ronjay wrote:
Canon f/2.8 L 100mm fist in class for macro also great portrait lens.
Yes, it's a nice lens. But you won't find the 100L IS for $500 or less. New it sells for $950. Used a bit less, but still often around $800.
Laurie, if this is your first/only macro lens, for general purpose macro shooting use I'd recommend something in the 60mm to 105mm focal length range. Shorter than that puts you too close to many subjects... Longer than that can be nice shooting really shy subjects or things that bite or sting, but becomes pretty difficult to hand-hold steady for a sharp shot.
Even 60mm leaves you pretty close, but it makes for a more compact lens. Assuming you are using a crop sensor camera, the Canon EF-S 60/2.8 USM Macro is a very nice lens. Personally I use the Tamron SP 60/2.0 Macro. It's one of the few macro lenses with f2 aperture, that makes it quite good for portraits, too. The Canon has USM focus, which is a lot faster than the micro motor in the Tamron. Still, the Tammy is fine for macro and portraits... it just would never be useful for sports or any sort of action shooting. Both these 60mm are "crop only" lenses. They cannot be used on a full frame camera. The Canon sells for a little under $500 new, and the Tamron right at $500 (Tamron comes with a lens hood. That's sold separately for the Canon and probably costs around $25, though there are cheaper third party versions that probably would work just as well). I bought the Tamron during a sale when they were offering a $100 rebate, so ended up only paying $400 for it.
Sigma makes a 70/2.8 macro lens. I don't know very much about it, but I believe it will work on both crop and full frame cameras. I don't think it's an HSM lens, so wouldn't expect it to be very fast focusing.
Tamron offers two 90/2.8 SP Macro lenses. One has been around a few years and might be within your budget. The other is a newer model, more expensive, I think around $750, and has faster USD focus drive and VC stabilization.
Actually Tamron has been making excellent 90mm macro lenses since the 1980s. I have a vintage one that takes interchangeable mounts to fit most any camera, and sometimes use it on my Canons. I bought the lens used for $20 (with hood, caps and a converter, all in top condition), then paid another $40 to get a mount for Canon from China.
Tokina also makes excellent lenses and offers a 100/2.8 Macro that's likely close to your budget. I haven't used their modern macro lenses, but they have a long history of high quality.
Canon offers two 100mm macro lenses... The more expensive L-series with IS that's pricier than you want to spend.... And older, but just as capable 100/2.8 USM that you can probably find pretty close to your price range new, well within it if you consider used.
The Canon 100mm lenses have all the most desirable features on a macro lens. One of my favorites is that they both can optionally be fitted with a tripod mounting ring (sold separately and around $140-160 for the Canon, around $50 for decent quality third party rings). They also both use reasonably fast, accurate USM focus drive (even with that, macro lenses are not as fast focusing because they are designed more for high precision focus, instead of speed).
Both the Canon 100mm also are IF or Internal Focusing. This means they don't increase in length when focused closer. Many macro lenses do, and they extend a lot, significantly cutting into working distance between the front of the lens and the subject at the highest magnifications. The down side to an IF lens is that it's bigger to start with... compared to other 100mm macro lenses, both the Canons seem rather large. (By the way, both the 60mm lenses mentioned above are IF, too.)
Both also have a focus limiter, which allows the lens to focus faster in some situations. The 100L has a three range limiter, while the older 100/2.8 USM has a two range limiter. And their build quality is quite high. You might expect that with the L-series... But the non-L is just as well made, in fact it's identical in build and materials to the Canon 180/3.5L Macro of about the same age. I use the non-L myself... it's probably my single most used macro lens, in fact. Because it's not an L-series, the 100/2.8 USM doesn't come with a lens hood... Canon's is kinda large and pricey. You can find cheaper third party hoods, or just a generic 58mm screw in hood might do. The 100L comes with a hood.
Sigma has offered several 105mm macro lenses over the years, that are quite good. The current model has OS (stabilization) and you are unlikely to find one in your price range. However, if you consider used, you may find the older version without OS at an affordable price. Both have HSM focus drive, which is fairly equivalent to Canon's USM.
Regarding image stabilization (IS on Canon, VC on Tamron and OS on Sigma)... it really is of limited value for macro shooting. The Canon uses a Hybrid-IS system that is probably the best, but also probably is only good for about one stops worth of assistance at closest magnification. The other lenses likely will be almost no assistance at 1:1 mag. Stabilization on these lenses probably is most useful when using them for non-macro purposes, at greater distances and lower magnification, they might give 2, 3 or even 4 stops worth of assistance. All the stabilized lenses are newer models and likely cost more than you want to spend... Just know that for macro purposes, you really aren't missing out on much getting a less expensive lens that doesn't have stabilization.
Most macro lenses on the market are very capable of making excellent images. It's other features where they differ and we have to make choices. Again, I'd call the Canon EF 100/2.8 USM one of the most full featured. If I could only keep one of my macro lenses, that would probably be it.
All the above lenses are capable of full 1:1 magnification.
Note: The Canon EF 50/2.5 Compact Macro you mentioned can only do 1:2 mag on it's own... There's a separately sold adapter for it, to increase magnification to 1:1. By the time you buy both, the total cost is higher than the EF-S 60/2.8 USM or EF 100/2.8 USM. And the 50/2.5 also is not a USM lens... it uses a slower micro motor focus drive.)
Hope this helps with your shopping!