Abt. Macro Lenses

Hello everyone,

I am new at photography, I have EOS 500D (Rebel T1i) + Canon 18-55 Kit Lens (Not IS), I am looking for a zoom lens and a macro. For zoom lens I am up to buy Canon 55-250 STM lens. But for Macro shots I don't have any clue, just because I don't know the main concept of macro lenses. I was thinking that a macro lens should be a zoom lens capable of shooting from short distances to the target, but there are so much different focal range of macros, even some super zoom lenses labeled as macro! So which macro can you suggest to me? (I don't have so much money for an expensive thing, I am looking for most 300-350 USD.

And can you explain the main concept of macro lenses a bit?

Thanks a lot!

macro lenses should shoot at 1:1 i.e. life size which means you can fill your viewfinder with a 22mm subject at closest focusing distance. No zoom lens I know of can achieve this, they use the term rather loosely.
I would suggest you look at the Canon EFS 60mm macro lens. The working distance i.e. from lens front to subject will only be 3.5" but with practice you can stalk most subjects.
A 100mm will give you around 6" working distance and you should be able to get a second hand copy of the Canon or Tamron/Sigma equivalents for your price range. A 180mm macro lens will give you about 9" working distance at 1:1 but these lenses are more expensive and not necessarily easier to use being quite heavy.

This fly was shot with the EFS 60mm with no additional extension tubes or close up lenses:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/w1vB​dc

The tamron 90mm sp used can be had under $150, also I picked up the sigma 50mm f2.8 for $150. Wish I'd gotten the 90mm now. If you can push a bit more the samyang 100mm f2.8 ED is supposed to be amazing. Samyang has been making lenses that blow away canon and sit on par with zeiss apo lately. It's ridiculous.

chaturanga wrote in post #17643895
Hello everyone,

I am new at photography, I have EOS 500D (Rebel T1i) + Canon 18-55 Kit Lens (Not IS), I am looking for a zoom lens and a macro. For zoom lens I am up to buy Canon 55-250 STM lens. But for Macro shots I don't have any clue, just because I don't know the main concept of macro lenses. I was thinking that a macro lens should be a zoom lens capable of shooting from short distances to the target, but there are so much different focal range of macros, even some super zoom lenses labeled as macro! So which macro can you suggest to me? (I don't have so much money for an expensive thing, I am looking for most 300-350 USD.

And can you explain the main concept of macro lenses a bit?

Just for clarification - you say you want a zoom lens. A zoom lens is a lens that changes focal length. Your 18-55mm is a zoom lens. The focal length varies from 18mm to 55mm. When you say you are looking for a zoom lens, you probably mean a telephoto lens, AKA tele zoom. The Canon 55-250mm STM is an excellent tele zoom.

It isn't 100% clear - do you want a tele zoom lens that is also a macro lens? Or do you want a tele zoom lens AND a macro lens?

The word "macro" means different things to different people. It has an exact meaning, and racketman provided that, but nobody pays any attention to the official meaning. So when you say "macro", please let us know what exactly you would like to do with it. How close do you want to get?

If you want to do extreme closeups of a fly like racketman's example, then you want a true macro lens, and for that, you should think a lens that does not change focal length. That is, a lens that is not a zoom lens. As racketman said, zoom lenses are not (usually) capable of real close photography.

Real macro lenses are great to have, they are all very sharp, and are usually expensive. So before you get into "macro", clarify your needs.

Now I want to give you an example of a zoom lens that can get really close and get pics like that fly. My example is actually a combo of two lenses put together. I am referring to the 55-250mm STM that you mentioned, with a Canon 500D closeup lens screwed into the front. (Same name as your camera, but an entirely different thing.) At the long end (lens set to 250mm), this combo will get you around 0.7x, by which I mean the image on your sensor will be 0.7x the size of the actual subject. If you are shooting a grasshopper that is 25 mm long, the grasshopper's image on the sensor of your T1i will be 17.5 mm, which pretty much fills your frame, because the sensor is about 22mm wide.

If you want to get still closer, like 1x instead of just 0.7x, then you can crop the pic a bit. But if you want native 1x capability, the mentioned combo is not quite up to it. The better ways to achieve this include using Raynox "filters" (actually closeup lenses), or extension tubes, or both. Or buy a macro lens.

