I want to do more proper macro work.

Jared

Jared

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I have a canon 500d and I'm finding more and more that all I photograph is up close mushrooms, flowers and insects.

My current set up is a £6 Pentacon f1.8 50mm with a set of cheap £5 manual focus tubes. :|

What lens/tube or lens setup do you think I should go for? Budget is around £400 and I would prefer to buy new unless you all think I could do significantly better buying secondhand. :)


My idea so far is a Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro USM with a AF tube set from somewhere probably all second hand. :(

Thanks
 
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What about lighting? Do you have flash? I ask as that was the single biggest advantage in my macro shots. I have the Canon 100mm macro and a set of tubes, without some flash the pictures were bland and lifeless.
 
Canon 100mm or Sigma 105mm for c. £200-250 secondhand (I think there are a couple on the classifieds at the moment) which leaves you a nice sum to invest in some light.

For outdoor close-ups I use the Sigma 105mm macro, a set of RF-602 flash triggers and a couple of cheap flashes (either Yongnou or a pair if Canon 430EZs I picked up on Ebay). The complete set-up would be within your budget if you picked up a secondhand lens.
 
I'd probably go for Canon 100mm. Then depending on your usage, you may need some of the following

Normal flashgun such as 430Ex / 580EX
Ringflash adapter for normal flash
Softbox with stand (x1-3) for normal flash
Ring flash
Manfrotto 190XPROB (or 055) as it can get super low
some reflectors of tin foil!

1:1 magnification is very strong. Before you get the tubes make sure you really need them (I personally didn't get past that stage with only 2 exception in 3 years)
 
You could also consider the Tamron 90mm Macro ... very sharp lens and they go on ebay for around $375 new. I don't know how much you'd get hit with VAT but I got mine from a canadian ebay store that ships worldwide and to ship to the UK it is roughly 259 pounds. Many hong kong sellers are also around this price... DigitalRev UK for example has one on sale for 256 pounds.
 
Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro USM seems to be the best way forward then does anyone have a picture taken with it as close as it will go please?
 
i used to have the canon ef 100 2.8. it's a great lens. very, very sharp. great colour and contrast, fast focussing.

only problem is, i never, ever used it for proper close up macro work. i used it for portraits mainly.

for what you are doing, it's a great value lens and an excellent performer.
 
Jared said:
Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro USM seems to be the best way forward then does anyone have a picture taken with it as close as it will go please?
Click to expand...

I would definitely recommend the Canon 100mm. With a budget of £400, I would suggest you maybe try and pick it up second hand leaving you some money to buy a set of Kenko auto-extension tubes (about £80 from Hong Kong off ebay).

Don't forget you'll also need a flash. I use a Yong-nuo 465 which was pretty cheap and does the job very nicely.

Check out my Flickr for photos with the above combination.

A couple of examples:

Canon 100mm by itself:


Wasp in flight by William Harvey2010, on Flickr

Can probably get closer - I just wanted to show that shot off again :lol:

With the tubes



Wasp by William Harvey2010, on Flickr
 
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