Dear All,

I looking for a good Macro lens. I remember that my x girlfriend had an old Nikkon camera with a macro lens (the whole system is manual) that had a closest focus of 50mm.

1. Does Canon has this kind of lans?

2. Does a closest focusing range make a macro lens a good one (beside of other properties).

3. Which Macro lens (of canon) can you recommend me?

Kind Regards, Ofir.

-- Ofir Cohen (ofirco@hotmail.com), July 30, 2001

Answers

50mm is about 2 inches - that sounds pretty close for a minimum focus distance. Perhaps 50mm was the focal length. Of the EOS lenses, the one with the closest focusing distance is the MP-E 65mm f/2.8. It focuses down to about 9.3 inches and has a maximum magnification of 5.0. This is a speciality lens and costs $900+, so you really have to ask yourself what kind of macro photography you want to do. More affordable alternatives include the EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro ($295, 9.6 inch min focus, .5 max mag), and the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro ($600, 12 inch min focus, 1.0 max mag). If you want a longer focal length, Canon offers the EF 180mm f/3.5L ($1300+, 19.2 min focus, 1.0 max mag).

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), July 30, 2001.