Canon Fit Cheap Macro Lens

Afternoon all,

Is there anything out there worth spending a small amount of money on or am I just heading towards disappointing images?


Any recommendations greatly received all

Thanks

it would help to name the camera and what you consider a small amount of money.

ed rader wrote in post #18864055
it would help to name the camera and what you consider a small amount of money.

Yup.

But a good starting point is to pick up some cheap extension tubes to get an idea of what it takes. Kenko makes some that are well regarded.

There is a fellow on this forum selling a 10-22 and 60 macro right now for, I think, $175 ?? That's the best deal I've seen and do not know why it has yet to be scarfed up.

Pick up an old FD-50mm lens for a couple $$ and a reversing ring for another $5.

Humble apologies folks - I have a Canon 5dmkIII or Canon 6dmkII to use.

UK based and really didn't want to spend much at all if the recommendation was right and the lens had really good results.

I had seen a bit on reversing lenses. Looks very interesting.

I assume i'd be right in saying that it doesn't matter one bit, what brand the lens is if reversed, as you're only matching a thread with a connector to the camera?

Would it be the same as any other scenario in that the more you spend, the better quality images you achieve, or does reversing the lens just negate that theory?

Thanks all, for your replies so far

tuttifrutti wrote in post #18864302
Humble apologies folks - I have a Canon 5dmkIII or Canon 6dmkII to use.

UK based and really didn't want to spend much at all if the recommendation was right and the lens had really good results.

I had seen a bit on reversing lenses. Looks very interesting.

I assume i'd be right in saying that it doesn't matter one bit, what brand the lens is if reversed, as you're only matching a thread with a connector to the camera?

Would it be the same as any other scenario in that the more you spend, the better quality images you achieve, or does reversing the lens just negate that theory?

Thanks all, for your replies so far

Yeah, that would have been nice to know up front.

Issues with reversing rings:

1) To shut the aperture down on an electronically controlled aperture lens, you have to mount the lens on the camera, set your aperture, hit the DOF preview button, then dismount the lens to lock in the aperture.

which leads to the new problem with any lens you set the aperture down before taking the shot...

2) It is very nearly difficult to manually focus the gear with the aperture set pretty small due to the lack of light and trying to manually focus with the viewfinder on a Canon DSLR.

I used to use reversing rings, but stopped doing that, extension tubes were MUCH better for things like this.

This was done with a Canon lens with a reversing ring, but the amount of work and tedious nature of such made me look for something else.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18864383
Issues with reversing rings:

1) To shut the aperture down on an electronically controlled aperture lens, you have to mount the lens on the camera, set your aperture, hit the DOF preview button, then dismount the lens to lock in the aperture.

An old FD lens where you set the aperture manually solves this problem. They are also very cheap.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18864383
2) It is very nearly difficult to manually focus the gear with the aperture set pretty small due to the lack of light and trying to manually focus with the viewfinder on a Canon DSLR.
...

Solved using live view. Very easy to focus with live view zoomed in 10x. While I agree that tubes are easier to use and it gets you much closer, they are also more expensive, not much more, but more.

gjl711 wrote in post #18864399
While I agree that tubes are easier to use and it gets you much closer, they are also more expensive, not much more, but more.

unlike a reverse set-up, they can be used with any lens too.

Live view is very difficult with living creatures, so it depends on what kind of macro subjects you are shooting.

Also with a manual lens, once you focus wide open and then switch the aperture, you are likely out of focus again.

Both of these have been my personal experiences.

Had to use live view on this, but was very difficult and I needed quite a bit of light to make it work.

I'm not advocating that it's the best or even preferred way, clearly it's not. But if your looking to try 1:1 or closer, it's about a cheap as you can get. I've seen FD lenses in Antique shops for a dollar and a reverse mounting ring is about as cheap as you can get as well.

doesn't get any cheaper than this.







my 14 year old niece showed me this with a pic of her iris. It was really pretty amazing. She took it a step further, did it in video mode and then took a screen grab of the best shot.

tuttifrutti wrote in post #18863857
Afternoon all,

Is there anything out there worth spending a small amount of money on or am I just heading towards disappointing images?


Any recommendations greatly received all

Thanks

Have you posted this question on another thread? If so my views are there. Just get a used Canon 100 F2.8 Macro (non L) and be happy - I am!

Tokina makes the least expensive full frame macro lens I know about at $349. It is 100 mm and F2.8, and reported to be very sharp. I am not crazy about the clutch that you use on Tokina to go from AF to MF. If you are willing to spend more, I can recommend the Canon 100 F2.8 non L macro and the Sigma 70 F2.8 macro. Both are very sharp.

I haven’t used the Tokina 100, but I have had experience with their 35 mm crop macro lens. It is a fine lens. You can’t beat the price of the Tokina 100 macro, if you want that focal length. It all depends on your intended use.