Macro Photography for Beginners: Use a real Macro lens.

Now we are talking big dollars but also you will get absolutely first class results. Third party manufacturers make macro lenses that are extremely good so you can get great results without breaking the bank by buying Sigma / Tamron / Tokina / Cosina / Vivitar / etc. By strict definition these lenses should be called close-up lenses as they won`t provide greater than 1:1 unless extenders or bellows are used.
Macro lenses should provide a smooth focus extending from infinity to life size image 1:1 ratio. Some lenses will go from infinity to 1:2 (half life size) and to get all the way to 1:1 you have to attach the appropriate adapter lens on the front or employ an extension tube. Read and understand what the arrangement is with the lens you intend to buy. Get it demonstrated properly and get a feel of how it works on your camera. Forget auto focus, it is more bother than it`s worth for macro, but you may have to buy the AF model to get all the latest lens features. If you intend to use the lens as a general lens then auto focus is appropriate to have. By the way, macro just means that it will focus down to very close-up and doesn`t mean it can`t be used for portraits or scenery etc.

If you only intend to use the lens for copying flat work like old photos, slides and stamp collections or cataloguing dead insects then a short focal length like 50mm or 60mm is appropriate. If shooting nervous live insects then the working distance needs to be greater so a lens around 100mm to 200mm would be better. The most popular macro lenses seem to be 90mm to 105mm as it can double as a portrait lens and provide reasonable distance from the front element when working at 1:1. The cheapest 100mm lens is Cosina (also sold as Vivitar, I suspect) which is a 100mm f/3.5 lens that focusses down to 1:2 and is supplied with a screw in front lens to get down to 1:1. Magazine tests have shown it to provide very good performance and it certainly is the best value for money macro lens available currently (1999). The results from this cheap macro lens will be better than using an ordinary lens with extenders or close-up dioptre type lenses but not quite as good as the very high cost camera manufacturers` macro lenses.

Again when using reversing rings, extension tubes and bellows the macro is the proper lens to use and best to reverse it when getting better than 1:1 ratio. It`s expensive getting into macro properly.

With a macro lens directly on the camera body all controls work correctly so no manual fiddling with aperture and focus is needed if you wish to work all automatic. When you get close and use flash then you have to watch out for the lens shadowing the subject. You have to get the flash off the camera using an appropriate TTL control cord. Sigh! More $$$$.

Upside. Great results, convenient to use. Macro lens also can be used as a normal lens.
Downside. Great expense unless you choose a cheaper third party model.

Cocktail Umbrella
This shot is the underside of one of those little fancy drinks umbrellas that poke your eye out if not careful, lucky I drink wine or beer. It was shot up the other way with the umbrella sitting on some black cardboard and used Nikon F70 and Nikon 105mm f/2.8 macro lens at f/22 on the aperture ring, didn`t notice the actual f/number on the LCD display. The flash had a home made softbox on it about a foot square. Notice the depth of field does not quite cover the bottom left hand area, maybe if I had stopped down to f/32 I may have made it, but then the image quality starts to noticeably degrade. It wouldn`t be obvious on a web shot but would be easy to see on a 4"x6" print.