Chris,
I agree with Jay. Maybe you should tell us first what kind of macro work are you
up to.
For casual macro work, maybe the best option you may have is to get a couple of
extension tubes to use with a lens you already have. With 50mm extension (you
can buy it from Canon or Kenko) you get 1:1 with a 50mm prime (focused at
infinity, actually you need less extension, since the lens can focus closer by
itself).
I use extensions with the 28-135 IS but it's a bit slow (and heavy for that).
(BTW, my 28-135 IS is in the lens hospital at the moment :...-( extrange
sound while focusing)
If you feel like "going further", you can choose among the options that Chris
mentioned (Canon 100f2.8 macro, Tamron 90f2.8?, Sigma 105f2.8) For extra
working distance, more weight and pain in the wallet, you can go for the 180mm
versions (canon & sigma). These lenses go by themselves to 1:1 and they are
quite sharp. Since they focus to infinity you can use them also for other
applications (some like to say "as portrait lens").
If you're still not satisfied with your magnification, then you can stack lenses
to go far beyond 1:1.You typically use a tele on the camera and inverse a normal
or wide on top of it. The rule of thumb for the magnification is:
focal-length-main-lens/focal-length-inversed. For example: stacking a 50mm on a
200mm will give you arround 4x (a subject of 8mm will be full-frame on the wide
side (8x4=36)) DOF is really critical here!!!.
After passing for all this stages, then you can decide over the 65f2.8 Macro
:-) ;-)...
In my opinion, finding 'photogenic' subjects for more than 2x is quite hard.
Photographing them, even harder :-) [ I'd welcome any ideas here!!! ]
Greetings,
Gerard.
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