Macro or EX12 II

[cressers]

Hi - I have baby on the way, and now that all the home stuff is sorted, its time to move on to getting the camera get in place :)

My GF loves the macro shots of the hands/feet etc.
I have a 35L and a 10-20mm and 70-200L

I ordered a EF12II and now I am wondering if I would be better with a dedicated macro lens (sigma 50mm) - or would the 35L with the EFII be OK too?

Advice please as I have never dabbled in this stuff before.

Thanks

[Martyn...]

Hi - I have baby on the way, and now that all the home stuff is sorted, its time to move on to getting the camera get in place :)

My GF loves the macro shots of the hands/feet etc.
I have a 35L and a 10-20mm and 70-200L

I ordered a EF12II and now I am wondering if I would be better with a dedicated macro lens (sigma 50mm) - or would the 35L with the EFII be OK too?

Advice please as I have never dabbled in this stuff before.

Thanks

Where to start, a macro lens will also serve as a general purpose prime lens, so if you need a 50mm prime get the macro.

The only issue is the shorter the focal length of a macro the closer that you need to be to your subject, which can cause you problems trying to light the subject.

If you are looking at investing in a macro lens, I would suggest something in the 90 - 105mm range (Tamron 90 is always well reviewed) this will give you a bit more room to your subject, and will double as a nice short telephoto and portrait lens.

The longer 150-200mm range stuff is more for bug / insect photography.

I have no experience of the adaptor you mention, but would imagine on a 35mm lens you may need to get close to the subject, if you have ordered it best to try it and see, if you are not happy with the results I would recommend something in the 90- 105mm range, if you really want to get a macro lens.

May be worth seeing how close you can get using your 70-200.

[Canon Bob]

The 35L with a 12mm tube will give you magnification of 0.58x at MFD falling to 0.35x at infinity focussing....a little larger than half life size to 1/3 life size. The downside is that the focus range will be a quite limiting 151 to 201mm and it may be that you'll not be able to frame the subject within these limits.

Bob

[strobemonkey]

Macro lens all the way. You can also use it for portraits and for chasing insects.
I can recommend the EF 100 Macro USM which I already sold here. Also used to have a set of Kenko tubes which worked great but limited to static objects.

I know there is a Tamron 90 and Sigma 105 but the benefit of the Canon 100 is it is quicker and silent at focusing (tahnks to USM). The front doesn't extend as well.