coin size item photography lens recommendations

[jesbroken]

Hello,

I am new to the board and new to my camera. I have a Canon eos rebel T6 with an ef 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens and an efs-s 18-55mm zoom lens that came with the kit. My question is that before I spend the money for a macro lens, can I in the meantime take photos of coins size items. This camera may be over my head, but I bought it with the plans of tethering it to my pc and taking photos on a camera stand of small items, coins included. I am just beginning to learn the menu and selection process so I am truly a newbie. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jim 

[RobertTheFat]

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@wq9nsc wrote:

Jim,

Those are Moss roses, very attractive to bees and extremely easy to grow.

...

Rodger

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Is that one of the flowers that appear much gaudier to insects who can see ultraviolet light?

[jesbroken]

Just out of curiosity. Are the plants readily available in spring? I'm in Southern WV above 3000 ft. I will try them this spring if I can locate the plants. Not a horticulturist by any means. So probably won't try seeds. Again, gorgeous photos. 

Jim

[wq9nsc]

Bob,

I don't know whether insects are particularly attracted to this plant but the honey bees definitely liked them.  Back in 2005 when I took that photo, there was a huge population but parasites and pesticides have taken a toll and now you are more likely to see a bumble bee than a honey bee in the area.  I have 6 acres with a creek running through it and clover grows around it; back in those years every time I mowed the bees would land on me.

Jim, I don't really have a green thumb either but Moss rose are easy to grow from seeds or transplant and they are robust little plants that withstand all kinds of weather.

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

"Wow. Great photo's Rodger."

Ditto! 

[jesbroken]

Showing my ignorance I was not familiar at all with extension tube until you mentioned it. I read about them and after I receive my macro lens(china knockoff) I may delve further into them. 

Thanks to everyone for the great information and help.

Jim

[Waddizzle]

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@jesbroken wrote:

Showing my ignorance I was not familiar at all with extension tube until you mentioned it. I read about them and after I receive my macro lens(china knockoff) I may delve further into them. 

Thanks to everyone for the great information and help.

Jim

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A quick word about using extension tubes.  There is a trade-off to everything in life.  What you gain in being able to bring the lens closer to a subject, you will lose the ability to focus on objects at a distance.  You might not even be able to focus on the other side of the room!  But, who cares about that when your purpose is to focus on something right in front of the camera.

If you ordered a 3 tube set, you may have noticed that they come in diffferent sizes: i.e.: 12mm, 20mm, 35mm.  You can stack any two to create a single longer extension tube.  But, which size should you use with your current lens?  The general rule of thumb says not to use an extension tube that exceeds 25% to 33% of the focal length of the lens you using.

Why can't you use all of them at once, so you can get super close?  Because of the basic trade-off in the physics of how they work.  Normally, a lens focuses from some MFD, Minimum Focus Distance, out to infinity.  I am going to call that Focusing Range, FR.  

When you use an extension tube, the MFD decreases.  Meanwhile, the FR decreases, too.  This goes back to what I said earlier about no longer being able to focus on distant objects when you use an extension tube.  The longer the extension tube, the sharper the decreases in both MFD and FR.  

When you use too much extension, you can actually move the MFD so close that it is actually inside of the body of the lens.  When this happens, the FR will usually shrink to the point where it, too, is inside of the lens body.  This means that with too much extension, you will not be able to focus on anything!

I know you are on a tight budget, but the 18-55mm kit lens really has poor image quality compared to other Canon lenses.  Canon's least expensive lens is the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, which you can pick for around a hundred bucks.  It is great portrait lens on an APS-C sensor body camera like the T6.  It will also produce MUCH cleaner images than your kit lens when used with extension tubes.

Hope this helps!  

[jesbroken]

Truly great explanation, Waddizzle. Thank you, I get the useage strengths and weakness now of the tubes. I'll try out the macro lens when I get it and if no good(again a knockoff) I'll be better able to pursue my options. 

Thanks again. Great forum. So glad I stumbled across it. You guys are the best.

Jim

[jesbroken]

Yeah, I originally thought as much, so I bought a chinese knockoff just to try it out. I know thats not the way to go about it, but just didn't have near enough available funds. Thanks,
Jim

[ebiggs1]

"... I bought a chinese knockoff just to try it out."

Do you know the acronym GIGO?  It applies to photography, too.

"...just didn't have near enough available funds."

You just described and are in the largest section of the economy.  The problem is now you spent X dollars on a piece of junk and are going to later buy a better lens.  That is false economy.  There is a Chinese proverb, since we are on the subject, "Buy the best and cry once."

[jesbroken]

I do understand the proverb(if such). I once owned a Minolta and purchased a knockoff telephoto lens for $8 and took many, many photos of Nascar races and it worked fine. Upon quitting following Nascar due to health reasons, I finally gave the camera to a family member and he used it for years. For the sake of the conversation. I paid $21.99 less a $10 ebay credit, so I got $22 to lose vs NOT having $2-4 hundred to spend. Not a big gamble, my opinion. Plus, if it shouldn't perform I am guaranteed my money back and it was freight free. Trust me, I wanted better, but did as I could do. I will now, at least, know whether I can live with or without one.

Jim