lens onto my D50 and started playing around. Everything works as it should (as far as i can tell) with the aperture ring set and locked to f22. Is that right? :confused: Surely i just do all the settings on the camera, regardless of what program mode i'm using on my D50? :confused:
 
Apologies for the bump, but could someone answer the above question? I'm off to London tomorrow and want to make sure i'm not doing anything wrong! :)
 
If its not locked on 22 you will get an error message. First time it happened to me I was on holiday and had a massive panic and called Nikon support :D
Just leave it as it is.
 
Zheka said:
First time it happened to me I was on holiday and had a massive panic and called Nikon support :D
Click to expand...

lol :p It shall be left as is then. I wodner why they have that in the manual, or am i just reading it wrong?!
 
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