KWeyer

Was wondering what a good macro lens for a Canon T2i would be?

Thanks,
Ken

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

The most popular macro lenses these days are the 90-105mm f2.8.
Everyone makes one and they are all good. Have a look at the Canon lens.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Look at KEH and see if you can find an EX / EX+ rated EF 100mm f/2.8 macro that includes both the hood and tripod collar, items not sold with the lens when purchased new.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

The answer to every photography question is, "It depends." In this case, it depends on your budget and what you will primarily be shooting. If mainly flowers or coins or other inanimate objects, then a 50mm macro would work, but if you're also shooting insects and other creatures, a longer lens would allow you to stand off from the subject and not disturb them. The longer the focal length, the larger the cost. Perhaps a lens in the 90mm to 100mm range would be a good compromise.

Keep in mind that a 90mm or 100mm f/2.8 lens is also a good portrait lens on a Canon crop sensor camera. Autofocus is not much help in photographing bugs, but could be very useful in taking pictures of people.

In the last few years, lens manufacturers have been offering lenses with vibration reduction. If you're shooting butterflies and dragonflies, that's a useful feature because you probably won't be able to keep up with them if you use a tripod, and will have to resort to hand-holding. Lenses with VR cost a little more.

As far as manufacturers go, Canon makes great macro lenses, but, in my opinion, Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina make excellent lenses, too.

Don't be fooled by "macro" lenses that don't offer full 1:1 magnification ratio. If they can't, they aren't macro.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Do you use a collar on that lens? I didn't know there was a collar for it.

Mike

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I used the tripod collar when I owned this lens in the past. The Canon accessory is Canon Tripod Mount Ring B, sold separately.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Canon's EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro is an excellent and affordable Macro lens. I have gotten years of heavy use under harsh conditions in the field from mine.

Paul's suggestion to look for a refurbished one at KEH is good.

Canon also has refurbished ones in stock -

https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ef-100mm-f-28-macro-usm-refurbished

I have been happy with Canon's refurbished equipment.

I did all of the closeup and macro shots here with the EF 100mm f/2.8:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/145186988@N05/hNRWA6

Mike

KWeyer

Thanks for all the replies.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Nikon 105 micro. Of course the problem is their may not be an adapter available. But if their in no adapter available, you can always switch camera companies.

RWCRNC Loc: Pennsylvania

Tamron 90 2.8

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Canon's 100mm macro lenses are wonderful. They've made three versions. I'd recommend the latter two: the USM and the L/IS/USM versions. Both of these versions are currently in production and can be bought new. They also have been around for a while, so are widely available used and sometimes can be found refurbished (almost the same as new) on the Canon USA website.

Something unique about the Canon 100mm macro lenses is that they can optionally be fitted with a tripod mounting ring, which can be very handy when using the lens. There is no other macro lens around this focal length that has a tripod mounting ring, that I'm aware of. You have to go to a longer (and more difficult to hold steady) 150mm, 180mm or 200mm, to have a t'pod ring.

The two Canon 100mm macro have very similar, very high image quality. They also are both built quite robustly. The more expensive "L/IS" is a newer and more modern looking design. But the "USM" is no slouch either (in fact, it's build is identical to it's "big brother" Canon 180mm f/3.5L USM macro lens). The "USM" lens uses optional Tripod Ring B (about $150 new), while the "L/IS/USM" uses Tripod Ring D (about $170 new). There are third party "clones" of both t'pod rings that cost less... stay away from the cheapest plastic ones (about $25). The metal ones might be okay (around $50).

Personally, I've had the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM lens for many years and never felt the need to "upgrade" to the more expensive "L/IS/USM". The primary difference is that the latter has Image Stabilization... But that's of limited assistance at higher magnifications. If planning to use the lens a lot for non-macro purposes, the IS version might have more appeal. Otherwise, save some money and put it toward getting the tripod ring for the lens instead. Then use a tripod and or a monopod for your macro shots.

In addition to the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM, I also have and use the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 and EF 180mm f/3.5L USM lenses. I consider both of these to be more specialized lenses, and use them far less than the 100mm. The MP-E 65mm is an ultra high magnification, manual focus lens. In fact, the least magnification it can do is 1:1 (the max that the 100mm, 180mm and most other macro lenses can do). The MP-E 65mm goes as high as 5:1 mag. It's a pretty challenging lens to use... pretty much tripod-only and slower to work with. A macro flash is almost mandatory with it, too. The 180mm macro offers more working distance, which can be very handy when shooting subjects that bite or sting! But it's also harder to get a steady shot, more likely to need a tripod or some other support. It also naturally renders very shallow depth of field at it's highest magnifications, so is more likely to need to be stopped down, requiring slower shutter speeds to compensate.

