The best choice for me seemed to be the Canon 100mm Macro. It has great image quality and people were also using it for portraits. The two downsides with the 100mm Macro are slow focus and price. Seemed to be a great studio lens but not so great for on-location shooting where the focus may change for every shot. So I kept looking, trying to find the right fit for me.
Reading a lot of forums pointed me in the right direction. Somebody suggested to try out the Canon 500D close up lens. It is a lens that attaches to your regular lens just like a filter. It does have its own limitations like it will only work with lenses in the 70 - 300mm range, and it cannot focus farther then 4 feet. On the positive side it was less expensive then the 100mm Macro, it was small and easy to carry in my bag and it worked with my 24-70 and 70-200 lenses!
Here are some images taken both with the 500D and without. All shots were taken on white seamless paper, Alien Bees with umbrella and a Canon 580 EX in a small softbox.
Canon 500D Close Up Lens
This is an oil lamp, taken with the Canon 24-70 f2.8 L.
Taken with the 24-70 f2.8 L and 500D.
Taken with the Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS.
Taken with the Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS with the 500D.
As you can see, the 70-200 really delivered with the 500D attached. I would use a tripod with it since the 500D adds a bit of heft to the end of the lens.
Want to go even cheaper? How about using your Point and Shoot? Depending on the assignment, you may not need 12 Megapixels to capture a great image! Here is an example from my 6 year old Canon G3, a great 4 Megapixel camera. A lot of Point and Shoot digital cameras can also take great macro shots. They benefit from really small sensors that deliver awesome depth of field. Here is an example.
Canon G3, set to Macro
The old Point and Shoot didn't do too bad, huh? I think a Point and Shoot can be a great choice over a Macro or Close Up Lens depending on the subject and output quality.
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