Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Guys, I have a post below somewhere about a camera i got. Ill spare you the detals: Canon 35mm SLR w/ 2 working lenses. I wanted to know what the preferred or most versatile lense for herp photography is. I have a 50mm standard, a 28mm Wide Angle Macro and a broken 135mm Chinar Lense. Just wanted to know what lense most people use/prefer that wont cost me an arm and a leg. Or if there are any attachments/accesories i can purchase for my existing ones. I plan on photographing all sorts of things from insects to amphibians (mostly frogs and salamanders) and i want to focus (forgive my pun) on snakes. THanks for all of your help!
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-Doug Daly

"Aren't you two a little old to be drinking illegally?"

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

i have a 75-210mm macro focusing lens that i used to use a lot for my herp photography i usaully used it at 75mm, then i discovered reverse macro, and i started using my standard 50 again
but yea, i think i've reallyfallen in love with the 50mm again because most of them have a really nice aperature giving you a really tight depth of field, plus although i personally don't crop, most shots for the web you could just crop off of a photo cd

lol, lemme know if any of that didn't make any sense, i'm kinda tired
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my photography site:
http://tlp.zip.to
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my animals
1.0.1 leopard gecko (goliath, gebco)
0.1 hypo red bearded dragon (puff the magic dragon)
0.0.1 schnieder's skink (ghandi)
0.1 white's dumpy treefrog (un-named)
0.0.1 red eared slider (carl)
1.0 lop eared wabbit (oreo)
0.0.2 pink toed tarantula (mambo mambo, and un-named)
0.0.1 green iguana (iguanadonatello)

the rest of the animals in the hizouse
1.0 westie (gabriel)
0.1 scottie (kait)
1.0 plain ol' outdoor alley cat (joey)
0.1 indoor rag doll kitty (tinkerbell)
2.0 goulian finchs

I have found the most useful lens for herp photography is a macro lens in the 90-110 range. I used to have a Sigma 90mm macro lens that went to 1:2 that was very useful. I replaced that with a 105mm Tamron macro that goes down to 1:1.

If you are looking for an inexpensive option, I really liked the Sigma 28-80mm macro lens I used to own. The lens ran about $80 new from B&H or Adorama. I don't know if it is still made, but it was a great little lens for the price.

Remember that if you opt for the "ultra-zooms" (i.e. 28-300, 28-200) you get a lens that isn't good at either end of the spectrum. Getting a single focal length lens or a lens with a narrow zoom range is better. Those lenses will be sharper throughout their zoom range.
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Chris Harrison

I'm not familiar with Canon equipment so can't give you any specific recommendations on lenses. But in general, for this sort of photography, a lens with "macro" ability is probably best. It's also helpful to have a lens that allows some working distance between you and the subject, meaning a focal length of at least 90-105mm, and preferably even 180mm or more. Lesser focal length will mean you have to get very close to your subject which is a disadvantage when trying to photo skittish or possibly dangerous animals.

Accessories like extension tubes, diopters, or bellows can improve close-up capabilities of non-macro lenses. A good place to read about using such things is Bob Johnson's web page "Earthbound Light". You can google it up and check out the archives under photo tips. There is one called Macro on the Cheap that is informative.

Hopefully, one of the Canon guys here can give you some more specific info on your T70 system.

Cheers,
WK

Doug,

I think there are two options here. One would be a macro lense in the 100 mm range. Another, (less expensive and possibley more versitile), option would be a 70-210 or 70-300mm zoom with one of the really high quality two element close-up filters made by Nikon or Canon. The zoom, especially if you opted for the 70-300 would give you some more reach, which can be really handy for wary lizards and such. I've been using a Nikon 75-300 with the Nikon 5t close-up for several years now and am very happy with the results.

Good luck with your decision.

Bill

the 50mm with a 500D would also do the job. I used a 50mm with a nikon 5T for a long time and it took some great shots, but not as nice as a dedicated macro lens.