Thanks to every1 who responded to my newbie email, now ive been to one of my local camera stores and they have explained to me that it will be more effective to go for a 60mm macro lens that a 100mm as I have a Canon 30d which gives me a crop factor of 1.5x which makes 60mm- 90mm and a 100mm-150mm.
Can any1 enlighten me on this as i am new to macro, however i always like to jump in at the deep end so to speak.
Also if im wanting to do mainly flower and insect macro what sort of flash equipment will i need if any?
HI Dave
Post this over in the Macro forum and you will get plenty of help. Any lens you put on your camera is effected by the 'crop factor'. I think you still will be best off with the 100mm lens for what you wish to do. You will have more working distance with the subject.
There are a few choices in specific Canon macro flashes see:
Other choice is diffused flash that also has manual control like 430ex Canon. Again, there is some incredible work and example that may be more helpful on the Macro Forum here.
Hmm - the camera shop people don't quite understand macro - the different focal length macro lenses are mainly used for their different minimum focus distances that give you 1:1 magnification. The longer the lens the bigger the minimum focus distance will be, however it is exactly the same distance whether you are using a FF or 1.6 crop camera. As you want to photograph insects that can be a bit skittish I'd go for the 100mm lens.
Think the users here are fairly evenly split between using dedicated macro flashes and using bracket mounted or camera mounted normal flashes with some sort of diffuser. You should however be able to do some lovely natural light photography especially of flowers - you tend to only need flash when you are shooting close to 1:1 or higher.
Your camera store doesn't quit understand crop factors as well. First, your 30D has a crop factor of 1.6x and second, it does not turn a 60mm or 100mm into anything different than what it is. A 100mm won't be a 160mm on your 30D, it will still have the magnification of a 100mm but a CROP of a 160mm. It would be as if you placed a matte down on a full frame image, only to reveal 60% (or whatever the percentage is for a 1.6x crop) of the image. There is no increase in magnification.
A key difference in these two lenses is the working distances. The 100mm will give you a wider view because of the increased working distance. This may be better suited for flowers and, as LordV mentions, skittish insects.
Either lens will produce quality images. Take your 30D to the camera store and see which one performs more to your liking.
My Canon 20D loves the 100. You can tell they smile and wink at each other.
Look at some of my pictures and you will see that even when shooting through the Plexiglas port of the underwater camera housing, when the lighting and the exposure is right, things jump of the screen. They look even better in print.
You would have to pry that 100 out of my dead stiff cold fingers
A bit too much of a dramatic statement maybe?
Go with the 100, is very versatile and you can use it for great portraits as well.
