Macro lens

Lavinia · Mar 8, 2006

I was wondering if it's worth buying a seperate macro lens for the 300D and which one is better, a Canon or Sigma macro lens.

I think there's also a 70-200 mm macro lens, is that better than getting for instance the sigma 150 EX Macro? Could you also take 'normal' photos with the 70-200? As for some weird reason, my Canon 75-300 which came with the kit has stopped working, I keep on getting an error message, so if the bigger macro lens can be used for 'normal' photos too, you'd have 2 in 1 really wouldn't you?

jgb · Mar 8, 2006

As far as I know, all the true macro lenses are primes. I doubt the 70-200 you mention does true 1:1 macro. The Canon, Sigma, Tokina, Tamron macro lenses are all very good. As a start, I would recommend something in the range of 100mm. They are all good. I own the Sigma 105 and love it.

jgb

Lavinia said:
I was wondering if it's worth buying a seperate macro lens for the
300D and which one is better, a Canon or Sigma macro lens.
I think there's also a 70-200 mm macro lens, is that better than
getting for instance the sigma 150 EX Macro? Could you also take
'normal' photos with the 70-200? As for some weird reason, my
Canon 75-300 which came with the kit has stopped working, I keep on
getting an error message, so if the bigger macro lens can be used
for 'normal' photos too, you'd have 2 in 1 really wouldn't you?

--
Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/jon_b

Gautam Majumdar · Mar 8, 2006

All true macro (1:1 magnification) are primes. You are probably thinking of Sigma 70-300 APO Macro lens. This will give you 1:2 magnification. All true macro lenses (Canon, Sigma, Tamron) are excellent lenses. Depending on the focal length you can use them for portraits (60, 90, 100, 105mm) or as general telephoto lens (longer ones). Alternatively you can get a normal prime lens (say, Canon 50 or 85mm F1.8) and use it with a set of extension tubes to get close-up, often down to 1:1 magnification, shots.
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Gautam

oldskooladdict · Mar 8, 2006

As said above- 90-105mm macro lenses from tamron canon and sigma are a good bet,

a point to be careful of- if you intend to buy second hand make sure u check the sigma will work on digital bodies, you should be fine with the canon and tamron ones.

jrk · Mar 8, 2006

What exactly is meant when you state 1:1 magnification? I've also heard this referred to life-size.

max2k · Mar 8, 2006

1:1 simply means the size of the subject captured on the medium (sensor or film) is the same as the real-life size of the subject.

So a 2mm object would "occupy" (using this term loosely) 2mm in the sensor as well.

Think about this -- usually the size on the sensor is much smaller than real-life size - that's how you capture very tall buildings/mountains etc etc on a photo --- macro makes this 1:1 (hence a vastly magnified image with a lot of detail)

I hope that makes some sense !!

jrk said:
What exactly is meant when you state 1:1 magnification? I've also
heard this referred to life-size.

Lavinia · Mar 8, 2006

I saw that there was a Sigma 70-200/f2.8 EX DG Macro HSM, that's the one I was wondering about. Maybe dumb question but would this lens also be suitable for shooting ie gymnastics? Or is it soley for nature etc. photos.

Maybe it's safer to go for the Sigma 105mm Macro DG and then buy a tele lens separately as, like I said in another thread, my 70-300 zoom stopped working all of a sudden and I do miss having a zoom lens.

nikt · Mar 8, 2006

is very good, internal focussing, solid build, possibly the best IQ of the lot (by a hair). Also compares very well to the canon 135L in non-macro applications- the canon only just beats, again by a hair. Can't go wrong with the sigma.

Karl Gnter Wnsch · Mar 8, 2006

Lavinia said:
I saw that there was a Sigma 70-200/f2.8 EX DG Macro HSM, that's
the one I was wondering about.

The macro in the name of that lens is sort of a marketing misnomer. It enables you to focus at quite close distances (for a telephoto zoom lens that is) and this enables you to get pictures of reasonable magnification of about 1:3.5 (so an object 3.5 times bigger than your sensor will be the smallest to fill the frame fully, a true macro lens will do 1:1 magnification which means an object the size of your sensor will fill the frame fully). It's a good telephoto zoom but at macro it's not nearly as capable...
--
regards
Karl Günter Wünsch
Visit my gallery at
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Rowbear · Mar 8, 2006

has a rating of 9.8 at Fred Miranda, the highest among Sigma prime lens:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showcat.php?cat=38&stype=1&si=&perpage=24&sort=4&cat=38&ppuser=
--
Robert Gravel
http://www.pbase.com/rgravel

Gautam Majumdar · Mar 8, 2006

The Sigma 70-200 F2.8 is a fast lens for a zoom & is perfectly suitable for shooting gymnastics & other sports. But it is not suitable for macro photography, having only 1:3.5 maximum magnification. One possibility is to get a set of Kenco extension tubes & use the whole set (68mm) with the zoom lens set at 70mm. This combination would give you close to 1:1 magnification. But it is twice as heavy as 70-300 zoom and would not be very comfortable handholding with added extension tubes.
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Gautam

flatland · Mar 8, 2006

After a lot of research, including Fred Miranda's Web site, I came to the conclusion that the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM was an excellent macro lens and a good buy.

Now if the %#@& Brown Truck would only show up I could tell you if my research was valid. If you are still unsure, there's another evaluation at:

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_100_28/index.htm

Incidentally, like Fred Miranda, PhotoZone has run and published extensive tests on quite a number of Canon, Sigma and Tamron lenses. Not only did the various technical evaluations rate the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM very highly, so did the buyers who ran their tests in the field as will you and I.

--
flatlander

dylanbarnhart · Mar 8, 2006

The requirements for gymnastics is very high. In fact, no zoom lens can do gymnastics. The most common lens for gymnastics is Canon 135 f2. Even with such lens, ISO1600 to 3200 must still be used.

With that said, the any lens in the 70-200mm range with f2.8 is very useful for pretty much anything else, and is a must for indoors tele shots.

Lavinia · Mar 9, 2006

Thanks for all the tips, very usefull. I've thought a lot about buying a macro lens vs using the one that's standard on the camera as it's a bit limited or am I wrong? I reckon that the Sigma 105mm macro will be so much better than the one that's built in with the EOS 300D.

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