What's your favourite lens for macro/close-up?

What's your favourite lens for macro/close-up and why?

I like shooting close-up, maybe not quite into the 1:1 or greater range, and tend to use enlarging lenses, often on a Nikon tilt shift bellows or on a Sinar view camera with a Canon on the back. These methods allow some tilt to control the focal plane. If I had to pick favourites they would probably be Schneider and Rodenstock lenses, probably in the 80-120 range, but there are heaps of nice lenses to choose from and many are quite cheap too.

Schneider W.A. Componon 80/5.6 at F5.6 (excellent sharpness and bokeh, allows considerable tilt/shift)

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ns99​f7

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ns94​R7

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nwV2​Pv

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/mTH7​C4

I use my Canon 70-300mm (black) lens with the 500D closeup lens for most of my macro. That combo attracts some scorn, but I think my results with it are adequately sharp. It gives me great working distance (around 50 cm) and I don't lose any light. At 300 mm, the magnification is near 1:1, and I can vary the magnification a lot by adjusting focal length and focus setting. So it is real versatile.

More recently I bought the MT-E 65mm and am having fun with it. But at 1:1, it has not yet won my love from the zoom/500D combo.

Examples from the zoom/500D follow.
https://www.dropbox.co​m …AAB2JUi3i2FJwpu​glxJo1Gv5a

Archibald wrote in post #16932776
...Examples from the zoom/500D follow.
https://www.dropbox.co​m …AAB2JUi3i2FJwpu​glxJo1Gv5a

The images (dragon fly and wasp) seem surprisingly sharp, as much as you can tell from the links anyway. Goes to show you don't need high-end or expensive optics.

I use the MP-E 65mm for 1-4x work, and a Mitutoyo for 5x in the studio when doing focus stacking. I have a few other lenses for this type of photography, but they either don't render the fans detail as sharp or they are a pain to work with.

For field work I'm trying to love the 180L but it doesn't appear as sharp as the canon 100mm (non L) that I used to have. However, I recently captured a few shots of a garter snake that I am very satisfied with. I'll play with this lens for the reason and decided in the fall if I'm going to sell it.

I've used three Canon Macro lenses, the "old" 100mm f/2.8, the "compact" EF 50mm (only 1/2x,not full 1x), and then the EF-S 60mm Macro.

I've been happy with each of them, they do as advertised, but my go-to is still the old 100mm!

Like the OP I use enlarger lenses as well. My favorites that I use often are the Schneider Componon-S 50mm and the Componon 28mm.