Canon 20D Macro - Extension rings or macro lens?

[Blue Fox]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and very happy to have found such enthusiasm and amazing photographs!! I am hoping you can give me some advice. I have been making macro shots for about 18 months with a Nikon Coolpix 5700 which gave me nice results although only 4 megapixels....so I recently upgraded to a Canon 20D which has 8.2 megapixels but I haven't a clue about macro lenses Can anyone please tell me if extension rings are worth buying or should I get a macro lens? And what about Kenko rings? Are they any good? Any advice regards the 20D will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[Charles Krebs]

Welcome. The 20D is a really nice camera.
Extension tubes certainly allow any lens to focus closer... but the image quality and convenience of a macro lens is hard to beat.

A lot depends on the lens (or lenses) you already have, and the magnification range you would like to work in (ie: intended subjects).

So if you give a little more info we could probably make better suggestions.

[Blue Fox]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I have two lenses, a Canon 18-55mm and a Sigma 55-200mm. That's all at the moment... I am mostly interested in butterflies and flowers but having seen some of the wonderful insect photos on this site I just might be persuaded to overcome my terror of wasps and other winged beasts! So... any ideas please?

[Sergio Zalewska]

Hello Fox and welcome.
I have a 350D, a set of Kenko tubes, a 50mm 1.8, a Sigma 18-50 2.8 and the lens that came with the camera, which are retired by now.
The tubes are great, but there are some limitations. With the 50mm it works ok, but you come too close to the subject, afreightening the insects, and casting shadows on them. The same occurs with the zoom lenses, because they are bulky. It is enough for flowers and butterflies, but for higher magnifications on living insects, it is terrible. You should think about a Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro, capable of 1:1 (with tubes you get even closer), to have a safe and workable distance to the little animals.

[Blue Fox]

Well, the Sigma 105mm 2.8 is about 200 pounds so not too dear and therefore very tempting! My visa card is still reeling from the shock of the new camera so I must wait a few weeks. I think from what you have said it is a better bet than the extension rings although I think the art of getting close up to little animals is more to do with stealth and cunning and a bit of patience.... so, my only other question (at the moment!) is.... if I buy the Sigma lens will I need to wait for gloriously sunny days or will flash be ok - butterflies and flowers have such delicate parts, I can't believe flash can possibly be good enough... or am I being purist?

[mowse]

Well, you splurged on the Canon 20D. You might do well to wait a bit and splurge on a good macro lens. If you're shooting butterflies and stinging insects, then extra reach is a plus.

The Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX DG IF HSM would go very well with your new body.

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses ... avigator=5

I'm picking one up next week for my 20D.

[Blue Fox]

Thanks, I think you are right, I need to save my pennies.... I see the Sigma APO 180mm F3.5 costs about £540.... yikes, that's a lot of pennies.... well, let me know what you think of it once you have tried it out. Thanks for your advice.

[Charles Krebs]

Blue Fox... while you are saving your pennies for that macro lens,you might want to consider a Nikon 3T or 4T close-up lens (with an appropriate step-down adapter to fit your lens) on the Sigma 55-200mm. It make for a quite versatile and easy to use outfit.

[georgedingwall]

Hi Fox,

I can't help you with the 20D part of your question, but you might be interested in a test I did recently of combining 2 sets of extension tubes with a 105mm macro lens. I used a Nikon D70, the Nikon 105mm macro lens, a set of Nikon extension tubes and a cheap set of extension tubes from jessops.

Here is a link to the image.

Image no longer available - sorry

In my test, I found the cheap extension tubes to be just as good as the Nikon set.

Since I did the extension tube test, I've also bought the Sigma 150mm hsm macro lens. You can get this in the Canon fit. First impressions say this is an excellent lens.

This link is to an image taken with this lens fitted to a Nikon D200. The image is made from a stack of 17 frames processed in Helicon Focus.

http://www.georgedingwall.co.uk/images/ ... ard_06.jpg

Hope this helps, bye for now.

[Blue Fox]

Thanks for all the info everyone... I contacted Sigma re the possibility of a Nikon 3T or 4T close-up lens (with an appropriate step-down adapter to fit the Sigma 55-200mm but they seemed dubious as to whether it would actually work.... have you actually tried it out Charles? Are the results good? Well, they also suggested the Sigma 105 2.8 EX which would give 1:1 but then maybe I should get a zoom instead.... anyone out there used the Sigma 7300? It only gives 1:2 but it's a good bit cheaper and maybe the zoom will give me more flexibility... any thoughts/ideas on this?

[Charles Krebs]

Blue Fox... if you've really got the macro "bug", then by all means I would recommend a true "macro" lens. The Sigma 105mm would be a fine choice.

I mentioned the Nikion 3T as a measure you might use until you can get the macro lens. They will definitely work OK with your lens. (Canon makes similar close-up lenses, but they are much more expensive and about the same quality).

Nikon makes the following:
3T (+1.5, 52mm thread)
4T (+2.9, 52mm thread)

5T (+1.5, 62mm thread)
6T (+2.9, 62mm thread)

They can be fit on other filter sizes with the appropriate adapter ring.

The "T" designation means that they are designed to be used with longer focal lengths... in the 80mm to 200mm range. In my experience they provide very good image quality with zoom lenses in that range. (The +2.9 version gives higher magnification but perhaps a bit lower image quality than the +1.5 on a zoom).

[Blue Fox]

Ah I understand now, and yes much cheaper.... so perhaps I will look into the 3T or 4T as a temporary measure.... yes, thanks for your advice...

[st_m]

I recommend the Tamron 90mm. I own the Nikon version of it, but I'm conviced, the Canon mount lens uses the same optics. It's extremely good and has a 9-blade diaphragm (I don't know how many blades the Sigma one has). This is important to get a nice background. Price should be about the same.

[Blue Fox]

Thanks, I will look into that, it seems to have good reviews too.... btw does more blades equal greater depth of field?

[S. Alden]

I have the 20D and use the 100mm Macro 2.8. That is my workhorse in macro . I also own the kenko extension tubes, which I do use, but not as often as maybe I should.