Macro Lens For My Daughter?

[vorlandphotography]

My daughter is having loads of fun with my hand-me-down 20D. Macro photography

is an emerging interest for her, and a birthday is not far off. I'd

appreciate recommendations for a starter macro-capable lens for her kit ...

something I could perhaps pick up on the used market without breaking the bank?

[sheldonnalos]

Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro

 

Very sharp, no distortion, focuses to 1:2, great all around portrait/short telephoto/macro lens on a 20D. Should be able to purchase one used for around $225.

[tommyinca]

Vivitar 100/3.5 @ $100-$120 used. The same lens is also called Promaster, Pheonix or Cosina. Good for 1:1 macro.

 

Cheaper is a Kenko +10 close up lens for the kit lens at < $20 used, good for 1:2 macro.

[barmijo]

My first suggestion is stay away from zooms that claim macro capability. They're typically very soft.

 

For a specific lens take a look at the Tamron SP AF 90mm/2.8. It's sharp, gets to 1:1, and is fast (lighting for macro is tough so this is important). It's also a great portait lens. The Di version is $400 new at B&H and the older version is availible on *bay around $200.

 

The other two ways to get started in macro are filters and extension tubes. I'd suggest staying away from the filters as most offer terrible quality. The only acceptable one is the Canon 500D and it costs almost as much as a lens. Extension tubes are my favorite tool for still life macro. They're cheap and can be used with any lens, but typically require a focusing rack.

[dan_roche]

It's more than the 50 2.5 Compact Macro, but I recommend the 100 2.8 Macro. It focuses to lifesize (1:1), it doubles as a nice portrait lens and it's sharp as a razor. I'm ordering one next week.

[yakim_peled1]

What is your budget? Which macro topics is she interested in? Are there any weight considerations? Is 1:1 capability essential?

 

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[lotsawa]

I'd prefer the EF-S 60/2.8 over the 50/2.5. It's not much more expensive (and a lot cheaper than the 100/2.8 USM), gives you 1:1 subject size, it's nice and small (the 100 is quite heavy to carry with you) and has fast and silent USM autofocus. The 50/2.5 is quite an old design.

 

Image quality is excellent, and with 100mm (equivalent to film) it serves as a good portrait lens for a "crop camera" too.

 

But you probably won't find a used one easily ... maybe from someone who went to full frame.

 

Of course, if you can find a used 50/2.5, that would be a good option. You might also find a used EF 100/2.8 (non-USM), which has a slower AF, but is excellent with regard to optics.

[dhauschild]

A canon AF 35-70mm macro lens is one of the lesser known lens in canons auto focus line. They are old, dating back to the late 1980s, and they are not USM; however, they acquire your subject rapidly in good light. I know pro photographers who still use this lens for work as the optics rival some of today?s L series lens. This is one of the few macro zooms that will shoot macro throughout its entire zoom range. A little slow, 3.5-4.5, but its built like a tank, metal body and mount. You can find them on ebay sometimes for less than 50 bucks. I have L lenses in my bag, but I often favor this old lens.

[william_fong]

I bought and returned a Canon EF 50mm Compact Macro. It was not USM and the AF was too slow for me, especially in low light. It would take a while to focus, and just really tested my patience. I plan on buying the Canon EF 100mm USM Macro lens in the near future.

[alan_myers]

Hi David,

 

I guess it all depends upon what you consider "breaking the bank", and perhaps on your daughter's age and skill level at this point.

 

In my opinion, the EF-S 60/2.8 would be a great all-around macro lens on a 20D. I haven't used it yet, but have heard a lot of good feedback (plus it is said to essentially be a scaled down version of the excellent EF 100/2.8). As already mentioned, it's unlikely to be found on the used market since it's relatively new to the Canon lineup. If you go this route, I'd recommend getting the optional lens hood with it. As an EF-S lens, the new 60/2.8 won't be usable on cameras other than the current Rebel, 20D, 30D D-SLRs.

 

I've used both the EF 100/2.8 and EF 180/3.5 for a number of years, first on film and now digitally. The 100 is a wonderful lens, acts as a bit more of a long macro on the 1.6X crop cameras. The 180 is also a fine lens, but very long focal length for general macro use on a 20D (288mm equiv.), requires very careful technique to keep steady enough and slower shutter speeds/smaller apertures to compensate for shallow depth of field.

 

An alternative I don't believe has been mentioned is the Tamron SP 90mm macro lens. These have been around quite a while and I've found them to be superb (still have two of them in other camera systems). They are popular and will likely bring more $ on the used market than some other macro lenses.

