Macro lens?

[Appaloosa1224]

What is the best thing to buy to get get macro shots with a canon rebel xt? Do you need to buy the actual lens or will one of the lens that screw onto the regular lens work?
if that kind of thing would work it would be much cheaper. any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[TIMMYE]

So are you shooting with the sotck package lens? If so I would plan on upgrading to better lens. As far screw on lens are you talking about a 2x teleconverter? If my understanding is correct these will magnifiy the lens distance by 2. so 50 would be a 100mm. If you want good macro shots then I would look at a decent macro lens, or all purpose lens that can do macro. It just depends on your budget. How much are you looking to spend? Anyone please correct me if I am worng on teleconverter. HTH

 

[Appaloosa1224]

i don't want to spend too much. thats why i was considering trying one of these first since i can buy it and get it shipped for under $15. the lens isn't a canon, its a sigma, but essentially the same as the stock lens. i had posted a picture, but i wasn't sure f i could do that since it came from another site. if i can i will though. they called it so many different things i wasn't sure what was correct.

 

[gregr]

Actually the 2x teleconverter (aka converter or extender or doubler) isn't a screw on attachment-- the screw on attachments are filters... aka diopters or close-up filters. The least expensive ones come in sets and can definitely help you get more magnification. Then there's two element close-up filters like the Canon 250 and 500D (Nikon's equivalent is the T series filters). They are more expensive than the sets but are higher optical quality. Some companies make 10x close-up filters-- a lot of bang for the buck but of limited use. Like Timmye said, the very best thing would be to get a real macro lens, preferably the Canon 100mm ($460 last time I looked). Sigma and Tamron make excellent alternatives too- worth looking at. I hear the Tamron is a tiny bit better optically but the Canon is the only one that focuses internally (the lens barrel stays the same length as you focus closer-- on the other lenses the barrel extends outward, making the lens longer and more cumbersome). The Canon also has a usm focusing motor so it will have much faster autofocus. Oh yeah- Canon makes a much less expensive 50mm macro lens and a 60mm efs macro lens that would be excellent for your camera.