easy to use canon lens?

[CAbb]

Aside from being pretty new to the saltwater hobby I'm pretty new to slr photography too and I have a really cheap lens that came with the camera. I have a canon rebel xt that I would like to find a user friendly lens that I can take photos of my aquarium with and that won't completely bankrupt me.

 

[ssbreef]

user friendly lens? They all pretty much work the same way… canon’s 60mm macro is a great lens and the 100mm is even better.

 

[Turbovinny]

get kinko tubes and make all ur lens "macro" lens

 

[CAbb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11183060#post11183060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Turbovinny
get kinko tubes and make all ur lens "macro" lens

This probably sounds like a silly question, but how do you do that? I'm not familiar with kinko tubes? Are they just attachments for lenses?

 

["Umm fish?"]

Extension tubes are basically just empty aluminum tubes that move your lens a little farther away from your sensor. The farther away it gets, the more magnification you get. If you buy the expensive ones, they will pass the electronic information from your lens to the camera and vice versa so you can still use autofocus (and whatnot). They are a cheap alternative to a macro lens, but are nowhere as good as having a real macro lens.

 

[Phyl]

A "real" macro lens" allows you to have a sharp image all the way to the corners where most "normal" lenses tend to get a little soft at the edges. Extension tubes are a fun addition to the kit though.

 

[TitusvileSurfer]

Get the 100 macro and you won't regret it. It is perfect simply as a regular lens as well. The image quality is virtually unsurpassed, imho. Your Xt probably won't be around in 10 years but with care your 100 macro will maintain its youth in 50!

 

[Stixbaraca]

I think the extensions tubes usually slow the lens down by an f stop also

 

[Hop]

Actually if you play with the stock lens you can get some pretty decent shots. It's a matter of playing with it. I just picked up a 100mm macro and love it! I'm still learning, but it sure makes the learning more fun

 

["Umm fish?"]

I always had a hard time getting a good focus with the stock lens. My wife, however, gets some beautiful shots with it (go figure). I do love the 100mm macro. If you use it for portraits or whatnot, you have to be a little further away from your model. But, it's the lens I use 90% of the time.

 

[swjim]

I would also recommend the 100mm macro. Regarding the subject title of "easy to use", just keep in mind that most of the time you will want to manually focus in order to get the shot you want when taking macros and you'll want a good tripod if you don't already have one. Good luck!

 

[CAbb]

thank you everyone for all the comments. I'll look into the 100mm macro a bit more I think.