Recommendation?

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Hey guys. I would like to shoot insects and plant life outside. I was wondering if you could recommend me my first setup. I have a canon 80d. I currently use a screw on macro filter made by marumi

 

[Overread]

What kind of budget have you got or are you expecting to spend. Macro can be done cheaply or for more cost so a rough idea of what kind of value you're thinking of can be a great help

 

[Derrel]

First steps might be a 12mm and or a 20 to 25mm extension tube, to get closer minimum focusing distance with the EF-S 55-200mm STM lens you currently have. Used alone, the 55-200 lens with the extension tube ought to give you larger image sizes, and closer focus, that the bare lens. You might be able to use the extension and the close-up filter from marumi together, as a pair, and maybe get good quality.

If you buy an extension tube for Canon--please, get one that preserves light and flash metering and autofocus; the el-cheapo $7 Made in China, no-electrical-contacts,no-light-metering,no-auto-focus ones are rubbish, and will make your life a living hell. Spend the $59 or whatever to get an extension tube that maintains the automation Canon cameras need for metering, and aperture control!

"Some" close-up lenses are actually two-element achromatic lens systems, made of two different types of optical glass, and the combo of say crown and flint glass types, can actually reduce chromatic aberration, hence the term "achromat". Examples of two-element close-up lenses (screw-in, filter thread fitting types) are the Canon 500D, and the Nikon 5T (52mm diameter threads) and the Nikon 6-T (62mm). Not sure about the Marumi model you own: Marumi makes some very,very good filters, so they might also have a two-element, achromatic close-up device.

The two-element types are VASTLY superior to those cheap sets of three or four + Diopter filters, which often give terrible chromatic aberration (Loads of purple fringing anyone?).

An off-the-camera, TTL flash connecting cord might be useful. Maybe a bracket to position the flash off to the side of the camera?

Sigma, Tokina, and Tamron have made some very nice macro lenses in the 90mm, 100,105,150mm,and 180mm focal lengths. I personally think the Sigma 150mm, pre-OS macro lens has some gorgeous,gorgeous bokeh, and is a beautiful imager for people and travel photography, as well as a macro lens.

 

[Frank F.]

Hey guys. I would like to shoot insects and plant life outside. I was wondering if you could recommend me my first setup. I have a canon 80d. I currently use a screw on macro filter made by marumi

chapest would be a reverse mount for your lens
other than a filter or an extension tube this does not degrade IQ

I started macro with a macro lens
I did not have many lenses at the time so I decided for an AF version that can also be used in other situations. I bought a 60mm with 1:1 image ratio

later Iearned the following things that made me change the setup:
1) most modern AF macro lenses shorten their focal length while focussing to max image ratio but not the old Nikkor Manual focus 4/105 Micro or 4/200 Micro which can be had quite cheaply in very good condition.
2) I shoot macro from the tripod and even if not on a tripod I shoot it manually
3) better a longer lens for live insects, or I might scare them away (4/200 Micro)

So most of my macro shots today are MF. You can attach old Nikon MF glass to current Canon easily but not the other way around.

A ringflash comes in handy if you prefer high definition shots over moody shots
A camera with very good High ISO capability comes in handy if you want more of the moody shots

You need to find a solution for wind. In the forest a translucent windshield with spikes ist a very good idea

 

[Frank F.]

double. sorry

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I've done the lens reversal minus the adapter. I actually recommended the adapter to my brother who is just getting into photography and wanted to take macro shots. I know nothing about the gear that is out there or what lengths are decent for the type of shooting i'd like to do. I did figure i'd invest in a ring flash.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

What kind of budget have you got or are you expecting to spend. Macro can be done cheaply or for more cost so a rough idea of what kind of value you're thinking of can be a great help

What is a safe budget for this type of lens? I know my other hobbies i can easily give people a ball park of low, mid and high spending. It will be for hobby but i don't want to get glass that's not going to have decent IQ, as that's what i enjoy about good macro shots. But i also don't want to spend 600$ on a lens i won't use all the time. It will be more of a "when the mood strikes me" lens but i do like buying quality to semi quality gear so i don't spend and spend trying to find that "perfect" piece.

