Close Up Lens Suggestion For Gift ?

[Bob11]

Hello,

Would be most appreciative for any thoughts and suggestions.
My Grandson a while ago received a gift of a Canon EOS SLR.
Nice gift.

Would like to buy him as a gift a new lens for.
Thinking of a Very Closeup lens.

Photography isn't my "thing," and frankly have no idea what to get.

For taking very, very, close shots of, e.g., items on a table, such as stamps, or pieces of minerals,
what mm FL do I probably want to go for ?

*Or, would this FL be too extreme, and there is a "better"
compromise FL that would potentially be more useful ?

Pros, cons, limitations, etc. for what are commonly called "close-up
lenses" would really be appreciated.

$150 would be our limit.
Are there Canon Lenses in this price range, or are there other
"good" ones at < $ 150 I should consider ? I know nothing about good Lens brands.

Thanks, help and suggestions most appreciated.
Great Forum.

Regards,
Bob

 

[Rickbb]

KEH.COM or MPB.com will be your friend on this hunt. Look for a macro focus lens in your price range that is compatible with that camera.

 

[Stevedevil01]

Have to look at a lens that has Macro facility, or if he has a lens some macro tubes are quite cheap, but come with massive learning curve, if budget is an issue then the Tubes will be the answer, but then needs some software to stack the images for focus across the image, if you want the performance of a sports car, don’t buy a budget car, same with Photography really

 

[4rum]

I use the tubes to photograph insects a lot. Stevedevil01 is exactly right. They can be difficult to use. One tip, if you go this route, most of the time forget auto focus. Get the subject in the frame then move the camera forward or back. This works best for me, as stated, most of the time.

 

[petrochemist]

Your budget won't stretch to a top macro lens, but it should be enough for one of the excellent Raynox auxillaries, that simply clip onto the front of normal lenses (any of those with filter threads up to 67mm IIRC).
The DCR250 is the more popular model, but I prefer the slightly weaker DCR150 as it gives more working distance and still gives excellent close ups.

There are much cheaper close up 'filters' but most of these are single element affairs that give rise to chromatic aberration. The Raynox models are 3 element achromats.

 

[RAZKY]

Hello,

Would be most appreciative for any thoughts and suggestions.
My Grandson a while ago received a gift of a Canon EOS SLR.
Nice gift.

Would like to buy him as a gift a new lens for.
Thinking of a Very Closeup lens.

Photography isn't my "thing," and frankly have no idea what to get.

For taking very, very, close shots of, e.g., items on a table, such as stamps, or pieces of minerals,
what mm FL do I probably want to go for ?

*Or, would this FL be too extreme, and there is a "better"
compromise FL that would potentially be more useful ?

Pros, cons, limitations, etc. for what are commonly called "close-up
lenses" would really be appreciated.

$150 would be our limit.
Are there Canon Lenses in this price range, or are there other
"good" ones at < $ 150 I should consider ? I know nothing about good Lens brands.

Thanks, help and suggestions most appreciated.
Great Forum.

Regards,
Bob

For subjects as small as stamps and pieces of minerals you are talking macro photography, 1:1 minimum, perhaps up to 5:1 or so. Any one lens will be way beyond your budget, but excellent results can be had for quite a bit less than your stated $150. For example, if you have a 24mm wide angle lens, a $20 (or less) lens reversing ring will get you somewhere around 2:1 magnification with no other equipment. Unfortunately, many cameras are so poorly designed that they won't meter without a communication between camera and lens (some won't even operate the shutter without such communication). I'm not familiar with Canon, so do not know if a reversed lens is doable. Extension tubes, even if they have to have a chip, may be had within your budget (think second hand). They're very simple and easy to use, but for flat copy like stamps the inevitable edge distortion may be objectional. For excellent image quality for the lowest cost, it's hard to beat lens coupling – reverse mounting a shorter focal length lens on a longer lens on the camera. For example, a 50mm lens reverse-mounted on a 100mm lens will yield 2:1 magnification. A 25mm lens on a 100mm lens will yield 4:1. The lens on the camera can be a zoom, but my experience is only with short prime (single focal-length) lenses. If you will let us know which lenses your grandson has we can make some positive recommendations.

 

[Thiophilos]

Lots of good responses here. Macro photography is a specialty and gets a bit technical. You would be committing your grandson to a learning curve. So macro gear might not be an ideal gift. It is not like putting a magic lens on the camera and then great shots happen. You also need to consider technique, and that especially includes lighting.

I guess you could consider getting him a clip-on auxiliary lens for a smart phone. They are cheap and some get great macro results with them.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

Close up "macro" lens are difficult to use and probably wouldn't get much use. If he wants to play around with macro consider getting a $10 reverse macro ring. You mount this ring on the front of a stock lens and this ring will mount on the camera effectively flipping the lens around turning it into an macro lens. You will only be able to take pics of things the size of a postage stamp from a couple of inches away. Another option are a set of $20 extension tubes that fit between the stock lens and camera body. Macro requires you to take a series of shots and stack them with software .. it is complex.

A more practical option is a general purpose highly regarded lens like a Sigma 17-50mm F/2.8 EX DC OS HSM for Canon EF-S bodies. You can get a used one on ebay for $200 if you shop around.

A bigger question is what Canon body do you have? If it is APS-C body it will require EF-S lens. It could have a larger sensor requiring EF lens.

Another lens to consider is the Canon EF-S 55-250mm STM. Only the STM version gets great reviews and can be found on ebay used for $100 if you shop around. I'd consider this a secondary lens as you really need a wider lens such as the Sigma 17-50mm first.

 

[4rum]

I just bought a used Canon EF-S 55-250mm STM lens. I have used it a lot just since buying it. I highly recommend this lens. It is FAST to focus, the focus is positive and for the money, an amazing little walk about lens. I did not know about the Macro aspect, I will be checking that out as well.

 

[petrochemist]

I use the tubes to photograph insects a lot. Stevedevil01 is exactly right. They can be difficult to use. One tip, if you go this route, most of the time forget auto focus. Get the subject in the frame then move the camera forward or back. This works best for me, as stated, most of the time.

Tubes can be a real pain with zoom lenses, as any change in the focal length will throw the focus out (some of my zooms change focal length a bit too easily). Fortunately this is not an issue with supplementary diopters. Which I also find easier to fit for a quick close up.

The tip on focusing is spot on. AF can be OK for close-ups but very rarely is for true macro.
As it happens none of my true macro lenses have AF at all (ignore zooms that have macro on them, generally that's just marketing speak for slightly closer focusing) Using manual focus also makes it easy to adapt older macro lenses some of which are remarkable value.