Camera Talk

Good evening all,

I'm seriously considering buying a macro lens and trying to get in to macro photography shooting flowers, bugs, flies etc etc. Hope to do beautiful photos of flowers for my flower boutique which produce delivery flowers Odessa

I have absolutely no experience of this since i've got my 5DmkIII and 6DmkII, generally taking landscapes, architecture and anything else that comes my way.

So, I have no clue on what lens to buy and i'm looking for advice from experienced macro photographers.

I know of the Canon 100mm f/2.8 mkII which may be an option, I know there are also some Canon-fit Sigma lens which i've seen some good results on. I also know of the Canon MPE-65 but that's not quite where I want to go, maybe just sticking to a 1/1 lens for now.

Thanks in advance for any info

Howdy,

I have a Sigma 105 EX/HSM macro from a long, long time ago (for context, bought to use on Velvia with an A2). The lens is still in use and produces extremely sharp images. That said, within maybe 3 or 4 years of purchase, the electronics died on the lens. I sent it back to Sigma at the time. They fixed the aperture control, but fixing the AF was on the order or $250 additional, at that time. I chose not to restore AF, which, I've since decided, severely limits its all-around usefulness. That said, the lens, especially with a 500D diopter, has produced many images I'm very pleased with. But to do it again, I'd probably go for a Canon lens.

As far as going more than 1:1, there are a lot of ways to skin that cat. The MPE-65 is nice, but not a requirement.

Macro is addictive, enjoy it!
Scott

If you don't mind manual focus, you can always look for a lens mount adapter to allow the use of the Rollei QBM lenses. Look for the Carl Zeiss 60mm Makro-Planar. This lens can be used with extension tubes or with bellows.

This lens is also available in the Contax/Yashica mount, although I don't know if there are adapters for Canon EOS.

My advice is to find a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro. Get the 1:1 extension tube as well, if you can find one. This lens gave me superb results when I was using Canon kit. They are quite difficult to find, as they are in such demand, and no longer in manufacture. See here: https://bit.ly/2XgraXJ

Superb photos!

Depending how close you are comfortable to get to your subjects a 100 or a 50mm macro are the ticket
I prefer the 50mm for studio and the 10mm for the field but YMMV

Another lens that is superb is the Tamron Macro 90mm.