Best D-SLR for Macro/Wildlife

[MCTheDog]

I'm a relative newbie to Macro/Wildlife work.....Currently have a FujiFilm Finepix s7000 but want to venture into true D-SLR....... budget around for cam around £500 to £750, max £1000. Looking at anything Canon with a Digic IV processor in it initially....... any other cam suggestions to improve my Macro/Wildlife?

[woogiekids]

I got a relatively inexpensive macro lens (Tamron 90mm ~$450). I use it with my Canon 50D. I adore it. I just posted a macro thread if you want to see the results.

You may want to look into extension tubes as well. I just ordered a set, and they are extremely cheap on the Ebay. Well, I suppose I shouldn't recommend them until they come and I know they work!

[flake]

The only lens I think is worth considering at the moment is the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro, this isn't because the other lenses -Sigma / Tamron are poor, but because they are just not cheap enough to make them worth considering. The Sigma 105mm is £320, the Tamron 90mm £335, the Canon 100mm £414.

OK so that's a premium of nearly £80 so what do you get that's better, well the Canon is the only internally focussed lens and that means that it will find the focus point in about half the time the others will. The Canon is a very quick lens in an area where it really does matter because Macro lenses have such a huge focus range.

The other reason is using a Macro flash is really not practical with the other lenses. Yes I know they tell you that you can, but I've tried this, and when you're over the subject hearing the focus motor strain to pull the lens back in with the flash attached is horrid. It's actually stalled a few times and I've had to help it with my finger, I sold the Sigma I had for the Canon & I've had no problems since.

The other reason for choosing the Canon is that it will hold its value far better than the third party manufacturers, providing you keep the box, and everything that comes with the lens, and keep it in good order you will get back more or less what you paid for it on Ebay, the other lenses will lose a large proportion of their original cost.

So now you have to choose a body to go with it, and having blown £414 it doesn't leave a huge amount, you could consider the 450D which is £406 but then if you're not too bothered about second user there will be a whole range open to you including the 50D which has sold recently for around £600.

Personally I wouldn't recommend extension tubes with this lens, you need 100mm of extension to bring the magnification to 2:1 50mm of extension gives 1.5:1 you need to get an awful lot closer depth of field drops and you really do need a flash to get a decent image.

[chris-p]

I'd think the 450D is the best way to go. Although it doesn't have the Digic IV processor it's very good all round.

Why does it have to have a Digic IV?

[flake]

Much faster image processing when compared to previous processors
Improved noise reduction in high-ISO images
Improved performance while handling larger 14-bit RAW images
Live Face Detection AF during Live View
H.264 1080p encoding.[6]

According to Wikipedia

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by flake

Much faster image processing when compared to previous processors
Improved noise reduction in high-ISO images
Improved performance while handling larger 14-bit RAW images
Live Face Detection AF during Live View
H.264 1080p encoding.[6]

According to Wikipedia

Yeah... I know the differences between 3 and 4 but why does the OPs camera have to have a Digic IV processor?

[MCTheDog]

Faster chip and improved noise reduction at high ISO basically Chris....... think the 450D has a Digic II in it..... I;m basically torn between a 50D, 500D or just bite the bullet and get an (older, Mark I) 5D and get good glass......... decisions decisions....... trouble is that I cant use my lower left arm (paralysed) so external flash is a pain so still working on a solution...... need a few extra bob for the 5D though!!!

[flake]

The 5Ds FF sensor isn't as good for macro though, as 1:1 stays the same magnification so less of the frame is filled. To fill the frame you need to increase the magnification to that of the crop frame camera hence an apparant gain in magnification.
Add the pixel density into the equation and the crop frame camera wins again.

[ImageArcade]

I agree with Flake as regards the lens choice. I needed to decide on a Macro lens a while back and chose the Canon 100mm. The Canon lens is £80 better than the alternatives (in my view), that's not always the case with other lenses though. For macro I would probably go for the 50D out of the options you've listed.

Cheers,
Steve

ImageArcade - Photography By Steve Ayres