What macro lens is best for food photography?

by Zurina
(Malaysia)

I have a Canon EOS 450. I also have a food blog that I started about 1 year ago. My photos are not bad and at the moment I am using a zoom lens (18 - 55 mm) that came with the camera. I would like to purchase a macro lens to take clearer, more detailed and better close up food photos. What would you recommend please? Also, what is the maximum distance that I can use a macro lens to photograph and does the focal length (eg: 100 mm or 50mm) have anything to do with that?

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What macro lens is best for food photography?

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Aug 13, 2009

60mm or 100mm Macro
by: Digital SLR Guide

The focal length of the lens does impact the distance between camera and subject - macro lenses with longer focal lengths let you place the camera farther away from the subject while still capturing a close-up view.

This is often called "working distance" and many people prefer to have more working distance when using a macro lens, especially when working with skittish subjects like insects.

Canon makes two main macro lenses: a 60mm and a 100mm. The closest focusing distance of the 60mm lens is 0.65 ft (198mm) while the closest focusing distance of the 100mm lens is 1 ft (305mm).

Since most macro lenses have very high image quality, really the only thing that you need to decide is what working distance you'd like since this will help determine the focal length of the lens you should get.

You can see more Canon macro lenses (included those made by third party manufacturers) here.

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