Cannon camera lens question

lunytune2 · February 26, 2015 9:13AM

Let me start out by saying all I know about cameras are which direction to point it. My wife has a cannon t3i camera . She told me to take coin pictures she needed to buy a macro lens (whatever that is). Well tonight I was browsing at a pawn shop and saw a cannon macro lens, an efs 55-250mm . Is this any good for coin pictures ? I did buy it hoping I did at least decent . Advice from the experts please ?

bsshog40 · February 26, 2015 9:24AM

I have a canon T4i. I'm able to take pretty good pictures with the 18-55 that comes with it. It's better to use a copy stand with it so I can get a little ways from it and zoom in. If I ever get a macro for it, I think a 100mm macro lens will work much better than a 55-250. Here's an example of my indian I took using the stock 18-55mm.

BryceM · February 26, 2015 9:25AM

I'm not a lens expert (I have one or two that work for me), but the EFS 55-250 is, I think, a telephoto lens (a long-range zoom lens.)

If taking coin photos is the goal, I'd recommend you buy the book before you buy the coin...... oh wait...... camera setup.

"Numismatic Photography" by our own Mark Goodman is easy to find on Amazon, quite inexpensive, and wonderfully detailed.

drwstr123 · February 26, 2015 9:28AM

No. Look for a 'prime' or 'dedicated' macro.
It just says, 'macro'.

Unknown · February 26, 2015 9:48AM

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JeffMTampa · February 26, 2015 10:28AM

<< That's not a true macro. If you want an affordable dedicated macro, the going rate on my old one is about $180. It's a Tamron 272E 90mm macro. Solid lens, but you need to shoot pretty close with it. I didn't realize how close to the coin I was until I got my new one today, a Sigma 150mm... I'm shooting 6-7 inches higher off the coin, giving me a lot more options as far as how/where to light the coins while keeping glare to a minimum. Pretty awesome lens thus far. >>

Is the Sigma an EF Lens? Did you get a straight 150 or a 150- 500? I'm currently shooting with a Canon 40D body and a 90 Macro lens. It works well until I get to small coins or close ups.

Unknown · February 26, 2015 10:32AM

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Swampboy · February 26, 2015 10:36AM

My daughter has the T3i and it's rather similar to my T2i.

I use a Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro on my T2i and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Unknown · February 26, 2015 10:39AM

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Swampboy · February 26, 2015 10:45AM

<< I recently went from the T2i to the T3i and I can tell you it's a world of difference. The T3i just blows the T2i out of the water, the sensor is worlds better. Just my opinion. >>

Good information.

ctf_error_coins · February 26, 2015 10:51AM

I own three Canon macro lenses.

The 100mm works best for single coin shots.

lunytune2 · February 26, 2015 11:24AM

How can they get away putting macro on a telephoto lens !!

AlanLastufka · February 26, 2015 11:34AM

I use the Canon Macro EF-S 60mm USM and took this earlier today:

It's a great lens for shooting coins but it's a little pricey at about $450.

Unknown · February 26, 2015 11:37AM

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AlanLastufka · February 26, 2015 11:41AM

<< 60mm? How far off the coin are you shooting? 8 inches or something? >>

Yup, pretty much exactly 8 inches. Allows me to get the lights almost directly above the coin, which really helps in capturing a good shot.

Unknown · February 26, 2015 11:47AM

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mgoodm3 · February 26, 2015 1:11PM

there are quite a few zoom lenses that are called "macro". There is only one that is a real macro lens - the Nikon 70-180 micro-Nikkor. The rest are really zoom lenses that focus a little closer than normal. They will work for coin pictures, but they are not as good as a dedicated macro lens. I would stick with 100 mm or more - 3rd party brands are fine and quite a bit cheaper.

Christos · February 26, 2015 1:40PM

For now you could use the lens you just bought and use an extension tube to change the focal distance of the zoom lens or use a +4 diopter both are less than %30.00 new and less for used on Ebay. If you get the extension tube (macro tube) make sure to get the tubes set for auto focus lenses so you still have control over the auto focus and aperture.

rmpsrpms · February 26, 2015 2:35PM

<< How can they get away putting macro on a telephoto lens !!

