what is the advantage of macro lenses over 'normal' lenses in macro photography?

Question

i recently have noticed that i really like doing macro photography (even though i love every kind of photography from fashion to wildlife). i really like taking photos of flowers. i personally still do not own any dslr but i borrow my friend's 7D with 18-200mm lens from time to time and take photos.

so my question is what is the advantage of macro lenses? are they sharper than 'normal' lenses? how about the minimum focus distance? thanks

this is a sample of my works. please feel free to comment and see the rest of my works

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashkanphotography/sets/72157629370844831/with/6896702101/

Answer 1

Macro lenses offer closer minimum focusing distances and 1:1 reproduction ratios that zoom lenses are not capable of.

Answer 2

For an explanation of the 1:1 reproduction ratio, see my demo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/2548820842/ Be sure to read the comments, to, because there is some discussion.



I've labeled a lot of images as macro that were not taken with a macro lens. Close-focusing zoom lenses and the ability to crop from among several million pixels lets us do this, but the depth of focus with real macro lens used 3 or 4 inches from the subject is a world apart from a cropped telephoto image.



Browse the thumbnails and see if you can tell the difference.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfeinstein/tags/macro/

You know where to find the Exif data on Flickr, but the ones tagged "60" are the only ones actually taken with a macro lens.



Canon has a few lenses that they call "macro" that only get a 1:2 reproduction. You have to spend another $100 or more on a teleconverter to get 1:1, so watch out for that.



Any prime lens, including macro lenses, will be sharper (as a rule) than zoom lenses. Zoom involve compromises all along the way to accommodate their range of focus. Macro lenses are generally the sharper lenses in any manufacturer's catalog.

Answer 3

> how about the minimum focus distance?



That's pretty much the definition of a macro lens. A macro lens lets you get closer to the subject than you would otherwise. If you don't need to get close to the subject, then what you are doing isn't macro photography.



There are other ways to get a macro effect. One that I use sometimes is an "extension tube" - just a cynlindrical insert that goes between the camera and the lens. It reduces the minimum focus distance and allows macro photography with a normal lens. The problem with an extension tube is that it also reduces the *maximum* focus distance, so you can't focus to infinity with it in place.



Likewise, you can attach a close-up filter to the end of your lens, much as you would attach a protective UV filter or similar. It's essentially a small magnifying glass. This has the same effect as an extension tube, although in my experience the extension tube works better.



A true macro lens has a full range of focus from a very short distance all the way out to infinity. It is also likely to be sharper than a normal lens with a close-up filter attached, though it might not be sharper than a normal lens on an extension tube. That is really a function of the quality of the lens. The best macro lenses are usually "prime" (non-zoom) designs, optimized for a particular angle of view, and that in itself tends to make them sharper -- almost certainly sharper than your friend's 18-200 zoom.



Some macro lenses also happen to be very good portrait lenses, and as a result get used for that more than they do for macro work. A good example of this is the classic 90mm Tamron.

Answer 4

Well as you can guess by the answers, Macro is a magnification that is close focus down to 1:2 size. I think Micro is a Magnification life size 1:1 and beyond.

,

If you are borrowing a camera and lens from a friend then extension tubes is likely a good start. this has no glass in it, they are just tubes that fit between the lens and camera body. You can get them one at a time or in a set of three with three different sizes. The set will be about $99. That will get a 50mm lens down to 1:1 life size magnification.



for most flower shots you don't need to do Life size unless you are taking pictures of vary small stuff.



The three sizes of tube is 13, 20, 25 mm I believe and you will be using the 13 and 20 most of the time to allow you to fill the frame more with your flowers.



It is easiest to work in a telephoto range like 100 to 180mm lens range so you are back away and light may fall on your subject.



In answer to your question. The true dedicated macro lens will perform much better at sharp crisp images, because the lens is designed to be apochromatic. All three of the colors RGB are designed to meet at the same place on the image plane for the close focus shot. This is something zoom lenses with close up or macro simply can not do well, and it makes a big difference. if you have ever seen rainbow colors around the edges of the image frame or a specular highlight, this is a lens that is not focusing these colors at the same place on the image plane.



Extension tubes will help you focus close but it can not take care of the apochromatic issues. So dedicated macro lenses are a little expensive, but worth it if you really like working in this area of photography.



The best is a lens that works in the 105 to 180 mm range. My preference is the 180mm range for it's large working space range for letting light in on your subject and nice soft backgrounds.



hope this helps

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

True macro lenses have:

-- a close focusing distance that will get a 1:1 magnification (or greater) of the subject; that means the size of the image of something on your sensor will be the same size it is in real life, a 3mm flower pistil will be 3mm in size on your sensor

-- a very flat field -- no field curvature (or very little)

-- very sharp optics

-- a reasonably good maximum aperture (usually f/2.8)



If you want to do close-ups, they're a must.



By the way, the majority of zoom lenses which list themselves as having a "macro" mode don't get anywhere near 1:1 magnification ratios, usually more like 1:3.5 or 1:4. They're not true "macro" lenses.



Peace.

Answer 7

"Normal" lenses can get as close to the subjects as you would like.If you try taking a photo of an insect, it'll end up blurred.With macro lenses, they are made to take closeup photos of virtually anything.

Answer 8

2

Answer 9

This online photography courses have been designed to help you absorb as much photographic knowledge and new photographic skills as possible. https://tr.im/Tosbg

The advanced teaching methods make it easier than ever to learn the new skills you need, whilst keeping it easy and simple for your skill-level.

Answer 10

if you don't want a macro lens, get some bellows and use a normal lens...

Answer 11

you can take close-up photos, you should know that since it said "marco", dont you understand what macro means????!!!!???