Best Non L Macro Lens...???

i am in search of a new lens...i am between the 100 macro and the 70-300 is usm. The use of the lenses will not be much but i want one just in case...the idea of a telephoto lens doesnt sound as intresting as a macro lens.. so i i would like to know some thoughts for the macro lenses from your experience..
expect for the 100 L cause iwont give so many many for a macro lens..
thanks in advance..!!

ps. i will use it with my 7d..

I've got the 60mm and both 100's. IQ on all of them is so good I can't tell which one took the photo. I use the 100l more because it feels better and has IS.

Go look at the 100mm Macro (non-L) lens sample archive and your mind will likely be made up. It's an incredible lens not only for macro but for anything else as well. It's definitely on my list.

Sigma 150 (OS or non-OS)

Btw it works well with a TC too.

thank you so much for your answers..one more question..lets say that you want to take a picture of a mosquito (full image) how close you must be with the ef 100? i want to understand how the macro works cause i havent any macro lenses before..the bigger mm lens you have, so much far you must be from your subject..??

Look up minimum working distances of the lenses. That tells you how close you need for 1:1 (i.e. subject same size as your sensor).

I also liked the Canon 100mm non-L USM macro. I owned both this lens, and the Sigma 105mm, at the same time. Both were wonderfully sharp and perfectly capable dedicated macro lenses, but the Canon design had the distinct advantages of fast USM AF and non-extending barrel, making it more useful as a general purpose 100mm.

The sigma extends by a couple inches as you focus closer, just like Canon's 50mm/2.5 and Tamron's 90mm macro lenses do. The Canon 100mm is designed more like a conventional 100mm prime lens, and does not have this slowly extending front barrel.

A mosquito is so small that even 1:1 -- working at the minimum focusing distance for a dedicated macro lens -- will give you a pretty small image. 1:1 means that the object size is the same as the image size on the sensor. For mosquitos (I have never tried one), you would either have to crop severely or use a lot of extension to get better than 1:1. For illustration, I will post a larger version of my avatar below. This was shot with a macro lens with enough extension (using tubes) to get more than 2:1, that is, more than twice the magnification of the lens alone. This spider was not all that big, but a lot bigger than a mosquito.

Macro is a specialized type of photography that is very demanding. My suggestion is that you spend some time trying it, and reading about it on macro forums, etc.--before you invest a great deal.

For bugs, 100mm or close to it is a pretty comm length on a crop sensor camera, although you still have to get quite close. It's what I use for bugs. You can use a 60mm, but you have to get very close with it, and you will have a lot more frustration.

The 100mm USM macro is on my list

thank you all for your replies...much appreciated...

paddler4 are you suggesting to buy an extention tube too?? to tell you the truth iam more intrested in taking photos or filming human macro just as eyes,fingers ect..
just like this...http://www.youtube.com …INo-i6f28&feature=related

MKII wrote in post #12724102
i am in search of a new lens...i am between the 100 macro and the 70-300 is usm. The use of the lenses will not be much but i want one just in case...the idea of a telephoto lens doesnt sound as intresting as a macro lens.. so i i would like to know some thoughts for the macro lenses from your experience..
expect for the 100 L cause iwont give so many many for a macro lens..
thanks in advance..!!

ps. i will use it with my 7d..

If you don't need more distance from subject, I would just get the 60 EF-S macro, a touch sharper, smaller, lighter than the 100 USM, very good build. If you do need a bit more working distance then the 100 USM. The Canon lenses have AF fast enough that you can use them with macro mode 7D AI Servo for good results at times. Some say to only use MF for macros. I find that it depends. Sure, MF can be better in plenty of cases but I find plenty of others where AI Servo with a fast enough focusing macro lens works better than MF too.

wombatHorror wrote in post #12725826
If you don't need more distance from subject, I would just get the 60 EF-S macro, a touch sharper, smaller, lighter than the 100 USM, very good build. If you do need a bit more working distance then the 100 USM. The Canon lenses have AF fast enough that you can use them with macro mode 7D AI Servo for good results at times. Some say to only use MF for macros. I find that it depends. Sure, MF can be better in plenty of cases but I find plenty of others where AI Servo with a fast enough focusing macro lens works better than MF too.

I use one shot and Al Servo with my Sigma 150mm HSM macro with good results . Its Af is fast enough to handle it even on my ol' 30D.

You might want to consider acquiring a set of communicating extension tubes by "communicating" I refer to the ability to AF and control the aperature with the tubes. Remember at normal macro distances focus is achieved much faster manually but even the slightest camera movement throws your focus out the window. I bought the 50mm compact macro but only then did I realize I needed a separate Canon adapter lens to reach life size of 1-1. W/O the 2nd lens it is 1-2 half of life size. If I were to head in the macro direction any further I'd buy the 100mm Canon macro. BTW the 50mm CM makes an excellent headshot portrait lens as well.Have fun making your decision for the 1st macro lens in your eventual collection.

Joe Ravenstein wrote in post #12726093
You might want to consider acquiring a set of communicating extension tubes by "communicating" I refer to the ability to AF and control the aperature with the tubes. Remember at normal macro distances focus is achieved much faster manually but even the slightest camera movement throws your focus out the window. I bought the 50mm compact macro but only then did I realize I needed a separate Canon adapter lens to reach life size of 1-1. W/O the 2nd lens it is 1-2 half of life size. If I were to head in the macro direction any further I'd buy the 100mm Canon macro. BTW the 50mm CM makes an excellent headshot portrait lens as well.Have fun making your decision for the 1st macro lens in your eventual collection.

The Sigma 50mm 2.8 macro is 1:1 and also makes an excellent potrait lens .

I'm actually about to buy the 100mm Macro L lens. Is the non L just as good?? Is it really worth almost double the cost for the L features?