Macro advice anyone ?..

If i have the option of 2 dedicated Macro lenses from a single manufacturer, both with the same max aperture and both having a 1:1 'magnification' ratio, but with the lenses differing with their focal lengths eg, 100mm and a 180mm - what is the benefit of the 180mm over the 100mm specifically for Macro work ?... is it the fact the minimum focusing distance is likely to be greater so you'd be farther away from the subject (which helps with Macro) ?? ...any advice or explanation would be helpful, thank you in advance -- Steve.

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Permalink Reply by Alex M. Souza on January 16, 2012 at 12:34pm

The 180mm lens allows the same magnification at a distance greater than the 100mm. This can be convenient when shooting insects more skittish.

Regards.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Barr on January 16, 2012 at 2:15pm

Thanks Alex, much appreciated !.

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Permalink Reply by CameraClicker on January 16, 2012 at 4:35pm

With the 180 mm you would definitely be further away if they both deliver 1:1. That could be a good thing if shooting insects. On the other hand, if the 100mm is Canon's new L series macro lens, then that might be the better lens. It has amazing image stabilization. You can actually hand hold it for some macro shots; an exercise I find to be pretty futile with my 150 mm macro lens. Between those, the 100 and 150 mm lenses, the difference in distance to subject seems only a couple of inches when trying for maximum image size. The lens specs should indicate minimum focusing distance so you can look up the different lenses and see how much you gain.

Canon's spec sheets for the 100 mm L says 30.5 cm. For Canon's 180 mm, which is not as fast, the sheet says 48 cm. So about 7 1/2 inches further away for the same image size.