New Macro Lens?

Hi all,

I'm looking to get a new Canon macro lens for my 650D. I'm going on annual leave next week and will be going to a flower festival with loads of colourful flowers and orchards etc.

I've been reading a few articles and people talk about macros being great for flowers and insects and whatnot. Now, my budget isn't huge... Like $400-500 tops. I'd also like to only get Canon instead of say Sigma or Tamron (unless those slay Canon's offerings)

I've currently got the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses from Canon (that came with the camera) and am looking for a macro so I can kind of "fill out" my kit so to speak.

If you had that kind of money, what would you purchase, and what do you like about that lens?

And, as usual, thanks heaps for your help

The Canon 100 L Macro runs about $1000, so that's out (although it's very good).
A lot of people rate the Sigma 105mm macro just as highly, but it's just as expensive.
The Canon 100 USM (non-L) Macro is about $600, so that's probably out too.
There is an older Canon 100 non-USM Macro, which i've seen go on fleabay for $300-400. I'm not sure how well it performs, afaik it's not as good as the USM or L.

Sticking with Canon, there's also the EF-s 60mm Macro, which by most accounts that i've read is very sharp. Of course you don't get IS, but it depends how close you want to get and how much light is around.

Anyone of those 4 options are good, and are all Dedicated Macro lenses, that will focus anywhere from 1:1 to infinity. There's also the 50mm Macro, that will only go to 1:2, and the 180mm L macro (which is just huge, I wouldn't use it for macro without a tripod, but if you do it's great). The good thing about them is that they also make great portrait lenses.

Another (slightly more annoying but cheaper) option is to get any prime lens, and a set of Kenko Extension Tubes (B+H has them for $200, I paid closer to $90 in Hong Kong, you can probably find a good deal via fleabay). Then you can choose from the 40mm Pancake ($200), 50/1.8 ($100), 85/1.8 or 100/2.0 ($3-400), or even use your 55-250 (zoom lenses with tubes is a bit weird, but you get used to it). But the annoyance is that to get down to macro distances, you have to pull the lens off, put the tubes on, and put it back on, then you can't focus to infinity without taking the tubes off again. For a 'shoot' where you're always doing the same thing, it's fine, but for walkaround it gets annoying...

Thanks for the replies. Tube extenders? I'll have to look into it. Would it still have the same quality though?

My friend is showing me http://www.georges.com.au/index.php/...s/ef5025m.html but I'm not sure, I was looking at the 60mm although out of my budget.

[QUOTE=Squidy;75547]Thanks for the replies. Tube extenders? I'll have to look into it. Would it still have the same quality though?

extension tubes are basically just spacers for between the lens and body. they have the connections to maintain autofocus and IS but there is little more to them. They are great because they do not change the quality since there is no extra optics involved. Most people buy kenko, because they are cheaper than canon ones and do the exact same thing. The only draw back as mentioned before is that you loose the abiitly to focus to infinity.

For a newbie can you please define "focus to infinity"?

The extension tube allows your lens to focus closer than usual. I have the 25mm version and use it as my macro substitute.
You can use them with your lenses, another helper for macro is a close up lens filter.
I almost never use the filters but it does add to macro abilities.

http://www.adorama.com/CAETEF252.html
http://www.adorama.com/HY58CUS.html

as a side note- with trip only a week away- macro is much harder than it first looks - will take a day or so to get used to new news and being really close to your subject.

I find the 55-250 with extension tube gives a reasonable working distance

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Squidy

For a newbie can you please define "focus to infinity"?

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the extension tube will force focussing closer- so with the 55-250 and 25mm extension
max distance is about 5'

When you say max distance do you mean max focusing distance? ie I'd need to be closer?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Squidy

Hi all,

I'm looking to get a new Canon macro lens for my 650D. I'm going on annual leave next week and will be going to a flower festival with loads of colourful flowers and orchards etc.

I've been reading a few articles and people talk about macros being great for flowers and insects and whatnot. Now, my budget isn't huge... Like $400-500 tops. I'd also like to only get Canon instead of say Sigma or Tamron (unless those slay Canon's offerings)

I've currently got the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses from Canon (that came with the camera) and am looking for a macro so I can kind of "fill out" my kit so to speak.

If you had that kind of money, what would you purchase, and what do you like about that lens?

And, as usual, thanks heaps for your help

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Hi, to start with you should try to decide what focal length you prefer. There are several great Macro lenses at about 100 mm which may be a bit long for general photography, but works great for many Macro purposes. At a flower festival you may be interested in capturing loads of flowers in a single shot while a 100 mm Macro is best for single flowers or small parts of flowers. For general flower shots you already have the 18-55 that will do fine both for single flower shots and "oceans of flowers".