 

[Overread]

Well any current market macro lens can be used for regular photography as well; so you can always use them as a standard prime*.
Generally speaking for macro you've got free choice of what you want from both ownbrand and third party. You want to look at primes (single focal length) with macro in the name. Zoom lenses with macro in the name are typically less than primes in the capabilities for magnification (half as good at best and often far less).

Canon has the 100mm f2.8 macro which is now out of production and second hand but is still good quality; or their new 100mm IS which has a hybrid IS system to help with handholding for macro shots (it counters back/forward motion as well as side to side since at macro distances back/forward is a major part of handshake).
The EFS 60mm macro is also an affordable choice. The 180mm L is a good lens but don't let the L sway you; its still as good as others on the market so is not a huge cut above the rest.

Sigma makes a whole range from their 70mm all the way up to a 150mm and 180mm. Their newer versions of several have OS (not as good as the canon hybrid IS in their 100mm but still a good boon to have).

Tamron and Tokina also make some good choices and the Tamron 90mm f2.8 is a well recommended affordable macro lens for many. Offering the good working distance that a longer focal length gives whilst being an affordable price.


Note that generally speaking you want longer focal lengths since whilst the magnifications will be the same (frame content at closests focusing point will be the same) the working distance (distance from lens front to subject) will typically be greater.


*They tend to be a bit more hair trigger on focus than regular lenses because their focus system is setup for fine control in close distances; thus their regular ranges are a bit less fine controlled. Remember though that chances are you'll be using AF for regular range shots so it shouldn't be a huge problem.

 

[john.margetts]

I have the Tamron 90 mm f/2.8 macro lens which makes a good fist of being an excellent landscape lens when I am out and about.

 

[Derrel]

I have the Tamron 90 mm f/2.8 macro lens which makes a good fist of being an excellent landscape lens when I am out and about.

I have on older Tamron 90mm AF-SP (AF= autofocus, SP=Superior Performance line of their lenses). Tamron has made a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens since the 1980's, at least and maybe since the mid-1970's, and it has gone through several iterations. I had the 100mm f/2.8 Canon EF internal focusing macro; there have been three models for Canon, the first which extended a LOT when focused close, the second the internal focusing type, the third Canon and the most-current the new, expensive IS-L or Image Stabilizer type, Luxury series (red ring around the barrel). The Tamron 90mm AF-SP has prettier bokeh than the Canon 100/2.8 Internal Focus model had. I sold the Canon 100/2.8.

My experience with macro lenses? Always buy them USED! Many people buy a macro lens, use it for a week or a month or three months, and then SHELVE it, often for years! There are loads of good-condition macro lenses all over the world. 10 or 15 years ago, I bought a MINT Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 pre-AI that was probably 35 years old, for a pittance. Looked almost new!

For flowers and plants, the shorter lenses can be useful, to get more of the plant in. For insects, you might like a LONG macro lens, like a 180mm or a 200mm. Bokeh is kind of a big deal on the macro lens category, since there is often a LOT of background that is out of focus, and this is where the Tamron 90 is very good: pretty bokeh. The Sigma 150mm macro pre-OS is simply gorgeous in the way it renders landscapes and people....it was a hugely popular lens in Malaysia and Japan for beauty photograpy and outdoor portraits.

Spend $300 to $500 for a dedicated, used macro lens, OR use extension tubes, close-up lenses, and adapted, older lenses. Nikon 105mm f/4 macro lenses are all over the world. SHORT macros, 40mm,50mm,55mm,60mm are "okay", but do not magnify "small" things like insects or stamps very much, but they are usable. 90-105mm macros are longer distance. Example: 1:1 life-size on 60mm macro is about 4 inches from the film plane; the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX-HSM Macro has its 1:1 life-size about 18 inches from the film plane.