If you are concerned about the size of the Canon 100mm macro lenses, they offer a more compact EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM that's excellent too. It cannot be fitted with a tripod ring, but is so small and light it doesn't need it. It's also Canon's most affordable 1:1 macro lens. It is "crop only"... fine in a T2i, but cannot be used on any of the full frame cameras.

There are also a number of good third party alternatives...

Tamron offers two versions of their excellent 90mm SP Macro lens.... the more expensive one has "VC" image stabilization, is an "internal focusing" lens ("IF" means it doesn't lengthen when focused closer) and uses a higher performance "USD" focus drive system. Both lenses are fully usable on crop or full frame cameras.

Tamron also offers a more compact 60mm SP macro lens... it's one of very few with a larger f/2.0 aperture and is an IF lens. It's focus drive appears to be micro motor, which is slower... not good for sports/action, but fine for macro, portraits and many other things. This is a "crop only" lens and it doesn't have image stabilization. I've used one for around five years and found it quite good (the larger aperture it offers is nice for portraiture). I also have a vintage Tamron 90mm SP.... they've made eight or ten versions of that lens over the last 35 years or so!

Sigma offers a 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM lens with top of the line focus performance and image stabilize. It's been one of the more expensive, but full featured macro models. However, it's been discounted quite a bit lately, so might be worth looking up. Sigma also makes a 70mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/2.8 macro lenses, which I'm not really familiar with. Sigma also offers a 180mm f/2.8 macro... very good, but rather hefty and expensive! I think they've discontinued their 150mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Tokina offers one of the least expensive macro lenses with their AT-X Pro 100mm f/2.8. It's very capable, though rather "basic" with an unusual focus mechanism. Like other Tokina, it uses a "focus clutch" where focus ring of the lens is slid slightly forward or backward to shift between auto focus and manual focus. When it's set to AF, manual focus is disengaged. For this reason, I'd probably use the lens mostly in MF mode for macro work (which I do a lot anyway, with other lenses). All the other lenses listed allow focus to be fine tuned manually while still in AF mode. Can't do that with the Tokina. It's a difference, but since macro work is often best done in manual focus mode anyway, may be a non-issue for many users.

There are many other macro lenses.... as well as many excellent vintage ones that can be adapted and used easily. The ones listed above are some of the most popular and best known.

EDIT: Just to clarify... someone suggested a Nikkor 105mm, which is a very good macro too... but they were joking. The modern ones will not fit or work on a T2i. The vintage manual focus Nikkor 105mm can be adapted for use on Canon.... where it will be both manual focus and manual aperture control (can be used in Manual or in Av auto exposure mode.... but not any of the camera's other AE modes). While the Nikkor 105mm is an excellent macro lens with a rich history, it's one of the more expensive and not really any more capable than many of the other lenses mentioned above.

KWeyer

Thanks so much for the detailed reply!

John O.

Macro photography is totally different and requires lots of patience and time. I recommend that you invest in some diopters (magnifying lenses) that screw onto the front of your lens so that you can take macro shots. Here is a link to B and H with magnifying lens kits for as low as $9. These magnifying lenses can be stacked so that you can get varying degrees of closeness and magnification of your subject. Your results will be pretty good and then you can decide if you want to spend $400 to $1,000 for a separate macro lens. I have a Canon f/2.8 macro lens. However, I tell all of my photography students to try the magnifying lens kits first.

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

Here are two nice lenses that fits your camera. https://www.ebay.com/p/Canon-EF-28-105mm-f-3-5-4-5-II-EF-USM-Lens/101742930?iid=392358174502

A Youngnuo 100mm f/2 prime $170, came out in 2015, gold contacts, micro lens, 8 blades creatng astral effect. I like the first one better and leave it on my camera.

RowdyRay Loc: MN

I agree. Very affordable way to go and a wonderful lens. I lucked into the early version at a pawn shop. Like new in the box, with the hood. 150.00 out the door. Worked great on my T2i and even better on my 80D. Nice portrait lens too.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=tamron%2090mm&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=&usedSearch=1

The top one is the version I have. You might do better on Ebay.

The second one is newer with VC. Judging by Ebay prices, that's a smoking deal on a nice used one.