100mm or 180mm macro?

How did he get the dragonfly's head to be that big? On the Canon website
it lists the best magnification to be 1:1....isn't that just life-size?

Sorry for the newbie question again...

Alan Browne wrote:
Musty wrote:

I would like to add a macro lens to my "arsenal". There are many choices
(Canon, Tamron, Sigma). I shoot with a 20D so I have the 62% cropping.

My goal for this lens is shooting bugs and flowers and droplets of water
etc.


http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3401265

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Cheers,
Alan

Musty wrote:
"David Ellis" wrote in message
ink.net...

Musty wrote:

All,

I would like to add a macro lens to my "arsenal". There are many choices
(Canon, Tamron, Sigma). I shoot with a 20D so I have the 62% cropping.

Now, all the lens makers seem to make 100mm f2.8 and 180mm f3.5

Can anyone tell me under what application one might go for the 180mm? I
noticed that Canon only make the 180mm as the "L". I also found that

Tamron

have a just as good 180mm for about half the price.

It seems to me that 180mm is more useful since you can get more close-up
shots. Does the 1.6x crop factor steer me more towards the 100mm?

My goal for this lens is shooting bugs and flowers and droplets of water
etc.

Thanks
Musty.



I've done a lot of shooting with the Canon 180 on a 10D and
I would not want to trade it for something else. It's
autofocus is a bit clunky when compared to other "L" lenses
I use. I think it's been around a while. But image quality
is quite good.

http://ellisisle.com/gallery_3/view_pages/crw_10067.htm

Some EXIF data are wrong. The subject distance for this shot
is recorded as 5.18 meters when it was actually closer to
one meter. This kind of error is common when using a digital
camera with an undersized sensor.

As you consider alternatives to Canon brand for your 20D,
ask yourself whether, without being sent to a service
center, the off-brand will be electronically compatible with
the 30D, the 40D and...
--David


I am still thinking about which one to get ... thanks for all the
information. I may end up with Canon in the end due to the internal
focusing, FTM and compatability/resale.

Musty



"Nicholas Wittebol" wrote in message
...
Will the 180mm make the background of the macro shot look more circular
than the 100mm would? Or is it the other way around? Or does this not
happen at all?

Just wondering, because when shooting with my Dad's Canon AE-1 and an
80-200mm Macro lens, the background looks like it is spiralling out of
control when I use a large aperture.

Sorry for the newbie question!

Zooms will always tend to have poor quality of out of focus areas. One
measure of this Bokeh is said to be the ratio between the ratio between
sagittal and meriodional MTF which tends to be large for zooms.

These are true macro prime lenses and should have very good quality. The
focal length will not make any difference at higher magnifications.

Lester

Nicholas Wittebol wrote:

How did he get the dragonfly's head to be that big? On the Canon website
it lists the best magnification to be 1:1....isn't that just life-size?


Life size? On the image sensor or film, yes. On the screen, well
there's no limit.

The image presented is 550 x 800 pix. which is about 5:1 further
magnification if he used all of it (which I doubt, the detail in the
legs is just too good.) But cropping is probably part of it.

Cheers,
Alan.


Sorry for the newbie question again...

Alan Browne wrote:

Musty wrote:

I would like to add a macro lens to my "arsenal". There are many choices
(Canon, Tamron, Sigma). I shoot with a 20D so I have the 62% cropping.

My goal for this lens is shooting bugs and flowers and droplets of water
etc.



http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3401265

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Cheers,
Alan




--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

In message ,
"Lester Wareham" wrote:

Zooms will always tend to have poor quality of out of focus areas. One
measure of this Bokeh is said to be the ratio between the ratio between
sagittal and meriodional MTF which tends to be large for zooms.

The Canon 100-400L has a big difference there. Things that are truly in
the background or foreground are fairly smooth, but twigs that are
crossing each other, for instance, in the fringe areas just outside the
DOF, can look a bit weird.
--


John P Sheehy