Lens comparison for macro work

Janer_2 wrote:

The kind of macro I intend to do is a bit unclear, I just want something that is able to catch insects, flowers and generally things I find interesting. The more details the better so something that yields sharp results. This might describe all of the above. Handheld performance is a plus, but all of these have stabilizing so that might be ok all over the board.

It is a little more complicated than that. For insects do you want to shoot them in the field, or in a studio (most likely they will be dead for the later). If you want to shoot live active critters at 1x and higher then you should be looking at a lens in the 60mm range. You need to get the flash close to the subject to keep the flash duration to a minimum and to get good light quality. Your knowledge of their habits and quirks, and their willingness to let you get close, will determine if you get the shot and not the focal length of the lens.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/125, ISO 200) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (set to over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT, E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.

If you want to use natural light then macro lenses in the >150mm range are best because they will give you more room to work and you are less likely to cast a shadow over the subject.

If all you want to do is take natural light closeups below life size then a zoom telephoto lens is a better choice than a macro lens.

Tech Specs: Canon 80D (aperture priority F8, 1/800, ISO 800) + a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II with IS on. E-TTL metering, (-2/3 EV). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.

You can use a lens in the 100mm range and shoot macro with either light source -quite a few folks do. But it is not optimal for field work. I use to use Canon's old 100mm USM macro lens and the working distance of that glass was holding me back.

If you are using a flash as the primary light source then image stabilization will not do you much good, since the duration of the flash becomes your shutter speed. IS is also more effective the further the subject is from the lens. At the minimum focusing distance I am not convinced that it works, so do some research on that Nikon glass. I thought I read that the subject had to be at least 3 meters from the lens, and below that distance IS was not effective. For hand held macro it is important to either brace the camera to decrease motion or do what I do: Hold on to whatever the subject is on with your non-camera hand and then brace the lens on that same hand so that camera and critter are on the same "platform". Works best with lenses in the 60mm range.

Image sharpness with macro lenses is pretty irrelevant since they are all pretty well built.

IMHO the light source, and the quality of that light, are infinity more important than the focal length of the lens or any other technical aspect.