Help in Deciding the Lens

[a73210]

Hi All,
I have Canon 450D with 18-55 and 55-250mm Lens.All from Canon Family.
I am not very happy with the quality of 55-250 bt it serves by purpose.Hence I am doing max RnD for this Macro lens which I want to buy.

Please help me to decide.and 1 thing I am nt clear is what all things are needed to decide a lens.

I saw EF-S 60mm which seems in by budget.can u tell me what this 60mm means here...what if I buy EF 50mm...What is the difference bw 2?

Thanks
-Mukul

[inkista]

60mm or 50mm is the focal length of the lens. The focal length determines the 'zoom' of the lens, or how it's going to frame a specific subject at a certain distance. The longer the focal length is, the farther away from the subject you can be and still frame it the same way.

With macro lenses, you actually want longer lenses, rather than shorter, so that you'll have a larger working distance. With the 50mm or 60mm macro, you're probably going to be too close to work well with living subjects like bugs or small animals, because you'll be so close you'll scare them off. Those lenses are better for subject matter like flowers or tabletop objects. A 100mm macro lens tends to be more general-purpose.

The differences between the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro and the EF 50mm f/2.5 compact macro are mainly:

• The 60mm lens is designed for a crop body, and cannot be used on a full-frame (i.e., it's EF-S). It's a newer lens, and its MTF shows much better sharpness performance.
• The 60mm has an ultrasonic motor (USM) in it for focusing silently.
• The 60mm is a "true" macro lens, that accomplishes 1:1 magnification, which means that the subject size in real life will be the same as the image size on the sensor. The 50mm compact can only do 1:2, and requires an add-on accessory to achieve 1:1.
• The 60mm is f/2.8, while the 50mm is f/2.5.

Most people don't consider the 50/2.5 when shopping for a macro. They're generally trying to decide between the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro or the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro (the non-L). These two lenses are generally in the same price range and both offer 1:1 magnification.

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by inkista

With the 50mm or 60mm macro, you're probably going to be too close to work well with living subjects like bugs or small animals, because you'll be so close you'll scare them off.

I disagree, getting close just takes good old fashioned field-craft...



...and possibly a lens that lets you focus that close (The image above is of a live snipe fly on a warm summer day but was taken from much closer to the subject than the kind of lenses being discussed will focus - it's a crop from a shot taken at 5:1 with a few centimetres working distance)

I would agree that longer working distances can make life easier but I see many wonderful macros taken on short lenses. The often quoted advice is to buy the longest macro lens you can for those reasons but not that it can't be done.

[sk66]

The main advantage of longer length lenses (IMO) is that it allows more light on the subject without using supplemental lights

[Thunder_o_b]

The MFD plays a major roll in shooting aggressive or timid insects. I favor the Sigma 150mm f2.8, this is an extremely sharp and competent lens. The very real down side is that is has a fair amount of weight, this can impact the ability to hand hold if your technique is at all off.