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Old 17-09-2010, 05:23 AM
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troypiggo (Troy)
Bust Duster

troypiggo is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 4,846
Around the 100mm is by far the most commonly recommended focal length to start out macro with. It is an unbeatable balance in terms of working distance, usability, and cost. Working distance (WD) is important if you're aiming to shoot bugs, less chance of scaring them off.

But going too long with FL to get more WD brings in some complexities. Talking about the 150-180mm FL now. It's heavier and harder to hand-hold, you get the subject jumping around more in the frame, even little things like the flash might be further away so slightly harsher light.

Don't get caught up on brands. True macro lenses are all primes and are all some of the sharpest lenses you will ever own. Canon, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina - they all make top notch macro lenses and you shouldn't have regrets no matter which one you choose.

Also, don't get caught up on comments about slow auto-focus. Unless you're using the thing to double as a portrait lens or something, AF does not matter as you'll be shooting macro in manual focus anyway. If you are using it as a portrait lens as well, although some may comment that this macro lens has faster AF than that macro lens, they are all extremly slow to AF compared to normal lenses intended to shoot portraits.

I haven't used the EF-S 60, but know it does produce fine results in the right hands. Just not enough WD for my liking. The kind of scenario I've come across where I would consider recommending it over the 100mm range was if you're using it to shoot subjects where you can't back up enough and need to be in closer - this dentist was wanting to use one to shoot people's teeth in a tight room space.

So I recommend the Tamron 90, Sigma 105 or Canon 100. I have no experience with the new Canon 100L IS, but if you have the dough the IS may be beneficial. Personally I'd rather keep the dough and spend it on lighting because you'll want flash and diffusers eventually, maybe extension tubes too.

I've used or owned all of the other macro lenses mentioned (complicated but uninteresting story) - Canon 100, Sigma 105, Tamron 90, Sigma 150, Canon 180L, Canon MP-E65. If I had my time again, I'd get the Tamron 90 to start with and it would always be in my bag no matter what other macro lenses I got to complement it.
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