Which lens to buy??

[freethinker]

Hello all,

Just a quickie the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens, seems to be my next purchase. Can anyone enlighten me or even dissuade me, the problem I have is, her indoors has sanctioned the purchase of the above lens after she totally revamped the living room at the cost of many thousands, yes very unfair I hear you say. So for macro work will it do the job guys or is there another on the market………….
Ian

[colin C]

Re: Which lens to buy??

The 60mm is a super little lens and certainly does the business.

There are three downsides that I could consider, which may, or may not be important to you. The first is that it is an EFS lens, so will not fit full frame bodies if you ever wish to upgrade. Not important to most people, because they are comfortable with the 1.6x crop. The second is that you will be a bit close to your subject. Not a problem if you are doing still life, but a big problem if you end up chasing butterflies around the garden. The third problem is allied to being close to the subject, in that it is often difficult to get light on the subject, if you are blocking it by being so close.

You may wish to consider longer macro lenses and there are three other Canon ones to choose from:

• 100mm f2.8 macro

• 100mm f2.8 L IS macro

• 180mm f3.5 L macro

They will all give a bit more distance and if having the Canon name on it isn't imortant to you, there are aqually good macro lenses from third party manufacturers.

Colin

[briansquibb]

Re: Which lens to buy??

Another option for those on tight budgets is the nifty fifty plus 25mm extention tube

[Stan]

Re: Which lens to buy??

My wife Dee has the EF-S 60 and it is an excellent sharp lens but as Colin says you will be quite close to your subject. I have the tamron 90 which also produces excellent results and is a good alternative to the other Canon lenses at around £300.

Stan

[freethinker]

Re: Which lens to buy??

Morning guys,

Thanks for all of your comments; I am pulled towards the 100mm f2.8 L IS macro, although the 60mm seems to be a cracking lens the extra distance which the 100mm allows is a huge factor.

Ian

[Muscat]

Re: Which lens to buy??

I have the 100mm f2.8L IS macro lens and love it I use it not only for macro but as a short telephoto prime which it is very good for

[oldcanon]

Re: Which lens to buy??

Another vote for the 100 LIS (having used both the Tamron and canon 60mm previously). All are capable of superb results but the clincher for me was the fact the the 100LIS IS + AF functions so well on the 7D that I find it a real bonus when shooting bug and bee macros hand-held.

(Before everyone jumps on me and tells me that you don't use IS for macro work - I find it works beautifully when the wind is blowing and the subject moving. I can focus more accurately like this than I can with my usual manual rocking focus" method.)

[briansquibb]

Re: Which lens to buy??

180L for me - chasing bees and butterflies means you are not right in the undergrowth with the lens

When you get that close then you scare the critters and reduce available light. That is why I swapped out the Sigma 105

I just stick on the 580EXII, use servo mode and snap away with hss 1/500 and f32 and iso400. Takes all the hardship out of macro shooting and lets me focus on the subject.

It is great on the 50D which means you are even further away

[AdeKing]

Re: Which lens to buy??

I have had the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro for a number of years and absolutely love it. I went for the 100mm over the 60mm purely because of the extra working distance that it gives you.

I would heartily recommend the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro if you can justify the extra cost over the 60mm.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the 100mm lens will also fit a full frame camera should you upgrade to one in the future, the EF-S 60mm Macro will only fit a body with a 1.4x or 1.6x crop factor.

Adrian