Best Macro lense?

[mommy22]

What's your favorite and why. I shoot with Nikon.
I'm hunting around for a new lense.

 

[stevemunoz]

While I don't shoot Nikon, I'm pretty sure its close to the same as with Canon. I haven't found to many bad reviews when it comes to macro lenses. I personally shoot with the Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro, and it is great. Its cheaper than the Canon lenses (I'm guessing cheaper than Nikon's choices aswell) and great image quality. Find out what focal length you need first and go from there.

Is 100-105mm focal length enough reach for your needs? It all depends how close you can get to your subject without it moving (IE insects/animals). Sometimes having the extra reach of an 180mm macro will help, but it really depends on how close you can get to your subject. If it is inanimate, then you don't have that big of a problem.

Hope that helped,

Steve

 

[Johnboy2978]

I shoot with the 70mm macro Sigma EX 2.8. It's very sharp and I chose it b/c I could also use it for portraits given its focal length.

 

[LBPhotog]

can't beat the Nikor 105 macro with VR ... if you don't mind the approx. $1K price tag ...

 

[mommy22]

Uh, no. I am not willing to spend a grand on a lense.

 

[mommy22]

I will have to check out the Sigma. I'm most interested in shooting flowers and bugs...

 

[mommy22]

Next question, can I shoot macro with my 70-300? I would love a lenses I could do portraits and macro with...

 

[flyingember]

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

 

[fokker]

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.

 

[mommy22]

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

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.

 

[mommy22]

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.

So is it better to have a 180mm vs. a 70mm? I don't mind getting close to my subject as long as I can shoot like crazy with a fast shutter speed...

 

[ArntorFTL]

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.

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.

I just bought the Sigma 180 3.5 macro for about $600 from Adorama. It's a very good lens from what I've seen so far. I highly recommend you check in to it.

 

[Derrel]

My favorite of multiple macro lenses is the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 HSM-EX APO Macro. I bought mine used for $500. It is long enough to use easily for insects and butterflies,and it gives enough distance between the camera and a flash unit to make flash exposure control relatively easy,accurate,and repeatable. One of the biggest drawbacks of using a shorter macro lens, like a 60 or 90 or 105mm macro lens is that, as the lens is focused closer, most lenses will lose effective focal length, so the image gets smaller, and the working distance from the front of the lens to the subject is as short as 4 inches. At such short distances, due to the way light behaves according to a thing called the Inverse Square Law, changing the flash-to-subject distance as little as even 1/2 inch at 4 to 6 inches means that a flash that is mounted on the camera or the lens (like a ring flash) will have a HUGE fluctuation in flash power,and it sometimes becomes a major PITA to fully utilize the flash with the shorter macro lenses. This becomes an especially big problem when working outdoors in bright sunshine during the spring and summer months, when you start running into issues with bright sun, top flash synch speeds of 1/200 second, and camera ISO settings of 200 or so,and the range of f/stops you want to use.

You ask the question if it is better to have a 180mm macro or a 70mm macro. Flat-out, for insects, butterflies, snakes, lizzards, frogs, flowers, etc--the longer macro lenses in the 180mm range are "better" in terms of the working range and most people's idea of how they want to work. It's a LOT easier to get a high-magnification close-up shot at 18 inches than it is from 4 inches. it is easier to light with the camera,and your body not right on top of the subject, blocking the light from the sun or sky.

In terms of actual products on the market, Sigma's newer 150mm EX Macro lens really delivers beautiful images; I have seen hundreds of photos shot with the Sigma 150, by people from all over the world, and the image rendering (the bokeh and drawing style) of the Sigma 150 are really,really amazing; I wish I owned their 150mm macro.

 

[mommy22]

I am going to have to look into the lense....

 

[mommy22]

Quick question:
My aunt has informed me she has the EXACT Sigma lense you speak of, only it goes with her Pentax....I shoot with Nikon...Hmmmm. She will give it to me but will it work??? is there some kind of mount I can buy so that I can use her lense on my camera? This could turn out in my favor if I can figure out how to use it on my camera...