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your question is too broad
do you want to use a
reversing coupler? (cheap but hard to use)
extension tube? (several hundred dollars minimum)
screw on filters? (low quality but cheap)
macro lens? (most expensive)
you also need to know how close you want to get. do you want to get to full life size? half? double? the bigger, the most you spend. some macro lenses don't get all the way to life sized even if they say they are macro.
are you willing to buy accessories like a ring flash or a dedicated tripod bracket, etc or are you going hand held? I can tell you that the more you magnify the more flowers move, the quicker bugs get out of frame and the longer it takes per shot. I've actually looked at a flower and it didn't look to be moving but magnified at 1.5x it was twitching in the natural air flow.
as far as having one lens for dual aspects, this is a hard question to answer. a good multi-purpose lens will be expensive, like the one mentioned already.
you might want to give your budget
your question is too broad
do you want to use a
reversing coupler? (cheap but hard to use)
extension tube? (several hundred dollars minimum)
screw on filters? (low quality but cheap)
macro lens? (most expensive)
you also need to know how close you want to get. do you want to get to full life size? half? double? the bigger, the most you spend. some macro lenses don't get all the way to life sized even if they say they are macro.
are you willing to buy accessories like a ring flash or a dedicated tripod bracket, etc or are you going hand held? I can tell you that the more you magnify the more flowers move, the quicker bugs get out of frame and the longer it takes per shot. I've actually looked at a flower and it didn't look to be moving but magnified at 1.5x it was twitching in the natural air flow.
as far as having one lens for dual aspects, this is a hard question to answer. a good multi-purpose lens will be expensive, like the one mentioned already.
you might want to give your budget
your question is too broad
do you want to use a
reversing coupler? (cheap but hard to use)
extension tube? (several hundred dollars minimum)
screw on filters? (low quality but cheap)
macro lens? (most expensive)
you also need to know how close you want to get. do you want to get to full life size? half? double? the bigger, the most you spend. some macro lenses don't get all the way to life sized even if they say they are macro.
are you willing to buy accessories like a ring flash or a dedicated tripod bracket, etc or are you going hand held? I can tell you that the more you magnify the more flowers move, the quicker bugs get out of frame and the longer it takes per shot. I've actually looked at a flower and it didn't look to be moving but magnified at 1.5x it was twitching in the natural air flow.
as far as having one lens for dual aspects, this is a hard question to answer. a good multi-purpose lens will be expensive, like the one mentioned already.
you might want to give your budget
You can get extension tubes for a few bucks, they are probably the OP's best option for something cheap.
Also something worth noting about macro lenses and macro shooting in general, is that a longer focal length lens (ie 180mm) will allow you get max. magnification from further away, however the depth of field in the shot will be less than that from a shorter focal length lens (ie 60mm). To combat the short depth of field you will have to use really really apertures which is not ideal in terms of sharpness and shutter speed.
Just the fact that you want to take insect pictures (which is 95% of what I got into macro for myself) says that you need all the focal length you can get so as not to disturb the critter.Well, I suppose my budget is 600 or less and I know I want a lense, not an add on.
I don't know much about macro. I don't know what type of magnification I need to get the shots I want. I like the types of pics of bugs where you can see their little faces, or the hairs on their legs.
I understand shooting macro is different than regular photography but I want to learn.