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Macro lens advice please? (1 Viewer)

Penny Clarke

Penny Clarke

Well-known member
I would like to buy a dedicated macro lens for insects etc - I have been looking at the Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro Lens or the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens.

It will be used with my Canon 40D body.

What do you think please?

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
 
Both are good lenses. Advantages of the Sigma are the longer working distance over the 60mm and it's also suitable for full-frame (35mm-size) cameras as well as cropped digital sensors such as the 40D. Disadvantages are the long extension of the lens at or near 1:1 macro and a non-USM/HSM motor can be a bit noisy for shy subjects (manual focus gets round this and is not a problem with macro subjects).

The Canon has a USM 'silent' focus motor plus an internal-focus system and is designed especially for Canon's 1.6x crop digital bodies. Disadvantages are: not suitable for full-frame, you need to get closer than the Sigma for a particular image size and the front element of the lens is not very deeply-recessed making a lens hood a desirable option, but it costs extra, though it will make the front of the lens even closer to the subject.

There are several macro lenses available from 50mm up to about 180mm but there's not that much difference in the working distance when you want to get really large frame-filling shots of small subjects, If the creature will let you get close enough with the 105mm then you can probaly get that bit closer with the 60mm providing you move carefully - the main problem comes with trying to avoid your own shadow encroaching into the picture.
 
Penny Clarke said:
I would like to buy a dedicated macro lens for insects etc - I have been looking at the Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro Lens or the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens.

It will be used with my Canon 40D body.

What do you think please?

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
Click to expand...


The 60mm is APS only, and IMO too short a focal length for insects. You really need at least 100mm. Personally I would look at the Canon 100mm. IMO Canon lenses are better than Sigma, and you know the Canon lens will be compatible with all future Canon bodies, which is not the case with the Sigma. That said, by all accounts the Sigma is a decent lens. (I find the appearance ugly, but it is not entering a beauty contest.)
 
I have the Sigma 105mm lens and it is a good lens, as said above the 60mm is to short a focal length for insects.

My only reservations with the Sigma 105mm is its a bit slow to focus and the depth of field is not that good, you need to be able to mess around on manual setting your own F stops to be able to get good depth of field. Its not that good a lens for really crisp close up flower shots though does take really good insect shots. That said it peforms better abroad where the light is generally better than Cumbria where I live. Here a link to a bit of my website where all the butterfly photos were taken using the 105mm lens. http://northcumbriabirds.bravehost.com/austrianbutterflies.html

For flowers i use a 17mm-70mm Sigma Macro which is supposedly poorer in quality than a prime lens but in practice I feel takes the better shots and it double as a really good everyday lens.

hope this helps

cheers Nick
 
I agree with others that the longer working length is useful... personally I use a Sigma 105 and amvery pleased with it. You'd be welcome to try it when I next bump into you out birding.
 
Penny Clarke said:
I would like to buy a dedicated macro lens for insects etc - I have been looking at the Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro Lens or the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens.

It will be used with my Canon 40D body.

What do you think please?

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
Click to expand...
I have the Sigma and cannot fault it in any way, i agree that the 60mm is a little too short for insects etc as they tend to get spooked very easily so the more range you have the better.
I also have a Bigma (50-500mm) and recently won a camera bag with a Macro shot taken with it from 8ft away! all down to a very solid tripod/good lighting and the trusty radio wireless remote.
Cheers
Brian
Ps ring flashes are great too for macro
 
thorin said:
I
My only reservations with the Sigma 105mm is its a bit slow to focus and the depth of field is not that good
Click to expand...

Just a minor point, but the DOF is independent of the lens maker, being a function of aperture, and image magnification alone.
 
Penny Clarke said:
I would like to buy a dedicated macro lens for insects etc - I have been looking at the Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro Lens or the Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro Lens.

It will be used with my Canon 40D body.

What do you think please?

Best Wishes Penny:girl:
Click to expand...


I am a big fan of Sigma lenses, at least the Bigma 50-500 that I have. I also looked at the 105 macro, and was close to purchasing it. Ultimately, I went with the Canon 100 for a couple of reasons.
1. Longer working distance than the 60mm. There are a lot of skittish bugs and such out there.
2. The Canon makes a great 100mm lens in general, so if I was not using it for macro, I could use it for other things. This is where the USM came in handy. The Sigma macro focuses slowly and would be hard to use for general purposes. I figured I would get 2 for 1 with the Canon.

Optically, both are great macro lenses.
 
I have a Canon 100mm macro which is a very sharp lens. I often use it with a 1.4tc, this makes a superb combo, AF is fast and quite and IMO IQ is hardly impacted by the tc.
 
