Macro Lens (Canon EF mount)

[TeaLeaf]

I'm on the lookout for a decent macro lens to add to my collection for some nice close up work.    Anyone looking to lighten their camera bag by the weight of a macro lens?   1.0-1.6 magnification, 65-100mm focal length, that sort of range, nothing set in stone yet though.

Drop me a PM please if you have one that you want to sell and we can talk turkeys, or lens, whatever!

Thankee kindly...!

[DrunkenZombiee]

What other lenses do you have? A set of extension tubes with the right electronics in may save you a fortune and get you the same results.

[smilodon]

Another vote for extensions tubes. I bought a £650 micro lens and then a £130 set of Kenko micro extension tubes. I can't honestly tell the difference bwteen the two most of the time. For messing about, experimenting etc I would 100% recommend the extension tubes.

[DrunkenZombiee]

I have the KENKO tubes also. I bought them a while back in fact I think I put a post on the forums about it.

If you already have a sharp prime like the Nifty 50 f/1.8 when used in combination with tubes you get very good results due to the sharpness. You really need the electronics in the tubes however for Canon lenses unless you rock manual ones. AS you get a set of 3 tubes of different lengths which you can combine you get some pretty nice flexibility and it saves a lot of money.

If you don't like the tubes I can suggest some other lenses but I have to say that they are the best option if your already rocking good glass.

DZ

[TeaLeaf]

Not looked at the tubes, need to go read up on them and what they are and do!

Atm I have the Canon EOS20D body with the following lenses:
Canon EFS 18-55
Tokina AT-X AF 24-200
Sigma 10-20 1:4-5.6 DC HSM

[TeaLeaf]

Thanks for the input on this.   I've read up on them and now understand what the extension tubes do and this led to two important discoveries:

1. the stuff I would want to photograph would usually be alive and moving, so the narrower focal depth of the tubes would be less ideal

and more importantly,

2. I spoke to my father and he has an unused 55mm macro lens which he can give me on long term loan!  His 55mm macro lens combined with the 1.6x crop factor of my 20D should be more than sufficient for my experimentation. (he has a newer macro lens that better suits his newer camera body which has a 1x crop factor).

All I need to do now is pick the lens up! :thumbsup:

[DrunkenZombiee]

Thanks for the input on this.   I've read up on them and now understand what the extension tubes do and this led to two important discoveries:

1. the stuff I would want to photograph would usually be alive and moving, so the narrower focal depth of the tubes would be less ideal

Macro lenses and tubes suffer from very shallow DOF, there is no way around this as this is MACRO photography. Cameras with smaller sensors will not suffer and much. You can also stop the camera down to f/22 bu there will be very little light if you do this. The best way to do this is "focus stacking" but you need a completely immobile subject for this. Bascially MACRO photography is really hard and getting anywhere near 1:1 with the subject on focus is a real effort.

Good luck!

DZ.

[Dingo]

Not looked at the tubes, need to go read up on them and what they are and do!

Atm I have the Canon EOS20D body with the following lenses:
Canon EFS 18-55
Tokina AT-X AF 24-200
Sigma 10-20 1:4-5.6 DC HSM

As an aside TL, I have the opportunity to purchase a 20D for around £250 with 18-55 lens..........is it something you would recommend as a starter kit??

[TeaLeaf]

I'm not the best person to say what the value is as I got mine free when my father moved up to a newer bigger model, buy it is an excellent camera and capable of being point and click (when full auto is enabled) but also had the type of control you expect on a professional camera.  I have great fun with mine do so all i can do is recommend it. It's probably not fair to describe it as a starter camera, but certainly an excellent camera if you want to start getting into more detailed or complex photography.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[DrunkenZombiee]

As an aside TL, I have the opportunity to purchase a 20D for around £250 with 18-55 lens..........is it something you would recommend as a starter kit??

Dingo I would look for something newer (anything with live view) so really the 500D, 50D upwards as you have the ability to also do 1080p video with that. I know you could buy a 550D new for £314.95 including the EF-S 18-55 and EF 75-300 lenses. The DIGIC 4 processor in it and 18mp sensor is far superior to the 20D and you get a decent guarantee from canon.

I am still rocking a 550D and its a great camera particularly with magic lantern firmware which turns it into a swiss army camera with so many features to play with.

Please get a 50mm f/1.8 though for about £80 as its pin sharp, light and the best lens you can buy to learn with; Hell its the best lens until you spend about £500 or more. Well worth it!

Cheers,

DZ

[TeaLeaf]

Finally got a chance to play with the macro lens today, great fun even though I did not get long in the garden between rain showers.  I think this macro lens will do what I want perfectly.    I see what was meant about the depth of focus and I think tubes might have made the job even harder than it was already in my windy garden today.   Not the best shot in the world, but this was one of my better ones today, not yet cropped or processed and there is obviously room for improvement!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2365[/ATTACH]

[smilodon]

Looks very fine to me. You may already being doing this, but it's best to select 'single point focus' or whatever equivalent term you camera manufacturer uses when focusing. This means your camera will consider only what is under the illuminated focus point in your viewfinder when setting the focusing. You should be able to move the focus point about to cover the specific point of the image you want to focus on, in your case probably the bees eye. Other setting let the camera make that choice and chances are it will select the wrong bit of the image and the picture won't work as well.

It's not a hard rule but generally when taking photo's 'if it has eyes then focus on them' which you seem to have nailed in this photo

[TeaLeaf]

it's best to select 'single point focus' or whatever equivalent term you camera manufacturer uses when focusing.

Thank you!    I just learnt something new about my camera! :thumbsup:

[DrunkenZombiee]

Nice one TL. =)

The tubes wont make it harder, its the same principal of moving the lenses away from the sensor to make things look larger. It just like using a magnifying glass, the further you move it from the subject the larger its get magnified.

When using ultra magnification on anything over f/8 its best to actually move the camera in and out to focus as you will find that this is the only way that you will get a good result.

DZ

[smilodon]

Yep, manual focus is good. I have to use a tripod though as I'm getting old and wobbly :-)