favorite macro for under $1000

Must be able to get at bestbuy.com (through marketplace or whatever as long as it can be found on the site)

ISHOOT A CANON 6D!
mainly looking at

tamron 90mm
sigma 105mm
canon L 2.8 is usm 100mm -1049.99 but willing to pay the little extra for L glass
canon 60mm

I will be shooting a lot of eyeballs close up and mainly using a close up type of portrait lens. So longer lenses aren't really necessary since it will be a "controlled" environment.

will shoot other things but nothing to crazy and most of the time it will be on a tripod!

My favorite right now is between 100mm because of best quality (so ive heard) and the 60mm because its so cheap.

Canon 100L is the best but if your looking for a best for the money I'd say the canon 60 or the canon 100 non L (not sure if available on bestbuy).

jnadz wrote in post #16498894
Canon 100L is the best but if your looking for a best for the money I'd say the canon 60 or the canon 100 non L (not sure if available on bestbuy).

It is and its 499.99 brand new, but I've just heard with the 100 the IS is really helpful.


I really love the L glass. I have the 17-40mm right now and I really just love the quality I get.

But I wouldn't mind having some cash extra to get some filters and a new tripod :P

The 60mm is a great lens, but keep in mind that if you ever decide to go FF it's useless. I'm currently trying to sell mine so I can get a 100mm f/2.8. :/

shedberg wrote in post #16498917
The 60mm is a great lens, but keep in mind that if you ever decide to go FF it's useless. I'm currently trying to sell mine so I can get a 100mm f/2.8. :/

OHHH yeah I should include

I shoot a canon 6D

thank you for reminding me!

Oh, if you shoot a 6d, the 60mm isn't an option. It's efs and won't work on your 6d. I own the 100L and love the IS for hand holding quick fun macro shots. If you're really going to get into macro though, you will probably use a tripod +/- rails and the IS becomes irrelevant. Image quality from a tripod isn't very different between the 100 and 100L. Just depends if IS is worth $500 to you. To me it was but for many it wouldn't be.

jnadz wrote in post #16498948
Oh, if you shoot a 6d, the 60mm isn't an option. It's efs and won't work on your 6d. I own the 100L and love the IS for hand holding quick fun macro shots. If you're really going to get into macro though, you will probably use a tripod +/- rails and the IS becomes irrelevant. Image quality from a tripod isn't very different between the 100 and 100L. Just depends if IS is worth $500 to you. To me it was but for many it wouldn't be.

See to me I'd rather buy a tripod and a new monitor with the extra $500 or something.

I really shoot action/skateboarding so right now my 50mm sees most play anyways.
Macro is just because I have an obsession with eyeballs and wanna shoot them and close up facial type of portraits.


I think I may settle on the 100mm Non L non IS so I can get some other things as well.

Maybe if I were hardcore into macro I would get the L series.

Or I may just get me a different lens all together ha

thanks for the insight!

Tamron 90mm is a fantastic lens. Matches the 100mm L in terms of image quality, has VC, weather sealed...

gnome chompski wrote in post #16498963
Tamron 90mm is a fantastic lens. Matches the 100mm L in terms of image quality, has VC, weather sealed...

But it has a weird FTM focus system that needs to be declutched from the AF system to use it. Awkward. A deal-breaker for me. I went with the 100L, but the non-L would probably have done me as most of my macro work is on a tripod.

not the VC version

gnome chompski wrote in post #16498989
not the VC version

OK - mental note made, thanks.

Nick Aufiero wrote in post #16498851
Must be able to get at bestbuy.com (through marketplace or whatever as long as it can be found on the site)

ISHOOT A CANON 6D!
mainly looking at

tamron 90mm
sigma 105mm
canon L 2.8 is usm 100mm -1049.99 but willing to pay the little extra for L glass
canon 60mm

I will be shooting a lot of eyeballs close up and mainly using a close up type of portrait lens. So longer lenses aren't really necessary since it will be a "controlled" environment.

will shoot other things but nothing to crazy and most of the time it will be on a tripod!

