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Good Macro lens for Canon 400d?

mantis147

Member
Joined
2 Jan 2015
Messages
44
Hello All,
Im after a bit of help with my Canon 400d, I have had the camera for the last 5 years and always used the standard 18-55mm lens but its no good for the close up tank/shrimp pictures? Im no camera expert but can anyone recommend a good lens for doing this at all?
Thanks
Lee.
 
Lee,
I'm new to aquarium photography, but I use the Canon 100mm 2.8L USMII on my 600D for my other hobby of insect/wildlife photography.

The trouble is: it is a majorly expensive outlay for this sort of thing. As Dantrasy says, try extension tubes first. Have you thought about making friends at a local photography club? Facebook Macro groups might be useful too.
 
Hi Mantis147,
The Tamron 90mm macro lens is good, as are any of the Canon macros, You'd probably need in the region of 100mm macro to reach to the back of the tank at reasonable magnification.
If you go the extension tube route make sure you get ones that do auto-exposure etc.
An alternative would be close-up lenses that screw into your filter thread, the cheapest option to see if you do enough close-up photography.
Whichever option you choose I'd recommend a soft lens hood as it is very easy to clunk the tank when doing macro.

Apologies if this sound patronising but a 60mm macro lens will only really do macro close to the front of the rank, towards the back you will probably need more of a 100-200mm macro lens which gives you a 1:1 ratio at a greater distance.
cheers phil
 
Lee,
I'm new to aquarium photography, but I use the Canon 100mm 2.8L USMII on my 600D for my other hobby of insect/wildlife photography.

The trouble is: it is a majorly expensive outlay for this sort of thing. As Dantrasy says, try extension tubes first. Have you thought about making friends at a local photography club? Facebook Macro groups might be useful too.

I will check the 100mm lens out thanks, Yeah i am aware of the cost side of it so ideally after 1 lens which will do the trick.
 
Hi Mantis147,
The Tamron 90mm macro lens is good, as are any of the Canon macros, You'd probably need in the region of 100mm macro to reach to the back of the tank at reasonable magnification.
If you go the extension tube route make sure you get ones that do auto-exposure etc.
An alternative would be close-up lenses that screw into your filter thread, the cheapest option to see if you do enough close-up photography.
Whichever option you choose I'd recommend a soft lens hood as it is very easy to clunk the tank when doing macro.

Apologies if this sound patronising but a 60mm macro lens will only really do macro close to the front of the rank, towards the back you will probably need more of a 100-200mm macro lens which gives you a 1:1 ratio at a greater distance.
cheers phil

My brother mentioned about the Tamron 90mm but hes never kept a fish tank so couldnt specify if it would be good for that.

Im going to check the extension tubes so thanks for the tip on auto-exposure, I have got the cheaper screw on lenses too but wasnt too impressed to be honest. will check the soft lens hood out too.

most of the shrimp stand nicely at the front of the tank so i shouldnt need to focus on the back, plus the light gets dim at the back also.

Cheers
Lee.
 
You're not limited to Canon lenses, you can also use all Nikon F-mount lenses with a Canon to Nikon F-mount adapter. Grays of Westminster is probably the best for second hand Nikon lenses, I've bought second hand from them before and their grading scheme is accurate, 105mm f/2.8D Micro-Nikkor second hand is about £450, (it's an autofocusing lens but the autofocus is screw driven so adapter may not do autofocus but the lens can be manually focused) brand new auto focusing Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G (gelded lens no aperture ring) from Calumet is £620, quite a saving. Canons equivalent the 100mm f/2.8L Macro is £700.

That's if you need to macro at the back of the tank, if you're happy with just doing macro at the front of the tank a 60mm will do, that's way way cheaper. The Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D is £300 second hand or £370 brand new, D version from Calumet or G version (gelded no aperture ring) everywhere else.

:)
 
Newer Nikon lenses don't make much sense to adapt to Canon. Adapters don't have any form of communication, so no electronic aperture control, no VR, no AF, nothing. Some adapters can manipulate the mechanical aperture lever if present, but better is to find older ones with an aperture ring. Or just not bother at all.

The EF-S 60mm is always a safe bet. The older Tamron 90mm lenses extend quite a lot when close focusing, plus have a deeply recessed front element so you lose working distance. I'm not sure if more recent variations still suffer that. The Canon 100mm non-L is quite a lot cheaper than it's L. In general there aren't really any bad true macro lenses, so it is hard to make a bad choice as far as image quality is concerned. Any decision may be made based on more practical factors. As always going used will save from buying new.
 

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Some of my best pics were taken with a canon 600d, 18-55 kit lens and a $5 set of extension tubes. Also needed a lot of patience.

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Cracking pic that first one! i have just been browsing these extension tubes is it best getting a set or specific sizes? also any recommendations on the make?
They have got to be worth a go first for the price!
 

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You're not limited to Canon lenses, you can also use all Nikon F-mount lenses with a Canon to Nikon F-mount adapter. Grays of Westminster is probably the best for second hand Nikon lenses, I've bought second hand from them before and their grading scheme is accurate, 105mm f/2.8D Micro-Nikkor second hand is about £450, (it's an autofocusing lens but the autofocus is screw driven so adapter may not do autofocus but the lens can be manually focused) brand new auto focusing Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G (gelded lens no aperture ring) from Calumet is £620, quite a saving. Canons equivalent the 100mm f/2.8L Macro is £700.

That's if you need to macro at the back of the tank, if you're happy with just doing macro at the front of the tank a 60mm will do, that's way way cheaper. The Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D is £300 second hand or £370 brand new, D version from Calumet or G version (gelded no aperture ring) everywhere else.

:)

Some great info X3NiTH thanks, I think I will have a crack at the cheaper options first and see how it goes.
 
My brother mentioned about the Tamron 90mm but hes never kept a fish tank so couldnt specify if it would be good for that.
Have a look at some of my journals, I use a Tamrom 90mm with my Sony as I did with my old Konica-Minolta, auto focus is a little slow, but I tend to use manual settings on a macro lens anyway. You can find these at decent prices too.

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Have a look at some of my journals, I use a Tamrom 90mm with my Sony as I did with my old Konica-Minolta, auto focus is a little slow, but I tend to use manual settings on a macro lens anyway. You can find these at decent prices too.

Really good pics mate, the Tamron 90mm does seem to be a decent lens as recommended by a few now. Ive got my brother over with his canon 70d and the tamron 90mm lens to test over the weekend im sure that will help make my decision! No doubt i will end up with a new camera and lenses! haha.
 
What you need is good lighting too, otherwise just the lens will not help! in the photos above I had my external flash unit just above the tank on wireless mode. Without that you can't go to F stops 18-32, which will then give you limited DOF.
 
Reverse lens mounting or 'Lens Bashing' worked quite well getting a macro'ish image out an iPhone using a 50mm lens.

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Great to play around with but nothing really does macro as good as a dedicated macro lens does.

:)
 
Reverse lens mounting or 'Lens Bashing' worked quite well getting a macro'ish image out an iPhone using a 50mm lens.

16527842146_33fb9df3e3_b.jpg

Great to play around with but nothing really does macro as good as a dedicated macro lens does.

:)

Confused me now! how do you use a iphone with a 50mm lens?
 
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