Any ideas 2?

[Em Scott]

I want to deal with macro photography. I have a EOS REBEL T2i and would like a help on how to start looking for a macro lens. I thought to this http://www.macroringflash.com/canon-mr-14ex-ii/ but I'm not sure if it's the right decision. Thoughts?

[James G]

Em,
I'm not sure if you are asking about lens or flash.

There are a number of excellent macro related tutorials on this site which I would refer you to. (Look for the Photography Tutorials tab at the top of this page.)
There are also a lot of posts about macro on the forum which can be searched for using keywords 'macro' and 'macro lens' etc.

It would also help if you could provide more information on what you want to photograph, and what lens(es) you have at present or are considering buying.

The ring flash you are considering appears to have some 'high end' functions, but the reviewer found it difficult to work with. That said the price (Amazon uk) is pretty low. My own feeling is that it is very much a 'budget' item and may not be up to the more challenging conditions that might be met in the field.

I think my initial advice would be to sort out a camera lens combination first and once you know what type of macro you intend to shoot, then consider flash requirements. (You can get a lot of experience to start with, without using flash... )

[DanK]

Read before you buy. In addition to the tutorial on this site, check out the tutorials here

As James suggested, the first question is what you want to photograph. That will determine the best lens and the appropriate lighting. For example, almost none of the macro photographers I know use a ring flash. It's very good if you need very even, flat lighting, for example, for scientific photos, but many people find the flat lighting unappealing. I've been doing more macro than anything else for 6 or 7 years, and I have never used one.

To show you how much it matters what you photograph, here is a fairly typical rig for my bug macros:



And here is what I most often use for flowers:



So, check out some of the tutorials, then post some more information about what you want to photograph and some questions that the tutorials don't answer for you.

[James G]

Em, I'm confused.... when I first opened your post and responded it quoted a Nikon D7000 and your link was to a Meike Led Macro Ring Flash FC100, but the post now refers to a Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the link to the Canon MR-14EX ringflash.

????

[Donald]

Em, I'm confused.... when I first opened your post and responded it quoted a Nikon D7000 and your link was to a Meike Led Macro Ring Flash FC100, but the post now refers to a Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the link to the Canon MR-14EX ringflash.

????

I was concerned when I saw a thread in this section of the forum with exactly the same title as another thread. Some people might think that's an attempt to deliberately confuse and direct people towards the 'new' thread. The above information has added to that concern. The original poster is welcome to contact me to explain the circumstances.