macro and wide angle lens reccomendations / advice

[reemas]

why are lenses that are 35mm or more being labeled as wide angle? it doesn't seem like a wide angle lens to me.

and why are 50mm lenses called macro lenses?

anyways, can anyone reccommed a wide angle lens and a macro (for very good close ups) to a beginner looking to spend very very little? i dont know how much a inexpensive wide angle goes for but i'd prefer its under $150.

thanks.

[tim]

Macro is about the ratio, if it does 1:1 it's a macro.

There are Sigma, Tamron and Canon macro lenses, each is meant to be comparable but the Canon usually wins out. The others are cheaper though, so consider them all - i'm talking the ones around 100mm. You're talking $300-$400 from memory.\

What do you call wide angle? 10mm or 25mm? $150 is pretty cheap for a wide angle lens, hopefully someone can help once you clarify what sort of length you want.

[reemas]

i just thought that 35mm was kind of narrow to be labeled as a wide angle lens.

im looking to shoot landscapes, buildings and people with wide angle lenses. im thinking something around 15-20mm? but thats BEFORE the 1.6 crop factor. after that it becomes less wide.

any advice? thanks again.

[KevC]

Macro lenses are just lenses that have a special ability to focus up close. "True" macro lenses have a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio. You can have long macro lenses too, there's a nice 100mm f/2.8 Macro.

As for the wide angle, the kit lens is what I use. 18-55mm. I stick to using the 18mm end. Cheap W/A. I'm not sure about the 35mm. It seems like that's the beginning of "normal".

A nice wide angle lens for very cheap is the MC Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 "russian fishy". You should be able to pick one up with an EOS adapter for ~$150.

//edit: Here you can find a good price for it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4687&item=3875867166

[reemas]

thanks for the link! just a quick question:

since this is a 16mm lens, if i attach it to my canon rebel, it effectively becomes a 25mm lens correct?

is that still pretty wide, or does it lose its huge span at 16mm?

i'm a bit new to lenses, so i wasn't sure about that one. thanks.

[roanjohn]

Your best bet for a versatile wide lens is the kit lens that comes bundled with the Rebel/20D. On the Macro side, your cheapest bet is the Canon 50 f2.5.

Ro1

[cactusclay]

Yea, what Roanjohn said.

[sid]

I've got a similar question: I realize that the Canon 100mm Macro will give a 1:1 ratio whereas the 50mm Macro will only give 1:2. The 100mm also has a greater minimum focusing distance. So, with all that in mind, is the additional $200 for the 100mm macro lens worth it ?

[drisley]

35mm is wide angle, but not on today's 1.6x crop digitals.
Anything wider than 35mm was labelled extra-wide angle, but again, that was on standard 35mm film bodies, or full-frame sensors.