What makes a macro lens a macro lens?

[TCav]

tclune wrote:

Are you sure your name isn't TRex?

Hey! It's one thing to be called 'old'; it's quite another to be called 'prehistoric'. :-)

[BillDrew]

SoundDust wrote:

Great. Thanks all. So it sounds like a function of minimum focusing distance more than anything else.

Sort of. True only if you are comparing lenses of the same focal length. A long lens will provide greater "magnification" at the same distance as a mid length lens.

I think there is an industry "standard" that allows any lens with a 1:4 magnification to be advertised as a macro lens. It seems rare to find a zoom that says it has better than 1:4.

[VTphotog]

Just to jump in and keep things going: As well as being able to focus close, the lens has to provide a reasonable undistorted image at that distance. This is, I believe, the reason the dedicated macro lenses are so much more expensive.

brian

[geriatric]

tclune wrote:

Back in the good old days of film, a macro shot was one where you double-extended the bellows. Anyone who knows what I'm talking about is way too old for the internet! Anyway, it wasn't particularly the lens that was "macro," but the image. If you were shooting a photo where the image on the surface of the film was as large or larger than the object being photographed, you were doing "macro" photography.

When the world switched over to 35mm, that idea was more-or-less replaced by the notion that "macro" was up close and personal (in the days of sheet film, a lot of the world could be photographed life-size. With 35mm film, you were pretty much limited in what would fit on the film).At that time, it became more common to talk about half-life-size or more, like fldspringer mentioned. Now, with digital p&s cameras having a "macro" mode, the term is even more loosey-goosey. Basically, it just means a mode that is intended for getting closer than the camera normally shoots. And any mode, lens, or adapter that helps you do that may be called "macroHi

Hi, agreed , as my name implies I fall into that category. All lens`s are capable of macro providing you move the lens away from the body. I have a Canon bellows ,but it is BL mounts . I had to make a coupler for my Canon 300d to fit. Canon mostly talk about 50mm lens`s on these bellows. My shot shows a Tamron full macro lens mounted . Its unbelievable the magnification.