Macro lens

Duncan16

Duncan16

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Duncan
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Hi,:wave:

I am looking to buy a "Macro" Lens for a Canon 450D. however I may be moving to a Canon 600D.

I would be using the lens for extra close up'sof flowers,insects etc. could any of the team give me any advice. Money is quite tight so I will not be looking at the top end of the Canon range.

Thank you:thumbs:
 
Canon 100mm f2.8 i love it. About £400 though, whats your budget?

Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens is cheaper at about £260, make sure you get a true macro lens though one that can do 1:1, a lot are named macro but only do 1:2.
 
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Thanks Rob,

I was not going as far as the £400 mark. I guess £250 would be my top as I will be looking to change my 450D to a 600D as well:thinking:.
I am unsure if any sellers do a trade in service so I could put my 450D in towards the 600D?

Thank's for the advice
 
Tamron 90mm 2.8 is a favourite as well and a good price.
 
How about the Canon EF-S 60mm macro lens, fast focus with USM and available secondhand around the 200 quid mark
 
Thanks for the advice, I will look into the details. once again thanks all of you.
 
Some great shots on your Wildlife section, what lens was you using?
 
I'd keep the 450d and put the money to the lens. I don't think there are enough differences between the 450 and 600d. well worth looking at the canon 100mm 2.8 or the sigma 105mm if you can stretch your budget
 
I have the Canon 100mm macro (non IS) and love it. It gives a decent working distance at closest magnification (1:1) of about 8 inches, which will get you to most insects without scaring them off. The 60mm I think has a closest working distance of about 6 inches, which is pushing it a bit for some insects. The 100mm is very sharp and great for portraits and general use also. I notice that there's one for sale in the classifieds for £285 ... http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=445167

:)
 
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beeje25 said:
I'd keep the 450d and put the money to the lens. I don't think there are enough differences between the 450 and 600d. well worth looking at the canon 100mm 2.8 or the sigma 105mm if you can stretch your budget
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Thanks for the heads up, I will look at the lens. I am unsure whats clased as a Macro?? I will have around £250-300 so the Canon is way out:lol::lol: unless my numbers come up tonight.
 
Diamonddec said:
I have the Canon 100mm macro (non IS) and love it. It gives a decent working distance at closest magnification (1:1) of about 8 inches, which will get you to most insects without scaring them off. The 60mm I think has a closest working distance of about 6 inches, which is pushing it a bit for some insects. The 100mm is very sharp and great for portraits and general use also. I notice that there's one for sale in the classifieds for £285 ... http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=445167

:)
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Hi George,
Just had a look at the MY Snaps,on your quote. what did you use to take these shots.
 
Duncan16 said:
Thanks for the heads up, I will look at the lens. I am unsure whats clased as a Macro?? I will have around £250-300 so the Canon is way out:lol::lol: unless my numbers come up tonight.
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That Canon 100mm macro that I mentioned on the classifieds is £285.


Hi George, Just had a look at the MY Snaps,on your quote. what did you use to take these shots.
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All the macro shots on there were taken with the Canon 100mm macro lens with a 550d, except the last 3 or 4, which were with the 7d, which I recently upgraded to. :)
 
The Tamron 90mm is an excellent and cheap macro lens - slow AF which doesn't really matter with macro, and very good quality glass - I highly recommend it.
 
If you want macro on a budget you could go for a film era manual focus lens as when shooting macro you'll almost certainly be using manual focus anyway.

Ffordes have a Tamron 90mm f2.5 macro for £79, add another £10 or so for an OM to eos adapter and you could be shooting macro for under £100.

They also have the following OM fit lenses...
Vivitar 55mm f2.8 macro, £45.
Zuiko 50mm f3.5 macro, £75.
 
I use a Tamron 90mm Macro on a 450d and I've been happy with the results. It also makes a good portrait lens which might be another factor, depending obviously on what else in is your camera bag.
 
Duncan, my advice is if you can't afford a longish macro like a 100mm etc then don't bother. Instead get some extension rings and stick them on your 50mm. Working distance will be near enough the same, as will the quality.
 
Phil Young said:
Duncan, my advice is if you can't afford a longish macro like a 100mm etc then don't bother. Instead get some extension rings and stick them on your 50mm. Working distance will be near enough the same, as will the quality.
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Good advice:)

I cobbled together a 400D, 50mm MkII, jessops tubes and an old 430ez flash for under £300.


Garden Orb Spider by Rhod2010, on Flickr

I wouldn't swap it for my 100mm f2.8(non IS) or the mp-e but it shows what is possible for a small outlay;)
 
RJL2005 said:
Good advice:)

I cobbled together a 400D, 50mm MkII, jessops tubes and an old 430ez flash for under £300.


Garden Orb Spider by Rhod2010, on Flickr

I wouldn't swap it for my 100mm f2.8(non IS) or the mp-e but it shows what is possible for a small outlay;)
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Here's another of the same :)

27998_533589119998460_1473990322_n.jpg


310530_285920678098640_2091152755_n.jpg


And from the extension rings and 18-55mm:

222430_249447271745981_6220466_n.jpg


And then also taken with the 105mm VR:

227165_533832769974095_446759006_n.jpg


Nothing in them in terms of quality...one setup cost me an additional £40 on top of a lens I already owned, one cost me an extra £650...

Don't get me wrong - I want my old 105mm VR back again because it's a great lens - probably the best I've owned...but for now, there's not much I can't get around with my 50mm and extension rings.
 
Hi Phil,
which of these shots were taken with extention tubes? and how do they work? I will look on the net and see if I can find out what to order.
these shots look great.
 
Having just bought a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro off here for a measly £150 I would definitely suggest you put one on your list of potential buys.
The one thing it does which the Canon doesn't do is that the barrel extends during focussing which some reviewers say they don't like though I've not seen any users complain.
Tbh, at MFD the barrel is still plenty far away from the subject for it not to be an issue.
Link to a few shots I took with it to test it out.
 
Duncan16 said:
Hi Phil,
which of these shots were taken with extention tubes? and how do they work? I will look on the net and see if I can find out what to order.
these shots look great.
Click to expand...

Just search canon af extension tubes on eBay, they should cost about £40. Easy to use, you attach them to the body and then the lens attaches to the tubes.

If you can get a 105 for under £200 then that would be a very good deal and I would heavily consider that route.
 
I paid £150 plus postage for my Sigma and opted for RMSD at £7.55.
If you go for extension tubes then the Polaroid ones at £60 are supposed to be very good quality, as are the Kodak ones though I'm only going by what I read before opting for a proper macro lens instead.
I may still get some tubes at some point.
 
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