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This is a very commonly asked and often pondered question! There really is no short answer for this in all honesty! But I can give you some basic information and suggestions to help you decide!
First off you want to stick with a lens in the 60-105mm range. I know 50mm macros are common, but most are actually a 1:2 ratio which is half life size not full life size and 50mm also makes working distance too close. In a macro lens, for close ups, you want a 1:1 ratio, which means life size. Be careful when looking at lenses, because the term macro is used rather loosely nowadays!
Focusing type is not really that important, because typically you want to manually focus a macro or close up shot.
Here is a list of third party manufactured macro lenses that I can recommend with choices in order:
1. Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
2. Tamron SP AF90 Di 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
3. Tokina AT-X 100 Pro D 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
4. Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro lens
Of course there are name brand macro lenses manufactured by each Company for their cameras as well. Like the Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro, Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR macro, Canon 60mm f/2.8 EF-S, etc. They are very good lenses as well, but cost far more money and do not really offer any real benefits over the third party lenses listed above except for the Nikon which is image stabilized.
I do have to mention two other macro lenses, only because they are the two best on the market currently. They are the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM and the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX DG HSM macro lenses. They tend to be a bit bulky and long for product shots, but if you do nature/wildlife as well, then you may want to check into one of these lenses instead.
If you really want to get off cheaply, you can purchase a Phoenix 100mm f/3.5 Macro lens. They are very cheaply made, but have very excellent optics and produce very nice images!!! They are typically under $150US!! If only being used inside for product shots they should last a very long time too!
Please do not forget to vote if you found this guide useful.
First off you want to stick with a lens in the 60-105mm range. I know 50mm macros are common, but most are actually a 1:2 ratio which is half life size not full life size and 50mm also makes working distance too close. In a macro lens, for close ups, you want a 1:1 ratio, which means life size. Be careful when looking at lenses, because the term macro is used rather loosely nowadays!
Focusing type is not really that important, because typically you want to manually focus a macro or close up shot.
Here is a list of third party manufactured macro lenses that I can recommend with choices in order:
1. Sigma 70mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
2. Tamron SP AF90 Di 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
3. Tokina AT-X 100 Pro D 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens
4. Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro lens
Of course there are name brand macro lenses manufactured by each Company for their cameras as well. Like the Canon 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro, Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR macro, Canon 60mm f/2.8 EF-S, etc. They are very good lenses as well, but cost far more money and do not really offer any real benefits over the third party lenses listed above except for the Nikon which is image stabilized.
I do have to mention two other macro lenses, only because they are the two best on the market currently. They are the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM and the Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX DG HSM macro lenses. They tend to be a bit bulky and long for product shots, but if you do nature/wildlife as well, then you may want to check into one of these lenses instead.
If you really want to get off cheaply, you can purchase a Phoenix 100mm f/3.5 Macro lens. They are very cheaply made, but have very excellent optics and produce very nice images!!! They are typically under $150US!! If only being used inside for product shots they should last a very long time too!
Please do not forget to vote if you found this guide useful.
Guide created: 10/09/07 (updated 11/07/09)
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