- Jul 3, 2003
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Recommend me a macro lens!
- Thread starter JulesMaximus
- Start date
yhelothar
Lifer
- Dec 11, 2002
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If you already have a prime or two, I'd save some money and just get a set of extension tubes.
Macro lens is basically just a prime lens with built in extension tubes.
Their only advantages is that you can switch to infinity focus without taking off the lens, and they have very flat field of view. But this won't matter much to you if you're just taking flowers, bugs.
Macro lens is basically just a prime lens with built in extension tubes.
Their only advantages is that you can switch to infinity focus without taking off the lens, and they have very flat field of view. But this won't matter much to you if you're just taking flowers, bugs.
- Jul 3, 2003
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the canon 100mm is pretty much your choice, very good lense. the sigma 105mm is a good option also.
I have that lens. It is excellent as a macro lens and also serves as a very good portrait lens.
Take a look at the pictures people have taken with that lens. Refresh this page several times: Pbase page for Canon 100mm macro
Take a look at the pictures people have taken with that lens. Refresh this page several times: Pbase page for Canon 100mm macro
- Jul 3, 2003
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yhelothar
Lifer
- Dec 11, 2002
- 18,409
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I would get this
You would want a set. I'm not sure how good the quality of the kenko is, but they should be pretty much the same considering there's no glass elements.
The 100mm is a great lens - I highly recommend it! As someone mentioned the Sigma 105mm is great too!
with a macro prime you would still be stuck with the same focal length as well
but.. I agree with the 60mm macro, heard nothing but great things about it, same as the 100mm macro
yhelothar
Lifer
- Dec 11, 2002
- 18,409
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While that's true that you lose distances with tubes(I stated this out in my original reply), but I don't see this as much as an issue for just taking close up of flowers and bugs. You would generally want to get as close as possible. I hardly find myself using any less than all the tubes.
As I said, it's a tradeoff to use tubes, but in return, you save several hundred dollars. If you have the money to blow, get the macro lens, but if you want to save money, tubes will allow you to take the same pictures at a fraction of the cost.
- Jan 2, 2006
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There are many, many ways to do macro.
The ones that I personally use and have used:
1. 50mm + Extension Tubes
Extension tubes are GREAT for an emergency macro or a portable/light macro setup. If you don't want to or don't have the space to or can't carry the extra weight of a dedicated macro lens, extension tubes are your answer. Also, they are great for decreasing the focusing distance of lenses. Say that your 50mm has a minimum focusing distance of 5 inches, but your subject that's behind glass is 4 inches in front of you. You could move back an inch, but then your magnification of the subject gets messed up. Just plop on a 13mm extension tube and you should now be able to focus to 4 inches.
http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/gallery/1645619
That day I totally forgot to bring my macro lens. Good thing I always have a set of lightweight extension tubes in my camera bag, so I just plopped them onto the 50mm and was good to go. A nice, light 50mm macro.
I personally use the Pro Optic Auto Extension tubes: http://www.adorama.com/MCAETEOS.html
I know people swear by Kenko, but I find it hard to justify the price of the Kenko's when there's Pro Optic (Adorama's house brand). These extension tubes do not work too well however when they're attached to a heavy lens (180mm+) and then rotated in the portrait orientation, as the metal contacts between the tubes sometimes tends to disconnect, giving your camera an error.
2. Dedicated Macro Lenses
ALL macro lenses are incredibly sharp. I seriously doubt you will be dissappointed by the sharpness of a macro lens, regardless of if it's from Sigma, Canon, or Tamron. You have to think about working distance though. A shorter focal length macro lens means you have to get closer to your subject to get that 1:1 magnification, which may disturb your subject or even anger it. A longer focal length macro lens means you have greater working distance.
Short focal lengths (~60mm, Canon 60mm): short working distance, but lighter and easily hand-holdable, meaning you can get more refined focus when you're handholding and manually focusing by moving your body back and forth until you get fine focus.
Medium focal lengths (~100mm, Canon 100mm, Tamron 90mm, Sigma 105mm): medium working distance, still pretty light and easy to hand-hold. Works great as a portrait lens too.
Longer focal lengths (~150mm+, Sigma 150mm, Sigma 180mm, Tamron 180mm): longest working distance, won't disturb your subjects. Handholding is hard because the lens is heavier, making hand shake more pronounced. Expensive. Doubles as a really sharp telephoto prime.
3. Reverse-mounted Wideangles
literally taking a wide-ish lens and mounting it in reverse on your camera body. Requires a cheap reverse mount adapter and possibly some cheap step up/down rings.
http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/gallery/1702772
Pros: Can get insane magnification, much more than 1:1. A reversed 50mm is actually a little less than 1x magnification. A reversed 30mm is about 2x magnification. A reversed 20mm is about 3x. A reversed 10mm is about 6x.
Cons: Limited aperture control. There is no electronic contact between the lens and body, so you have to stop down the lens to the desired aperture before reverse mounting. Looking through a stopped down lens means a dimmer viewfinder image and greater difficulting in determining when something's in focus. The depth of field is also razor thin. Expect a lot of attempts to get a subject in focus. Working distance is about an inch or less. It's also difficult even finding your subject in the viewfinder when you're at such high magnifications.
