macro lens choice

[tulsidas]

what macro lens do you love best!?!

[tulsidas]

wow! NO love!!!
im debating on lenses for my canon 5dii.
im leaning towards 100macro.
anythoughts. im new to macro

[Aperture Nine]

I guess this is pretty much an amateur and beginner site; most users here probably don't have several macro lenses.

I just have one macro lens. I bought it a few months ago and I cannot compare it to anything else, I never tried other macro lenses.

I bought a 105 mm Nikkor lens for my Nikon camera and I adore the macro photos I can now take. It is not easy but with some practice you will get the hang of it. My first impression is also that a 105mm lens it is a great portrait lens. The lens has anti-shake (VR) built-in for this purpose. Anti-shake is not much worth for macro shots although I do use it for some insane hand held macro shots.

The bokeh is even better than what my 50mm 1.4 Nikkor lens is capable of. Awesome!

I can't image you would not be satisfied by a 105 mm lens. Be advised though, your investments won't stop here. You WILL need a macro flash and some kind of macro tripod.

But the Canon lens is perhaps different, better or worse. Research, research, research.

[crunch]

The Canon 100mm macro is one of those rare gems - it's absolutely god-like It's razor sharp! The colour and contrast is up there with the best of them. It's also pretty cheap compared to other lenses of this calibre. The bokeh is pretty nice too - not as dreamy as the 135L, but definately creamy

[Saralonde]

I use the Canon 100mm. Great macro lens, wonderful for close portraits, too.

[Chewys Dad]

I use the Sigma 105mm f/2.8, it's a wonderful Macro lens and a little cheaper than the Canon; I also have the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 macro and it allow me to be farther away from my subjects which is great when you don't want to get too close and either scare the subject off or get bitten. I also have a Canon MP-E 65mm 1 x5 dedicated Macro lens for really close up work, but these are expensive and not for everyone. But there nothing else like it for really tiny insects.
Chewys Dad!

[gempics]

I have the Canon 100mm macro lens and I agree with the above - I absolutely adore it! It has hardly been off my camera since I got it a couple of months ago

[daft_biker]

Which one do I love most? That's easy...Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro...king amongst macro lenses It's not for everybody though and I wouldn't recomend it as a 1st macro lens unless it's really small subjects you're after.

As a 1st macro lens I think the Canon 100mm macro is an excellent choice. I have one of those too...they're very good! However the Canon 180mm macro has even nicer bokeh and lets you have more distance between you and easily spooked subjects. The 180mm does take up a lot more camera bag space though.

[MOmilkman]

Originally Posted by crunch

The bokeh is pretty nice too - not as dreamy as the 135L, but definately creamy

Ok, not trying to hijack this thread but I have a simple question I'd like to have answered.
I've been on here for 2-3 months now and as many tutorials as I've read I have never seen one that explains what "bokeh" is.
I know it's something to do with lack of DOF isn't it?
I would just like someone to clear this up so I'm not scratching my head wondering exactly what it is everytime I read that word.

[crunch]

Originally Posted by MOmilkman

Ok, not trying to hijack this thread but I have a simple question I'd like to have answered.
I've been on here for 2-3 months now and as many tutorials as I've read I have never seen one that explains what "bokeh" is.
I know it's something to do with lack of DOF isn't it?
I would just like someone to clear this up so I'm not scratching my head wondering exactly what it is everytime I read that word.

Not really "lack" of DOF. The fact that something is out of focus is because of the lack of depth of field.

If you look closely at these out of focus areas, you'll see it's not necessarily a smooth background. Sometimes it looks blotchy, sometimes it can look harsh. This is what "bokeh" refers to - the quality of the out of focus areas. The smoother, less "edgy" the out of focus areas, the better the bokeh. It's very noticable if you have out of focus highlights (like a city skyline) - "good" bokeh will have perfectly round highlights whereas "bad" bokeh will have pentagonal or hexagonal highlights (caused by the aperture blades in the lens). This is just one example of what bokeh refers to.

Bokeh is also very subjective - it's not something one can measure and/or quantify justifibaly. However, it's easy to spot really bad or really good bokeh. It's the middle ground where opinions start to differ.