Canon Macro Lenses

Here's a question that's right up my alley.

OK, here's the scoop. Both lenses are incomprehensibly sharp; unless you already own "L" glass, you will be astonished by just how sharp these lenses can be. The major advantage of the 100mm is relief - you'll be able to position the lens farther from the coin for a given size image, allowing more leeway with lighting. This is also an advantage with outdoor macro shooting - bugs get nervous when you get too close. The advantages of the 60mm are price and portraiture. The 60mm is almost $100 less, and is a much better lens for portrait photography because the 100mm's standoff for a proper frame will leave you across the room from the subject.

The 60mm will not fit any but EF-S-compatible cropped-sensor cameras. If you plan an upgrade to a fullframe camera in the future, the 60mm will not make the trip. I have not shot with the 60mm, but experienced shooters universally approve its' quality and some consider it even sharper than the 100mm (I dunno how that's possible ). Kurt (Moderator) shoots with the Nikon equivalent of this setup, a dSLR with a 60mm lens, and he achieves excellent results.

For my money? The 100mm wins, hands-down. I like the extra distance from the subject, and I especially like being able to shoot sharp images that are way too big for my 1680x1050 monitor. I've owned one, and sometime next week you will see pics here from the exact camera combo you're considering, as I have an XSi and the 100mm Macro is enroute as we speak.

The lens hood is not for use indoors. It's purpose is to eliminate glare and lens flare from sunlight; highly recommended with Canon macro lenses since the front glass is right at the end of the barrel and susceptible to glare.

Canon Rebel XT/100mm Macro:

You won't regret it. Most consider the 100mm to be the best non-L lens Canon makes, and better than may of the L's.

You won't be disappointed. The 100mm f2.8 is an awesome lens. Keep in mind the Rebex XSI is not a full frame sensor camera, so the 100mm lens would actually be 160mm while using that camera.

Mike

I also got the Rebel XSi for Christmas, will be buying the 100mm macro also. I am trying to get the software setup in my laptop to do the remote live view shots, not sure how the hand held macro shots would turn out. I plan to mount in a stand and display the shot on the laptop for adjustments, how is everyone else shooting their macro shots?




Later,

Hello Dave,
I'm not sure yet about the software that came with the camera. Remote pro is something you had to buy separately correct, or did it come with your camera package. I was told the software that came with my XSi will do the remote laptop stuff I'm wanting to do.



Later,

Very nice shot and coin--great die cracks!
Obviously Canon and Nikon have equally capable macro lenses.
I think a 100mm macro is a better choice for coins, as I often have to work with lighting to avoid cast shadows.

Dave, the extra lighting options are negated by the very shallow depth-of-field in macro photography. Gravity would make it very difficult to set a coin directly vertical, and therefore parallel, to a camera set up horizontally.

With my setup, I can only allow the coin to get out of parallel by one or two degrees before the shallow depth-of-field leaves part of the coin out of focus.

I generally start with Amazon or Newegg for virtually everything I buy online. Photography vendors I have no problem recommending:

B&H (I got my 100mm used from them for $399)
Cameta
Adorama
17th St. Photo
KEH (also has used lenses)

I've done business with all of these. For future reference:

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Huge online database of customer experiences with online sellers - the gold standard for such information. Be seriously leery of a vendor who doesn't rate 8.5 or better from Resellerratings.