LARGER THAN LIFE

Fit a macro lens to your Canon camera and you’ll see the world in almost microscopic detail. Here are the best options…

Most macro prime lenses have a magnification ratio of 1.0x or 1:1, but what does that mean? In a nutshell (or something of a similarly small size), when you move in close using the lens’s shortest available focus distance, objects are reproduced on the camera’s image sensor at full life-size. Something measuring just 36x24mm would completely fill the image sensor of a full-frame, and it’s just around 22x15mm if you’re shooting with an APS-C.

Bear in mind how much larger an image is when you view it on screen or in print, compared with the size of the camera’s sensor, and the scope for enlargement is incredible. Tiny garden bugs can look like giant, otherworldly creatures and you can see levels of fine detail that are invisible to the naked eye.

Macro shooting demands great precision. Depth of field (the distance between the nearest and furthest part of a scene to be rendered sharply) can be wafer-thin, even when using medium to narrow apertures. Accurate focusing is, therefore, critical. Another problem is that the slightest movement caused by camera-shake, mirrorbounce, or shutter-shock, can decrease the sharpness of an image. For extreme close-ups, a tripod or other sturdy support is crucial. Using a flashgun can also help freeze any movement thanks to the short duration of the pulse of light. Naturally, the quality of the lens is also important, so let’s take a look at what the leading contenders have to offer.