One final thought - good macro photography is 10% lens and 90% lighting. Don't imagine that you can buy a macro lens, take some macro shots on the way home, and have results like racketman's example. You need to spend some time learning about lighting macro subjects.

Thanks fot details. As you mentioned I used zoom lens as telephoto zoom lens and therefore I will buy Canon 55-250 STM lens.

Coming to macro side, I want to shoot insects, flowers etc.. Can I use my stock 18-55 lens or 55-250 for macro photography, with extension tubes or close up lenses? It's not necessary 1:1 macro at least for beginning. If I will have ability for shooting some macro - like photos by a lense and extension tube combo, I will go with that choice at first place. But later I want to buy a real macro lens which is designed for it.

I was looking for an all in one lens I will not carry a lot of lenses with me. I was checking Tamron 18-270 or 16-300 lenses (I think one of them is also labeled as Macro lens) but I have read some negative reviews about them, such as chromatic abbr. Through all range, distortion and auto focus issues especially at 270 and 300mm. Also at wide range their image quality is generally called as so much soft and lack of sharpness-contrast etc.. Thus I came to idea getting 55-250 with my 18-55.

If extension tubes will do an enough job for my level of amateur macro photography, I can carry a few extension tubes added 18-55 & 55-250.

Thanks for reply, I am up to decide something I will check your suggested lenses too.

Thanks for informative reply friend, and it's a very nice shot!

chaturanga wrote in post #17644558
Thanks fot details. As you mentioned I used zoom lens as telephoto zoom lens and therefore I will buy Canon 55-250 STM lens.

Coming to macro side, I want to shoot insects, flowers etc.. Can I use my stock 18-55 lens or 55-250 for macro photography, with extension tubes or close up lenses? It's not necessary 1:1 macro at least for beginning. If I will have ability for shooting some macro - like photos by a lens and extension tube combo, I will go with that choice at first place. But later I want to buy a real macro lens which is designed for it.

I was looking for an all in one lens I will not carry a lot of lenses with me. I was checking Tamron 18-270 or 16-300 lenses (I think one of them is also labeled as Macro lens) but I have read some negative reviews about them, such as chromatic abbr. Through all range, distortion and auto focus issues especially at 270 and 300mm. Also at wide range their image quality is generally called as so much soft and lack of sharpness-contrast etc.. Thus I came to idea getting 55-250 with my 18-55.

If extension tubes will do an enough job for my level of amateur macro photography, I can carry a few extension tubes added 18-55 & 55-250.

Both the 18-55m and the 55-250mm can do macro with the right accessories. You can try extension tubes with the 18-55mm. Extension tubes are more effective with shorter focal lengths. But that will give you a short working distance (distance between end of lens and the subject), and that is not good for bugs. That's why I mentioned the 500D closeup lens with the 55-250. The 500D works great at longer focal lengths. That will give you more working distance, very helpful. (There are also closeup lenses that work well at shorter focal lengths.)

You can use the closeup lens and extension tubes together too.

Here is a shot taken with the 55-250mm STM and 500D.

Thanks so much! I think the best for me is buying 55-250 for super zoom, and extension tubes Or closeup lens for macro. You named Kenko for extension tubes and which closeup lens you can suggest?

Extension tubes is a good way to get started if you are on a budget.

But quality and convenience wise a real macro lens will be better in may ways. I would recommend one in the 100mm region, for example the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro USM (cheaper than the 100mm L, does not have IS but is still very good image quality), the Tamron 90mm is another very good quality lens.

chaturanga wrote in post #17644617
... which closeup lens you can suggest?

Canon 500D. They come in different diameters - pick the one that fits your lens.

Thanks!

Thanks

I would just add: Don't go "cheap" with accessories such as extension tubes and close-up lenses. For example, some extension tubes won't allow "communication" between your lens and your camera, which disables Auto Focus and in-camera aperture adjustments and such. People who are used to all manual adjustments might not mind so much, but most shooters would! And, close-up lenses/filters can be bad with image quality, sharpness, "stuff"!

When I started into digital photography, I was using various compact and little point-and-shoot cameras. They all the built-in automatic "Macro" setting, and I enjoyed using them, but the obvious shortcoming was that you couldn't get the "close-up" effect of "real" macro. So, when I decided to go with the DSLR, when I got my trusty ol' 30D, one lens that I got right off the bat was the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, and I still have it and have never regretted it!