New Camera for Dental Macro Photography recommendations

SprK wrote:

Hello All

I need a bit of help to decide on this. I will be updating my still functional but quite old 450D to a new camera. It is still working but I get to buy a new one. My current setup is 100mm Macro lens and the Canon ring flash as I shoot everyday photos at my dental practice.

I am considering Canon M50 with an adaptor for my lens, Canon 77D or Canon 80D

The camera will be used almost 90% for dental photos again, but I would love to be able to take it with me on my trips

What would be your recommendation? Would the m50 + 100mm macro + Ring Flash balance well? How does it stand against 77D or 80D?

Thanks for your help and time!!!

I do a LOT of work with both of these lenses on both APS-C DSLR cameras and Mirrorless.  You have a number of complicating factors in play here that may make it difficult for you to make a final decision with any degree of simplicity. The EF-M 28mm macro lens is VERY good for personal use and it takes very SHARP images of landscapes and other items in relatively low light.  I find that both lenses benefit from additional stabilization and higher shutter speeds when shooting Macros, especially when not shooting WIDE open with the aperture.

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EOSM mirrorless with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro USM lens + Ring Flash. .

The EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro USM lens is an excellent lens but even with the minimum focusing distance (which is about as far as the lens hood is long) it's still hard to get into any tight areas.  It was perhaps an essential tool for any dentist prior to the mirrorless age.  Like you, I own the EF 100mm f/2,8L IS Macro USM lens and it's superb on the EOSM series because the APS-C crop gives you what is essentially 160mm.  The 100mm is quite front-heavy when the Ring Flash is mounted to it and the skewed angle of the battery pack is awkward although the hotshoe mount was redesigned with the later version and is easier to mount and remove.
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The minimum focus distance on this lens is just past the length of the lens hood.  Remove it and you've got about a 1 foot from the lens before it will focus.
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I find these two lenses to be excellent optically.  The larger EF lens is heavier and more expensive... and larger... but the value is there and the price has dropped over recent years.  The smaller 28mm EF-M lens requires no adapter, has its own ring-light and is relatively lighter and cheaper.  If I could urge you to consider both lenses it sounds lke you would use them.  But I feel that the sheer portability of the 28mm lens and the need to shoot VERY close with an associated light source makes it an easy choice.  The illumination is activated with a single button on the left hand side of the lens which is hard to detect with your fingers because Canon made it flush with the lens barrel.  It will be harder to detect with gloves on.  You will want to consider whether or not the patient's breath will fog up your lens too.  A lot of hard choices in play here.
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EOSM mirrorless camera with EF-M 28mm f/3.5 IS Macro STM lens.
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The new EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro STM lens with built-in ring-light (not a flash but an adjustable lens-fitted LED illumination device) is perhaps well suited to dentistry.  It also has a "Super Macro" mode.  Illumination is important inside the human mouth and the shape and design of this lens does lend itself towards this kind of work.  I used the Flip LCD on the M6 to capture several shots of my rear molar teeth and identified several flaws and cracks in one of my teeth that three other dentists appear to have missed.
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The M50 would certainly be a good camera for this type of work, as would the M6 and possibly the M5 and M100... although the M100 has no hotshoe flash-mount, should you want to use the 100mmL lens with the adapter and Ring Flash.  Personally, I find the Ring Flash to be rather large, bulky and cumbersome to use (as you no doubt already know).  These lenses and cameras were not designed for dental use and many dentists today have a special flexible camera on the end of a flexible tube that they use for detailed captures of the patient's mouth.

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EOS M6 + EF-M 28mm f/3.5 IS Macro STM lens (ring light used)
This was taken in the "Normal" mode... not the Super Macro setting... so you can get closer.

An exampled of damage and (previously undetected decay) to an extracted molar.  Still using normal macro.

A little bone attached. (normal macro)

Using the Super Macro setting (though not particularly obvious)
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When using the Super Macro setting, you need to rotate the lens (while holding the Lock switch) all the way around to the second of two settings.  There's a very limited plane of focus you can use in this setting and you won't be able to photograph anything more than a few inches away or it will be out of focus. You need to be virtually within touching distance of the subject with less than an inch of movement to play with if you want the subject in focus.  A narrower aperture will ensure more detail will be captured. The more recent models of EOSM cameras will have the new DPAF sensor and that means they'll be fast and accurate to focus on the subjects you choose.  I'd recommend any of the newer models.  The earliest models are going to be a little slower.  But the differences are enough that any new model is going to be the ideal choice.  My personal recommendation would be the M6, M5 or the new M50.
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Most of the examples you'll find here and elsewhere won't likely be covering dental samples but you can probably work out how useful these lenses will be based on the nature and details of the images posted.  A minor consideration would be that because the 100mm lens requires more distance (minimum focus distance is 0.30m (11.81") compared to 0.09m (3.54") for the 28mm lens in 'normal mode' and then even closer to around 5mm with Super Macro engaged ), there's no distortion to the subject.  And the 28mm macro lens needs to be quite close since it's a wide lens... however, this means more optical distortion.  For dentistry, detail is more important that any distortion present but what this means is that the 28mm lens can fit inside the mouth with it's own illumination around the lens.  The 100mm lens requires either an external flash (not easy when shooting into someone's mouth) or the use of the Ring Flash... which is quite a tricky flash to worth with.  Both lenses are excellent - and SHARP for other uses such as travel and landscape work and the Image Stabilizers on both lenses are excellent.  The 100mm has a focus limiter switch (which is very handy).
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Since you already have the EF 100mmL macro lens, I don't think it would hurt for you to consider moving to the EF-M 28mm Macro and a good EOSM camera to mount it to.  The size difference is quite surprising and the magnification is actually stronger on this lens at 1:2 although if you are shooting wildlife instead of teeth, you'll find that the added focal length of the 100mm lens will be beneficial. I often carry the 28mm lens on an EOSM when I'm traveling about because I love Macros of critters etc but I can also stitch images together from this lens to capture VERY sharp landscapes and architecture shots.
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EOSM + EF 100mmL Macro lens

EOSM + EF 100mmL Macro lens

EOSM + EF-M 28mm Macro lens

EOSM + EF-M 28mm Macro lens
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Below are two examples from the 28mm Macro lens showing how easy it is to take multiple shots and stitch them together.  There's less distortion from this lens compared to other 'wide' lenses because it equates to about 45mm with the APS-C crop.   As far as Macro lenses go this is a WIDE MACRO lens but as far as general photography, it's 28mm which technically classifies it as WIDE, even though its focal length is closer to 45mm.  Just remember than on your APS-C cameras your 100mm is closer to 160mm.
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28mm macro (2x image vertical panorama)

28mm macro (2x image vertical panorama)