>>

The word "macro" has been used by clever marketers for decades, especially in the manual focus era. It used to be that if a lens could make it to 1:4, they'd slap "macro" on it. "True" macro lenses were mostly capable of 1:2. When autofocus lenses were being developed, lens designers discovered that by making the lens shorten its focal length at the same time as adding extension, getting to 1:1 was fairly easy, and nowadays "True" macro means 1:1. But the tradeoff is that your "90mm" macro lens is not 90mm at full magnification, but more like 60mm, and working distance to the coin is very short. This is why it is good for coin photography to use a fairly long lens, like 150mm or even 180mm, since by the time it shortens focal length at max magnification the lens is still 100mm or 120mm, long enough to have room for optimum lighting.

rmpsrpms · February 26, 2015 11:43PM

<< I recently went from the T2i to the T3i and I can tell you it's a world of difference. The T3i just blows the T2i out of the water, the sensor is worlds better. Just my opinion. >>

Can you post some comparison shots?

The T2i, T3i, T4i, and T5i all have the same (Sony) sensor, but they have different processing engines. The differences you're seeing may be improvements in the processing engine.

That said, are you sure you are making an apples-apples comparison? Most folks don't know it, but there is a lot of in-camera processing that goes on behind the scenes. The user has control over much of this in the "picture style" choices. Within each picture style there are selections for adjusting sharpness, contrast, color saturation, and hue. In order to be sure you are making a good comparison, you need to have the two cameras set to the same style and settings in the style. Even a small change can make a big difference.

So when folks say that an image is "right out of the camera, no processing" they may not understand that the camera is actually "photoshopping" their images!

Ray

Swampboy · February 27, 2015 12:02AM

rmpsrpms your comment about the " processing engine" reminds me of a something I heard watching a special on photographer Rowland Scherman last night.
Talking about all the 'numbers' on the lens folks used to have to deal with he held up his point and shoot and said now we have cameras with Ansel Adams brain inside.

Unknown · February 27, 2015 12:25AM

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rmpsrpms · February 27, 2015 1:00AM

<< 

I didn't change the settings on my camera or the lighting, I used the same settings and lighting, and it came out crisper and clearer. I'll find some comparison shots later.

Thanks for the correction RE sensor vs processing engine. >>

Are you sure? The out of box settings for the camera are fairly aggressive:

Standard Picture Style, which has pretty high native saturation and contrast
Settings are 3,0,0,0 for sharpening, contrast, saturation, and hue. The sharpening of 3 is fairly strong.

So if you didn't change any settings, you're doing a fair amount of processing on your images "right out of camera".

Unknown · February 27, 2015 1:04AM

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Davideo · February 27, 2015 3:38AM

IQ on the T2i and T3i should be pretty equivalent. The sensor is the same and most comparisons of images reveal nothing more than very minor differences likely related to in-camera processing. The focus system did change slightly, but for macro work it is unlikely that AF is being used.

rmpsrpms · February 27, 2015 4:37AM

<< I run in full custom mode. >>

Do you mean Manual? Or are you writing your own processing algorithms using the Canon pdk? Or something in between? What Picture Style do you use?

Unknown · February 27, 2015 4:47AM

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rmpsrpms · February 27, 2015 10:13PM

<< 
Yeah, manual, sorry. I control the iso, focus and exposure of all my shots, and adjust as needed. I shoot on custom style, I think the adjustments are 1, 1, 0, 0 but I don't remember offhand. >>

Was the custom style a download, or did you create your own? This is very important because the style you choose, and the custom settings within the style, have a huge impact on the image and would strongly affect any comparisons between cameras.

Getting back to the OPs question...

