Lens Recommendation for Flowers and Frogs

[allisonlamb]

What EOS R6 lens do you recommend for taking close-up pictures of flowers and frogs that sleep in the flowers? 

[rs-eos]

A macro lens would be your best bet here.  Perhaps look at the RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro.

I think it will also depend upon how close you're able to get to the subjects.   There are other macro lenses at higher focal lengths, but they would require an adapter.  e.g. EF 180mm f/3.5 macro.

[amfoto1 · Accepted solution]

The RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro is able to do quite high magnification.... 1.4:1 if I recall correctly. This is probably quite a bit more than you need for flowers and frogs! 1:1 is "life size". That that means that a subject can be the same size in real life that it is on your camera's sensor, which is 24x36mm (about 1" by 1.5"). The RF 100mm Macro can do even higher magnification than that. 1.4X life size!

Some other possibilities are the RF 85mm f/2 Macro and RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro. These are both "half life size" or 1:2 lenses. This is probably sufficient magnification for most flowers and frogs!

I would guess that frogs might be a little camera shy.... so longer focal length such as 85mm or 100mm might be best, giving you more working distance from the subject. The very closest the 85mm lens can focus is about 14"... but approc. 4" of that is occupied by the lens and part of the camera body... so it will be about 10" from the front of the lens to the subject it's focused upon. This is at the lens' highest possible magnification of 1:2.

You didn't indicate what lenses you already have, but it may be possible to use them for flowers and frogs. Macro extension tubes are available that make lenses able to focus closer, rendering higher magnification.

If you got a "kit" lens with your camera, that would be one of the RF 24-105mm. The f/4L version is able to about 1:4 magnification.... while  the STM version is actually able to do 1:2. You could use extension tubes with either lens, to make it able to focus closer and render higher magnification. In fact, before you buy a specialty lens, you might use your kit lens with extension tubes to see what focal length works and if you need more magnification than can be achieved with the lens alone or lens + extension tube.

For example, here are the RF mount extension tubes offered at B&H Photo.

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Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2), EOS M5, some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
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[FloridaDrafter]

Hello, Allison!

I agree 100% with the others. I have the R5 and R6 and use the RF 100mm f/2.8L macro for flowers and insects, both hand held and tripod. The 1.4:1 magnification will allow you to step back a little so not to spook little critters and still get 1:1 or near macro. It's also a capable general purpose lens and I've found it to be very sharp.

Newton