I have a Canon 5D. I want to start adding lenses.

Question

I have a Canon 5D.  I want to start adding lenses.  I want to be able to take close-up photos of flowers, etc.  Any suggestions on what lens I should purchase?  What would be considered a good selection of lenses for many different subjects?

Answer 1

Macro lenses are very specific.  If you want to do macro I highly recommend getting a dedicated prime macro lens.  A lot of general use zoom lenses will call themselves macro, but it’s not the same.  I can’t say enough good things about the 100mm macro.  The non-L version is reasonably priced and the sharpness will amaze.  The image quality of the L is even a little better and you get image stabilization, but it costs more of course.
If image quality isn’t of top importance to you then a “macro” zoom lens will offer more flexibility.  Both in composing your shot (having a variety of focal lengths to chose from) and being useful for other types of photography.  But it won’t come close to the sharpness of a prime (unless you get a 24-70 II).  You can use the 100mm primes for non-macro use, but the thing is just too sharp for portraiture in my opinion.