Question

[TGaston]

I know this is out of place, but seeing how everyone on here has some form of a macro or another, I was wandering, if someone could push me in the right direction for a lense for my Canon EOS Rebel XTI so I can make such detailed macros!! you guys can bump this one or what ever mod gods will do!! but any help/direction will be much appreciated!

 

[photo28]

Well, I dont have it yet (I want to get it) but I've heard nice things about the Canon 100mm macro lens. Look through all the suggestions and see what is best for you. I'm not sure how much you want to spend though, some macros can get pricey.

 

[Overread]

budget

My thoughts - you can get a canon 100mm macro - its the workhorse of many and a top rate macro lens. Personally though, I went for the sigma 150mm - it comes with both lens hood and tripod collar (both of which you have to get as extras for the canon - which also brings its combined price to near that of the sigma 150mm). The big advantge though is that you can then attach sigma teleconverters to the 150mm to boost its focal length (more on this in a moment) but also its magnification factor as well. Its definatly not easy and takes a lot of practice, but you can get good 2:1 macro shots (typical being 1:1)

The longer focal length gives 2 things:
1) increased working distance - that is the distance from subject to camera - this is important for insects as a longer working distance does help with not scaring the bug as you try to get close for the shot

2) increased background blur (bokeh) which you will see is important in macro - helps to remove distractions in the background from being apparent.

Another thing to note is that (with the exception of the canon MPE 65mm) all macro lenses can function as a normal lens of their respective focal range - although most do not have the fastest AF - this is due to the finer focusing power of a macro for those close up areas and also because a strong AF is not a prime requirement of macro photography - light is often too weak and the camera will often hunt a lot if you try AF in macro - so everyone uses manual focusing.

Flash is also key requirement - you can do well with the popup flash alone - using some tissuepaper to cover the flash (make sure its white tissue paper and hold it on with some elastic bands) and it will act as a cheap diffuser. Of course this is nothing like working with a dedicated flash like a speedlite - a good speedlite is a good investment as well as it will help both in macro and in fill flash situations.

 

[250Gimp]

If you are just dipping your toes in the macro waters you may want to try a 50mm f1.8, with an extension tube set.

It is a sharp, cheap little lense that is great to use for regular photography, but also does well at macro with the extension tubes.

I have used mine with the extension tubes, and a flash and am quite happy with the results.

The down side is that it has made me crave more, and I am currently waiting on a Canon 100mm macro I bought on fleabay.

Here is a link to a few I have processed lately with the 50mm f1.8, extension tubes, and a 1.4x tele converter, to give you an idea of what you can expect.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134648

Cheers