What size coins do you shoot lunytune2? The best lens for you depends on the size of coins and type of pictures you plan to take. If you shoot mostly Dollars or full slab shots, then you can get by with a shorter lens since you don't need high magnification. You might even get by with the 18-55 that you have now, as bsshog40 showed (and with a $2.50 even!). If you mostly do small coins like Cents or Dimes, then you need a lens capable of higher magnification for best results. If you want to shoot any details on your coins, then you need even higher magnification! So what do you plan to shoot?

lunytune2 · February 27, 2015 10:35PM

I collect $2.50 - $20 gold ... Mostly better date $2.50 and $5

rmpsrpms · February 27, 2015 11:38PM

<< I collect $2.50 - $20 gold ... Mostly better date $2.50 and $5 >>

Your $2.50 are 18mm in diameter, while $20 are 34mm. Your camera sensor is ~15mm so your magnification range to fill the sensor is 15/18 to 15/34, or 0.44x up to 0.83x. In practice it's good to leave a little space around the coin, so maybe 0.4x up to 0.8x. This is a range with many options, though some limitations. Here are your choices:

1) Use your 18-55 at 55mm and closest focus. You will get magnification of 0.34x. This is almost there for your $20. You'll need to crop a bit. For your $2.50's you'll need to crop some more, but as bsshog40 shows the result is pretty good. Advantage is you just set the system up and forget it, since you are limited to the very highest magnification the lens can deliver for all coins. You will need to do more post processing (cropping, etc) than if you framed each shot the same for all coin sizes. Note that your 55-250 has maximum magnification of 0.29x, so you can do the same thing with it and have more working distance but probably not as good quality.

2) Buy an autofocus macro lens. A Canon 100mm will cost you perhaps $600-$1000 depending on model. They are available on eBay used for cheaper. They will take you to 1:1 so you can fill the sensor with even the $2.50. Quality is excellent and you will have enough working distance to make your lighting optimum.

3) Buy a manual focus macro lens. You can use Nikon manual focus lenses on your Canon camera with a cheap adapter (like this one) . A Nikon 105mm Micro-Nikkor (like this one) will give you up to 0.5x magnification so you are much closer to filling the sensor even with the $2.50. Quality is very good, though not quite as good as the Canon 100mm, but for <$200 is a bargain. You need to focus it manually, which arguably is best for coins anyway. If you mostly shoot $2.50 and $5 (or even $10) then you can add the PN-11 extension tube (like this one) and it will allow you to go all the way to 1:1, but while the extension is mounted it can't go less than 0.5x, so you would need to remove it to do $20.

4) Buy a bellows and enlarging or duplicating lens. This path gives you the optimum for both cost, flexibility, and image quality, and allows the widest range of magnifications. But since you are new to photography this is probably not a good way to start!

mercurydimeguy · February 28, 2015 12:02AM

I use Sigma 150mm. Got it nearly new for $350 off Craig's list. They can be had for sub $500.

You get a lot of working distance so it's a good lena to consider.

As important is your lighting. Maybe more ...

rmpsrpms · February 28, 2015 12:19AM

<< I use Sigma 150mm. Got it nearly new for $350 off Craig's list. They can be had for sub $500.

You get a lot of working distance so it's a good lena to consider.

As important is your lighting. Maybe more ... >>

Lighting is unquestionably more important, but the extra working distance gives more lighting flexibility and choices.

Unknown · February 28, 2015 1:52AM

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rmpsrpms · February 28, 2015 2:46AM

<< 

<< Was the custom style a download, or did you create your own? This is very important because the style you choose, and the custom settings within the style, have a huge impact on the image and would strongly affect any comparisons between cameras. >>

I copied the settings from the T2i to the T3i. So the shots will have the same settings. >>

In that case I am even more interested in seeing comparison shots. I have not upgraded from my T2i because all reviews have said that the image quality is the same. If there is something missing in the reviews then I may want to look into an upgrade, though if the T3i is better than T2i, maybe upgrading to T4i or T5i would give even better quality? Again, reviews say not much difference except the features...

JeffMTampa · March 12, 2015 4:06AM

Any update on getting the comparison images? I'm curious to see as well.

I just pulled the trigger on a Sigma 150 2.8; we'll see what it can do. I'm going to use it with a Canon 50D body. I've been using a 40D body with a Tamron 90- it's great for slabs, but not great for anything smaller than a half dollar.

Cannon camera lens question

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