Is this because you have a best buy CC and they limit the $ amount to 1,000 Been there.

Canon 60mm Macro is EF-S, will not work on 6D.

Canon MP-E 65mm Macro will work but is a super high magnification macro lens (1:1 to 5:1). I'd not recommend it for general purpose macro shooting or for a first macro lens. It's rather difficult to use and is manual focus only.

IMO the best bang for your buck is the 100/2.8 USM (not the L). Just get a tripod mount (B) for it. That and the lens hood are sold separately, so the price in the end is a little higher than the lens alone.

Image quality is practically indistinguishible with the 100L IS. So basically you just get IS for the extra $500 or so. And yet much of the time it's better to be on a tripod or at least a monopod with macro shooting, anyway.... So even with the 100L you'll probably still want a tripod mount (D), which is a bit more expensive than the one for the non-L (if you get the Canon branded tripod mounts... there are cheaper third party clones of each)

The Tamron SP 90/2.8 is a pretty nice macro lens, too. There actually are two versions.... the older one is the cheaper. They recently introduced a second, upgraded premium model with VC and USD added (which are Tamron's versions of stabilization and USM-style focus). Of the two, I'd probably consider the newer model largely for the USD focus (which will be considerably faster than the micro motor in the older, less expensive lens). Oh, and by the way, the new version does support full time manual focus override, same as the Canon. The older, cheaper version (which apparently will continue to be offered at a lower price point) doesn't have FTM and tends to be slower focusing. The 90mm f2.8 VC USD is priced somewhere in-between the two Canon 100mm models.

The Sigma 105/2.8 OS HSM is also a fine lens. OS is their version of stabilization and HSM is similar to Canon USM focus drive.

AFAIK, the Tamron and the Sigma cannot be fitted with a tripod mounting ring, which would sort of be a deal killer for me. I don't know if any of them have Focus Limiters, either, which both the Canon 100mm do. Used right, a Focus Limiter can make a lens faster focusing, particularly for non-macro uses. I also am not sure if the Tamron or Sigma are all Internal Focus, like the Canon.

There is also a Tokina 100/2.8 AT-X Macro lens that offers excellent image quality. However, it also cannot be fitted with a tripod ring, doesn't have a Focus Limiter, and doesn't offer USM style focusing, so cannot do FTM (focus clutch is used to turn off AF and enable manual focus).

xarqi wrote in post #16498984
But it has a weird FTM focus system that needs to be declutched from the AF system to use it. .

huh??
that is nonsensical
I've never had to "declutch" the Tamron 90mm macro (whatever that means) !

amfoto1 wrote in post #16499027
The Tamron SP 90/2.8 is a pretty nice macro lens, too. There actually are two versions.... .

actually there are three (3) versions of the Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro

amfoto1 wrote in post #16499027
AFAIK, the Tamron and the Sigma cannot be fitted with a tripod mounting ring, which would sort of be a deal killer for me. I don't know if any of them have Focus Limiters, either, which both the Canon 100mm do. .

yes, the Tamron macro lens has a focus limit switch

Nick Aufiero wrote in post #16498851
Must be able to get at bestbuy.com (through marketplace or whatever as long as it can be found on the site)

ISHOOT A CANON 6D!
mainly looking at

tamron 90mm
sigma 105mm
canon L 2.8 is usm 100mm -1049.99 but willing to pay the little extra for L glass
canon 60mm
I will be shooting a lot of eyeballs close up and mainly using a close up type of portrait lens. So longer lenses aren't really necessary since it will be a "controlled" environment.
will shoot other things but nothing to crazy and most of the time it will be on a tripod!

"must be able to get at bestbuy.com" - that probably restricts you to the Canon 100mm L or non-L because they probably don't carry the non-Canon brands

but if you like eyeball pics here ya' go

60D
Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro (original non-di version)