Some Macro Photography

[MrMag]

Psht digital photography! Back in my day we had to wait 2 minutes for a print to develop, 15 seconds to neutralize, another 2 to make them last forever and another 7 just to rinse. Man you guys make me feel old, I can't believe I am almost 19...

[Muzikman]

I too have done film and print developing, and damn is digital nice. No more headaches from chemicals

[Hexis]

I too have done film and print developing, and damn is digital nice. Not more headaches from chemicals

Raw files give similar latitude as film. High end cameras (will be normal in a few years) have better resolution than even the best film. Much better noise on high ISO sensor settings (1600 isn't all that bad on a CMOS sensor).

Digital r teh win.

Anyone know of a particularly sharp/good macro lens (for Canon EF)? The only problem I have with the 1Ds is that it requires the aboslute best glass, and even then it's still beyond the resolution of the glass.

For example, the 50 f1.4 is super sharp, and you can easily tell a difference between that and the 24-70mm f2.8. There is a huge big ugly massive difference. Cheap glass is far far worse than the L zooms. It's a pain.

[Muzikman]

The lens that was talked about above is probably the best Macro you can get. It's the Canon 100M 2.8 USM.

As for digital quality over film. The 1Ds Mark II has reached film quality, so with the right sensor 16MP seems to be about it. Now we just need to wait for the price to drop to a reasonable level.

[Hexis]

I don't think we will see the 1Ds drop, but I think we will end up seeing similar sensors in prosumer level cameras in the next few years. The 20D is pretty swanky overall. It just feels clunky compared to the 1Ds.

[Blennidae]

All the pictures I posted were taken with a 20D and the 100mm 2.8 macro Muzikman is talking about. Canon does make a 180mm macro that is an "L" lens, so it might be better. I don't know what are your criteria for "best" macro lens. I have seen some really nice shots done with reversed lenses. The guys seriously into macro stuff have a whole bag of unconventional tricks to get some incredible shots.

[Muzikman]

You will see the price of the 1ds Mark II come down just as the price of the 1D came down and the price of the 1Ds came down. It will not stay at $8k for ever. But to be honest, for the 35mm SLR folks, it looks like the Canon 16MP sensor is as good as you are going to need to get film quality prints.

I didn't know there was an L macro lens.

[Blennidae]

I didn't know there was an L macro lens.

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=155&modelid=7324

[Muzikman]

Hmm, I would have liked to have seen it be a f2.8, but I guess with the 180mm the control of DoF would still be great being even a f3.5.