Best lens for close-up videos for under 400 pounds

[Menschik]

Hey guys,

I do a lot of video taking with my Canon 550D + 50mm 1.8 II prime, which is brilliant, however I've hit one problem and that is the distance I need to hold an object (smartphone in my case) in front of the camera just to get it in focus, as Canon 550D is a crop sensor camera. I need to take close ups of handheld devices such as smartphones and tablets, so that I can show some details of the hardware.

I have therefore decided that I would invest in a new lens, which would be more ideal for this kind of job. I usually shoot outside, however I do like to take videos inside as well, so low light videotaking at a decent performance is a must.

Could you recommend a good lens (lenses)? Thanks in advance for your valuable time!

 

[TCampbell]

The EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM is a true "macro" lens -- you can get as close to the subject/smartphone as you like (up to 1:1 scale which means the size of the subject in real life is the size it will be "on the sensor".)

There's an EF 50mm "compact macro" which is less expensive but this lens only allows for 1:2 scale (not as close as the 60mm) unless you buy the optional life-size converter (by which point the 50mm and it's converter now cost more than the 60mm macro). Also the image quality of this lens isn't as good as the 60mm.

The EF-S 60mm macro has astonishingly high image quality... it's probably the best EF-S lens Canon has ever made. It easily rivals the image quality from my 100mm f/2.8L series macro (which costs more than twice as much.)

Before I upgraded to a full frame body, this was my go-to lens for anything I needed in tack-sharp detail.

 

[Menschik]

Thanks Tim, that was very helpful and well explained. You most probably sold it to me completely. I'll take a closer look at the EF-S. The only down side I can think of is that it's not image stabilised, but it shouldn't matter too much when I'm shooting close ups.