One of the first lenses I bought almost 20 years ago was a macro so I could photograph small things in nature such as wildflowers and salamanders. Although I still love to photograph small subjects, I rarely ever use or carry a macro lens with me any more. Instead, I use my 70-200mm medium telelphoto zoom lens (which I always have in my camera bag anyway) with a 25mm extension tube to achieve close focus. An extension tube is just a spacer that goes between your lens and body that changes the ability to close focus. There is no glass in the extension tube, but there are electrical contacts so your camera and lens can still talk to each other.
It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of using an extension tube on a medium telephoto lens and it requires that you still use the same methodical and precise technique as you would shooting with a macro lens. But the beauty of this combination is that if you already carry a medium telephoto lens (as many outdoor photographers do) you don't need to lug around an additional macro lens.... only a light weight extension tube. Virtually every close-up wildflower photo I've taken in the last 5 years has been shot with this combination. Here are some spring wildflowers I've shot with a Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens and Canon 25mm extension tube over the past few weeks.
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| Bloodroot |
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| 25mm extension tube with Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens |
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| White Trillium |
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| My typical wildflower photo gear - shooting the flowers below. |
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| Spring Beauties |
