Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 25460651, member: 27832"]No, dedicated macro lenses are categorized by magnification -- the ratio of an object's size (at minimum focus distance) to the size of its image on the camera sensor. (Of course, you can then project that image onto the side of the Grand Canyon if you want.) Traditionally, a "macro" lens was one that produced at least a 1:1 magnification. Canon used to make one that would go up to 5:1, but they discontinued it last year. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> With that one, a full-frame camera image at top magnification would cover a object a little more than a quarter-inch wide, and a bit less than a fifth of an inch high. With a 1:1 true-macro lens, a quarter would not quite fit vertically into the camera view at its closest focus. Of course, you can shoot larger coins by just backing further away. There are also extension tubes you can use with an interchangeable-lens camera to get closer focus. You put one or more tubes between the lens and the camera body to hold the lens further from the camera, and that lets you get closer to the subject. But it also darkens the image, and usually trashes auto-focus. If you want to get closer than 1:1 for coin photography, you're probably just focusing on small marks or features, and you're likely better off with a microscope.[/QUOTE]