READY FOR YOUR CLOSE-UP?

There’s something to be said for sticking with own-brand lenses to match your camera body. Sure enough, there are some very good options from the likes of Canon, Nikon and Sony, but you might end up spending more than you need to, especially as there are some excellent macro lenses on the market from independent manufacturers.

So what’s the big deal with macro lenses? Sometimes the ‘macro’ badge is plastered onto prime and zoom lenses that only give a magnification factor of around a third to a half. For this group test, we’re mostly focusing on macro primes that give full 1.0x or 1:1 magnification. In a nutshell (or some other suitably small object) that means that when you use the lens at its shortest focus distance, it will recreate the subject matter at full life-size on the image sensor. As such, enormous enlargements of tiny details are available when viewing the resulting images on screen or in print. The Laowa lens on test goes even further, delivering a 2.0x or 2:1 magnification factor.

The Sigma lens has an autofocus system based on a linear stepping motor, whereas the Tamron has a more traditional ring-type ultrasonic system. Autofocus is more basic in the Tokina lens, whereas the Laowa has no autofocus system at all. It’s not a deal-breaker