Quote Originally Posted by Squidy View Post
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
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.