 

Another possibility would be to just get some extension tubes for use with existing lenses, sort of depending upon what lenses your daughter presently has. Canon offers individual tubes in 12mm and 25mm lengths. Kenko and others offer these, too, or sets of three tubes, often 10mm, 20mm and 36mm.

 

I've used extension tubes in combination with a wide variety of lenses over the years and always keep a few handy in my camera bag. A 12mm, 20mm or 25mm behind a normal lens like EF 50/1.4 or 50/1.8 will make it a pretty good macro lens (some vignetting). The same is even more true of 85mm or 100mm non-macro lenses. 12mm behind a 20/2.8 or 28/1.8 makes for interesting effects. 36mm or 50mm or more of extension might be needed to get really tight shots with longer tele lenses. I've personally used extensions with up to 400 and 500mm lenses.

 

In general it's easier to use tubes with fixed focal length (prime) lenses, but they work on zooms too. 25mm or 36mm behind a 70-200/2.8 makes it very fun for close-up work.

 

There is a large amount of variation lens-to-lens, but as a very rough rule of thumb expect to need extension equivalent to the lens' focal length to get to get to 1:1 magnification with it. So, a 50mm lens would need 50mm of extension. But, I'd estimate 80% or more of the "macro" I've shot over the years is actually closer more like 1:2 or less magnification, far less is actually in the 1:1 range. I think people tend to over-estimate how much magnification they are actually doing.

 

I'd recommend tubes over a diopter lens for the front of the lens as image quality is generally maintained better with extensions. Really cheap diopter lens sets are available, but generally produce pretty poor results. Top quality diopters like Canon's 250D and 500D aren't cheap and work much better, but still have a greater effect on image quality than extension tubes will.

 

A good book on macro photogrpahy may also be something your daughter would really appreciate. The better ones explore a wide variety of ways to do close-up/macro work, in the field and in the studio. There are many books, I can personally recommend John Shaw's and Tim Fitzharris', in particular, both of which relate to macro/close-up nature photography. There are now some books specific to digital macro photography. But, when it comes to macro/close-up, what worked with film cameras (even before autofocus) works equally well on digital SLRs too.

[yakim_peled1]

>> I'd recommend tubes over a diopter lens for the front of the lens as image quality is generally maintained better with extensions. Really cheap diopter lens sets are available, but generally produce pretty poor results. Top quality diopters like Canon's 250D and 500D aren't cheap and work much better, but still have a greater effect on image quality than extension tubes will.

 

 

I have the Kenko set but the light loss bugs me a lot. I am getting a Nikon 6T very shortly.

 

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[William Michael]

What is your new camera, since you have given your daughter the 20D?

 

Perhaps you should consider something you might borrow?

 

But just on a 20D: (how old? how capable is your daughter?): I would guess 100mm F2.8 would be in real consideration for overall flexibility for her photographic growth and when macro, distance to subject if she is into `shooting bugs and spiders`.

 

Regards

WW

[vorlandphotography]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Very helpful. I'm now shooting the 5D. Kristi is a young adult and is rapidly learning the nuances of digital photography. She's into wildlife and landscape photography, and is becoming interested in "the patterns of nature, closeup," flowers, tiny critters, etc. I'm probably leaning towards buying something we can both use.

[yakim_peled1]

The 150/180 variants will probably be too heavy, too expensive and too dedicated. The 5D throughs the 60/2.8 out the window. So, we are left with 50/2.5 and 100/2.8 USM. My vote goes to the latter. USM, IF, EF, reasonably priced and longer working distance.

 

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[William Michael]

With the extra information: ditto Mr Peled for the reasons he gave, another firm vote for my original guess: 100mm F2.8

 

Have fun WW

[ifeito]

Your question begs for this answer:

 

Just how small is your daughter that you need a macro lens to shoot her?

 

Sorry, couldn't help it.

 

Have a good one!

 

Ignacio

[User_502260]

I have many macro lenses for manual focus cameras. Recently I bought a 100/3.5 Promaster lens in Canon FD mount. So far I only shot one roll with it but the results are surprisingly good. I think I paid $39 for it new. This same lens is made in AF mounts for Canon and other cameras. A friend of mine has it for his EOS RT. The lens comes with a 1:1 close-up lens adapter. In AF mounts the lens is even more unimpressive mechanically but results are quite good if you stop down even a little. The crop factor with the 20D will give excellent working distance and the lens should also work nicely as a medium telephoto.