Buying a new digital camera .. advice on macro lenses?

Question

For 7 years, I've had a Nikon Coolpix 775. Yeah, it's a dinosaur, but it has served me extremely well. I do wildflower photography and the macro function is fantastic. Now the camera is coming to the end of it's lifetime and I'm forced to buy a new one. I'm looking for suggestions from people who do a lot of close-up photography. I'm talking REALLY close, without the details getting blurry. Any suggestions on good digitals that meet that one need? I really don't care about any other features. Thanks much! 10 points for whoever suggests a camera that a) suits my needs and b) that isn't insanely overpriced.

Answer 1

IMO its time you considered upgrading to a DSLR with a true macro lens. Since the sensor in a DSLR is approximately 15 times bigger than in a digicam the quality will stun you.



Check out the Sony A300 (10.2mp) and find a legacy Minolta Maxxum AF 100mm macro lens and you'll be good to go. Sony has a branded 100mm macro but the legacy Maxxum macro should be more affordable. Sony also has their image stabilization in the camera body so any lens you use will have that benefit. The A300 also has Live View which works with the auto focus.



Don't be mislead by zoom lenses with "macro" in their description. They are really close-focusing. A true macro lens is designed to perform well at close distances, has a flat field of focus (needed for photographing stamps, etc.), has minimal center to edge light fall-off and maximum center to edge sharpness and will produce a 1:1 (life-size) image on the sensor. A close-focusing zoom will seldom exceed a 1:4 (1/4 life-size) image.

Answer 2

I use a 100mm Macro Lens with my Canon Rebel XTi. This works wonderfully for me. I get nice close ups of bugs and insects without scaring them away. It takes wonderful pictures of plants as well.



I highly recommend this for you :o)

Answer 3

Remember that for a 100 mm lens, the working distant is not so close. You may need a tripod.



Samples, click on ALL SIZES to see a larger one:



Canon 100 mm f 2.8 macro (Canon 5D--full frame)



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2500999694/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2333379801/



This one is 1:1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2333377673/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2334206454/



It is good for every day portrait, too. It will be quite "long" on cropped sensor (165 mm) though. You can see it is very sharp.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2494382012/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2294503848/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/2168941423/