Roy C said:
Yes that's the one Penny. If you use a tc make sure it is not the Canon tc as it will not fit the lens - I use as kenko pro 300 1.4.
Click to expand...

Thanks Roy. Thats weird, you would think the Canon tc WOULD fit!!!! Luckily I only have one converter and its the Kenko pro 300 1.4!!!!!!!:t:
 
Hello

You may also want to consider the longer working distance of the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro, especially if you're primarily shooting insects.

Also it's worth bearing in mind that the Canon lenses do not come with either a tripod collar or a hood included in the price.

Weath.
 
I definatly would second Weath's advice - the canon 100mm macro is a very good lens - however a lenshood is almost an always essential purchase as it has so many uses - further whilst the lens is not so heavy that it will damage a camera if it is mounted on a tripod without a tripod collar I have found that if you use a focusing rail (which you need if you do macro from a tripod) then the single point connection on the base of a camera combined with the weight distribution not being even around that point means that the camera body can come loose whilst using it. Not loose enough to unscrew and fall off, but enough to mean you have to tighten the screw - mid shot this is not an option! The collar more evenly distributes the weight - which makes things much easier.

Add that the canon 100mm macro + lenshood + tripod collar is about the same price are the sigma 150mm - which not only comes with both but will also allow you to use sigma teleconverters with it.
Teleconverters are good for boosting focal length (slightly more working distance, but more importantly improved background blur) and also increase the magnification factor of the lens (the 2*TC leading to double the magnification value). Though you do lose light (which means good sunlight and a flash) loss of sharpness and quality is minimal - even with the 2*TC

Which ever lens you go for at or over 100mm with do very well at insect work and they are all (canon and sigma at least) very high quality work in construction.
 
Overread said:
I definatly would second Weath's advice - the canon 100mm macro is a very good lens - however a lenshood is almost an always essential purchase as it has so many uses - further whilst the lens is not so heavy that it will damage a camera if it is mounted on a tripod without a tripod collar I have found that if you use a focusing rail (which you need if you do macro from a tripod) then the single point connection on the base of a camera combined with the weight distribution not being even around that point means that the camera body can come loose whilst using it. Not loose enough to unscrew and fall off, but enough to mean you have to tighten the screw - mid shot this is not an option! The collar more evenly distributes the weight - which makes things much easier.

Add that the canon 100mm macro + lenshood + tripod collar is about the same price are the sigma 150mm - which not only comes with both but will also allow you to use sigma teleconverters with it.
Teleconverters are good for boosting focal length (slightly more working distance, but more importantly improved background blur) and also increase the magnification factor of the lens (the 2*TC leading to double the magnification value). Though you do lose light (which means good sunlight and a flash) loss of sharpness and quality is minimal - even with the 2*TC

Which ever lens you go for at or over 100mm with do very well at insect work and they are all (canon and sigma at least) very high quality work in construction.
Click to expand...

Thank you VERY much for all your advice. I must admit I didn't even think that I would need any support for the lens with tripod (collar)!!!

Best Wishes
Penny:girl:
 
Handheld macro works very well - generally you set the macro lens focus manually to the 1:1 ratio (as close as you can focus) and then you move the lens back and forth to get the subject in focus - handheld gives you a mobility advantage when working like this - but be prepared for a lot of effort - it takes time (I am still working on the skill) to get good at macro.
On a tripod gives you a great advantage in stability - which means sharper results. If you are tripod shooting then I suggest reading up and using mirror lockup mode with a remote or the timer - that helps remove even more shake from the camera as a result of the mirror (which carriers the light to the viewfinder) moving out of the way and letting the light reach the sensor. Of course this is a slower form of shooting - best times are in the early morning when insects are not warmed up and active yet.
 
Penny Clarke said:
Thank you VERY much for all your advice. I must admit I didn't even think that I would need any support for the lens with tripod (collar)!!!

Best Wishes
Penny:girl:
Click to expand...
I use the 100mm f2.8 macro on a monopod most of the time when out in the field and have no problems at all without a tripod collar, I just screw the quick release directly onto the Camera. A collar would give you marginally better balance but not that noticeable IMO.
I find a Monopod to be just right as a compromise between hand holding and tripod when shooting Butterflies/Dragonflies - It give some support that can be in position within seconds and can often go where a tripod could not (also a lot easier to carry).
 
The advantage of a tripod collar is IMO mainly convenience. It allows you to rapidly switch between landscape and portrait compositions, which is not easy when doing close ups. For the bigger lenses it can also give a better balance.
 
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