Cheap camera lenses?

[najanaja]

Nikon's VR and Canon's IS systems are both the same. Both vibration reduction. All the literature I've read states that any vibration reduction is useless at 1:1 ratios. It's actually a fairly commonly asked question too.

Here's what Thom Hogan says about the vibration reduction on the Nikon 105mm

"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The closer you focus, the less VR has an impact on the final image. At 1:1 (the closest focus distance), it may not impart any benefit (it didn't seem to in the testing conditions I could create). So do you turn VR off when working in macro? If you're pressed up towards the limits of focus, I'd say yes--you're wasting battery life and potentially making it more difficult to hit a focus point. But if you're focused out beyond two or three feet (~.7m+), it probably makes sense to leave it on, as you'll get some benefit "[/FONT]

This is probably because any movement that you make when focused at 1:1 ratio (closest focus distance of this lens), every movement you make is exaggerated...because of the tiny subject you're dealing with.

i second most this..

i use the Nikon VR series on my D90 and love it...
i find the VR on is great at night when im zooming in, especially if there are alot of still lights in the shot...

im only reletively new to all of this but i went camping with a mate on the weekend and he had the Canon IS and i found all of it nearly exact in use and image..
He was suprised how similler my Nikon set up was to his Canon

 

[W.T.BUY]

I know you've got your heart set on the Canon 100mm, but it's definitely worth looking at other alternatives. The Tamron 90 seems popular here...and for good reason. I also recommend that you have some sot of flash when you're doing macro too (the pop up one on your camera becomes pretty useless for macro as the lens barrel obscures the light from the flash).

The Tamron 90mm teamed with extension tubes is a killer setup too....although takes a steady hand and a lot of patience to learn.

This is my rig.

Sorry if its a sill question but what purpose does the extension tube serve?

 

[Klaery]

Extension tubes increase the distance between your lens and sensor allowing you to focus closer to your subject and increasing the image size on your sensor. I have never used them and this is to the best of my knowledge thinking about the physics behind it but I am sure if I have missed something one of the more experienced shooters will correct me.

 

[Bradchip]

Spot on the money Daniel.

Extension tubes basically fit between your lens and the camera. I recommend the Kenko tubes, because you can still autofocus, and adjust aperture etc. from the camera itself, rather than on the actual lens, which is important especially if your lens doesn't have an aperture ring...

The kenko tubes teamed up with a 50mm lens (that both Canon and Nikon make exceptionally cheaply) works pretty well.

When I team the tubes up with my Tamron macro...it increases the magnification that I can shoot at.

Just to give you an idea...this was taken with my macro lens and the tubes attached. Fly was pretty small, maybe 5mm or 6mm long. Image is uncropped.

 

[AUSGECKO]

I think I have settled on the Canon 100mm macro without the image stabilisation, I can pick one up for half the price of one with IS and the same price as a tamron 90mm. And then I can get the canon 580ex II flash aswell.
Then I will have to do a trip to bunnings and get some materials to make an off camera mount for the flash similar to what Brad and Michael use.

 

[AUSGECKO]

After ordering a 580EX II flash unit I found on eBay a canon 100mm F2.8 macro and 580EX II flash and was able to score the two for $700 so now I have two 580EX flashes to play with.
Today I purchased some aluminum tubing and made a mount for the flash unit similar to what brad has done, thanks for the inspiration brad

 

[Grogshla]

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