4. Shorter lens reverse mounted on a longer lens and then mounted on the camera
Ex. Reversed 50mm + Sigma 150mm + camera body
Will need to buy the coupler for the two lenses. Large, unwieldy, but can get great results with the right combination. Magnification is determined by the longer focal length divided by the shorter focal length, so in the above setup it would be 150mm / 50mm = 3x. I personally have no had success with this, but others have.
Search for Jody Melanson on the Fred Miranda Macro forums. He uses the above setup. He is a macro god. So is Tom Hicks.
The ones that I personally use and have used:
1. 50mm + Extension Tubes
Extension tubes are GREAT for an emergency macro or a portable/light macro setup. If you don't want to or don't have the space to or can't carry the extra weight of a dedicated macro lens, extension tubes are your answer. Also, they are great for decreasing the focusing distance of lenses. Say that your 50mm has a minimum focusing distance of 5 inches, but your subject that's behind glass is 4 inches in front of you. You could move back an inch, but then your magnification of the subject gets messed up. Just plop on a 13mm extension tube and you should now be able to focus to 4 inches.
http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/gallery/1645619
That day I totally forgot to bring my macro lens. Good thing I always have a set of lightweight extension tubes in my camera bag, so I just plopped them onto the 50mm and was good to go. A nice, light 50mm macro.
I personally use the Pro Optic Auto Extension tubes: http://www.adorama.com/MCAETEOS.html
I know people swear by Kenko, but I find it hard to justify the price of the Kenko's when there's Pro Optic (Adorama's house brand). These extension tubes do not work too well however when they're attached to a heavy lens (180mm+) and then rotated in the portrait orientation, as the metal contacts between the tubes sometimes tends to disconnect, giving your camera an error.
2. Dedicated Macro Lenses
ALL macro lenses are incredibly sharp. I seriously doubt you will be dissappointed by the sharpness of a macro lens, regardless of if it's from Sigma, Canon, or Tamron. You have to think about working distance though. A shorter focal length macro lens means you have to get closer to your subject to get that 1:1 magnification, which may disturb your subject or even anger it. A longer focal length macro lens means you have greater working distance.
Short focal lengths (~60mm, Canon 60mm): short working distance, but lighter and easily hand-holdable, meaning you can get more refined focus when you're handholding and manually focusing by moving your body back and forth until you get fine focus.
Medium focal lengths (~100mm, Canon 100mm, Tamron 90mm, Sigma 105mm): medium working distance, still pretty light and easy to hand-hold. Works great as a portrait lens too.
Longer focal lengths (~150mm+, Sigma 150mm, Sigma 180mm, Tamron 180mm): longest working distance, won't disturb your subjects. Handholding is hard because the lens is heavier, making hand shake more pronounced. Expensive. Doubles as a really sharp telephoto prime.
3. Reverse-mounted Wideangles
literally taking a wide-ish lens and mounting it in reverse on your camera body. Requires a cheap reverse mount adapter and possibly some cheap step up/down rings.
http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/gallery/1702772
Pros: Can get insane magnification, much more than 1:1. A reversed 50mm is actually a little less than 1x magnification. A reversed 30mm is about 2x magnification. A reversed 20mm is about 3x. A reversed 10mm is about 6x.
Cons: Limited aperture control. There is no electronic contact between the lens and body, so you have to stop down the lens to the desired aperture before reverse mounting. Looking through a stopped down lens means a dimmer viewfinder image and greater difficulting in determining when something's in focus. The depth of field is also razor thin. Expect a lot of attempts to get a subject in focus. Working distance is about an inch or less. It's also difficult even finding your subject in the viewfinder when you're at such high magnifications.
4. Shorter lens reverse mounted on a longer lens and then mounted on the camera
Ex. Reversed 50mm + Sigma 150mm + camera body
Will need to buy the coupler for the two lenses. Large, unwieldy, but can get great results with the right combination. Magnification is determined by the longer focal length divided by the shorter focal length, so in the above setup it would be 150mm / 50mm = 3x. I personally have no had success with this, but others have.
Search for Jody Melanson on the Fred Miranda Macro forums. He uses the above setup. He is a macro god. So is Tom Hicks.
Mrvile
Lifer
- Oct 16, 2004
- 14,066
- 1
- 0
I love my Sigma 150mm macro which is generally claimed as being one of the best wildlife macro lenses in production 
The majority of the images on my DeviantArt were taken with it.
The majority of the images on my DeviantArt were taken with it.
- Jan 2, 2006
- 10,455
- 35
- 91
Seconded on the flash thing. You need adequate light to maximize DOF with your smaller aperture, as well as retain good noise characteristics with a low ISO. If you're using a flash, an off-camera flash cord is a must, or a wireless flash. A macro flash bracket or an arm also helps, otherwise you're shooting and trying to focus with one hand while the other hand is holding the flash. Doable, but hard and tiring.
Is macro without a flash doable though? Sure thing, but difficult, especially if you're in the woods or shooting at dawn, where the insects are nice and stationary because of the cold temperature.
<3 virtualgames0!
Is macro without a flash doable though? Sure thing, but difficult, especially if you're in the woods or shooting at dawn, where the insects are nice and stationary because of the cold temperature.
Originally posted by: virtualgames0
fuzzybabybunny for elite
<3 virtualgames0!
thirdeye
Platinum Member
- Jul 3, 2003
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