I purchased my Macro about a year ago and then I had a shortlist of three (in this order):
1) Canon 100 L
2) Canon 100
3) Tamron 90

I debated with myself for rather long until i finally decided for my first choice, Canon 100 L. (A campaign that brought its price close to the non-L Macro price made me decide.) If I would have been on a tighter budget, I would likely have chosen the Tamron 90 and I would probably have been very satisfied also with that lens - I've only heard good things about it.

So, the Tamron 90 mm would be my suggestion for a good Macro lens within a budget of $400-500.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Squidy

When you say max distance do you mean max focusing distance? ie I'd need to be closer?

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yes Maximum focusing distance- you can focus on something about 5-6' away but almost everything beyond the would be out of focus.

It attaches like a lens, then you attach your lens.

some quick samples
With 25mm extension @ 55mm - about 4" away
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMG_1468.jpg
@100 - about 12" away
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...0/IMG_1469.jpg
@250 - about 3'
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...0/IMG_1472.jpg
@250 - about 6'
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-D...0/IMG_1473.jpg

I ended up buying the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

If I don't like it I can always resell it or swap it.

I love photography :D

Yes, you will need to be closer. You cannot focus on a object farther away than 5' with the setup mentioned above, the more extension tubes you have the closer can focus. Although there is a slight IQ difference with extension tubes, nothing to worry about with a 25mm tube but when start stacking the entire set you will notice loss of IQ and light (nothing is for free in photography).

John.

Well, macro photography is definitely different. Having trouble getting used to no IS on the lens. Works fine with tripod or on a desk, but in my hands it's pretty shaky.

Getting used to the zoom etc and it's maximum length is also difficult. But the results on small items are fantastic so far.

The 60mm macro is an excellent lens I think you'll be happy with it. My wife is using one and the other bonus is that the on board flash actually works pretty well with it because the lens is short. My wife's been using one for a while and has come up with quite a few good shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68000527@N04/tags/macro/

Dave

Get this one when it comes back in stock at the Canon Refurbished store or you can get this one, it's new and in stock but just white box (this means broken from some kind of kit they were offering but still has the 1 year warranty). I have this lens and love it. I use it with extension tubes to get higher magnifications. If you get a Kenko or Tamron 1.4x TC, they work with the non-L lenses and work great. They give added reach and greater magnification also. This lens is super sharp. Check out Bryan's review. That would take care of your issues.

If you don't like that then the Tamron 90mm is awesome (this guy uses it for the non high mag pictures) or you can get the Sigma 105mm (Denise is using this one).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Throgmartin

The 60mm macro is an excellent lens I think you'll be happy with it. My wife is using one and the other bonus is that the on board flash actually works pretty well with it because the lens is short. My wife's been using one for a while and has come up with quite a few good shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68000527@N04/tags/macro/

Dave

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Some pretty impressive shots :)

I recently purchased the 60mm f/2.8 macro and its pretty amazing. I shoot with a 60D so the 1.6X focal length works for me. It does not have IS so its a bit challenging without a tripod.

I would recommend renting a macro for the festival... see if love it and than purchase it. If you work with a local photo shop and rent a lens from them and let them know you may buy it, more often then not they will apply the rental cost to your purchase.

Good luck and have fun, flowers are beautiful subjects.

Bruce

Good for you. Having enthusiasm is probably about 90% of what you need in this hobby. (The other is having about 5x the money you initially thought you would spend;))
You should get a tripod no matter what kind of shooting you do. They are really really useful in lots of situations. If you are going to do any macro, you probably want one that will splay out low to the ground and that has an articulating stem to hold the camera in whatever weird position you need to shoot your little things.
Here's the one I am going to get. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...m_Lateral.html

Oben seems to have some kind of arrangement with B&H, because they sell for less than comparable tripods, and B&H seems to prioritize them in their search function. I bought their monopod and it is great. You have to look at the weight ratings too, and these will hold up an elephant compared to most others in the price range are rated for.

My personal choice would be the 100mm focal length, if gives a very nice seperation of the subject and background and a less clutered background. I would rather go longer than shorter, but thats just me. It also gives me a little more room for those shy critters that are spooked easily. But a shorter focal length gives you more DOF and easier to hand hold, so it's a trade off.

I would go for the refubished 100mm macro if I wanted AF liked above. If you could live without AF a old manual focus macro lens are a dime a dozen and you could spend the rest the money on lighting or another lens. Since macro is many times very magnification constrained, a small change in focus makes a big difference in your framing (Think 1 to 1). The 1-5x 60mm f/2.8 macro lens doesn't have AF for this same reason. This more of a problem at high magnifications levels than lower ones. But I think you get the picture....;)

Cheers,
John.

Yeah, I was going for 100mm but it was over double the price and I couldn't justify it :(

Manual focus is fine with me, I do 90%+ of my shots in manual. Lack of IS is really kicking my butt though :(

Manual metering? I must admit I'm not sure what that means