Canon EOS 550D or Nikon D90 for Macro

[Tizianohc]

Hey i want to buy my first DSLR and im stuck between the Canon 550D and Nikon D90... The canon is more in my price range, but i can fork out a bit more money if the Nikon is much better....
I'll mainly be taking macro photos and im considering the MP-E 65mm Macro f/2.8 for one of my macro lenses....
Which camera do you recommend for macro?
any help would be great

[TCav]

There's no real reason to suspect that one would be better at macrophotography than the other. The lens is what counts.

[shoturtle]

what types of macros do you like to shoot? The mp-e are super macro lenses. And are very good for that purpose.

[Hards80]

if you have to ask which camera is better for macro photography. i think the 65 mp-e is going to be an overkill. it is a specialized super-macro with a steep learning curve.

you would be better off getting a nice 1:1 regular macro lens. which body you pick is irrelevant.

[Tizianohc]

Yeah the MP-E would be for later on in the future... im going to start with something less powerful.... im interested in photographing TINY insects..... so the stronger the better, but dof is REALLY important..... as well as the speed of the focus....
i tried the 550D today and it seems to work really fast... no idea about the D90 as they dont sell them

[TCav]

For "photographing TINY insects", the lens is more important than the camera. You'll want a long lens so you don't frighten your subject, plus a longer focal length will give you a deeper depth of field. Nikon has the 200/4 and Canon has the 180/3.5 USM, and Tamron's 180/3.5 and Sigma's 150/2.8 HSM are available for either Canon or Nikon bodies. There isn't a dog in the bunch.

For fast focus, I'd be very tempted to go wth the larger aperture and fast AF of the Sigma 150/2.8 HSM.

[TCav]

Originally Posted by TCav

For fast focus, I'd be very tempted to go wth the larger aperture and fast AF of the Sigma 150/2.8 HSM.

And given that, I'd be inclined to select a camera body that could take special advantage of the f/2.8 maximum aperture. The center cross-type focus point in Canon's 50D and 60D can do that.

[rjseeney]

Macro lenses typically don't focus that fast, and most people I know that do a lot of macro usually manually focus. You'll also want to look at a good tripod/ball head combination and lighting.

[TCav]

True, but when your subject can move, you need all the help you can get.

[Tizianohc]

Thanks for all the info... at the moment i think im leaning towards the 550D as it is more in my price range (60D isnt really) and yeah i realised most will be manual focus (im also considering reverse lenses as its cheaper and higher magnification... and i find its more fun being up close)
I should mainly hand held (i find it a lot faster and easier to do) so im also looking at different flashes....
thanks again for the help