This post was updated April 13th, 2017
I get asked, “What lens should you use to shoot food”, all the time. These beautiful little purple carrots are perfect for doing a lens test to show you some different lenses to help you pick your perfect lens.
Does your camera have a cropped sensor? I have to mention something about cameras here. This is extremely important. I’ve learned that most bloggers do not know if they are using a camera with a cropped sensor. This mean that any lens you put on that camera will act like a much longer lens. For example, if you put a 50mm lens on a canon Rebel T5i camera, that lens will act like it’s an 80mm lens. This is a huge difference! So keep in mind when reading this article, you need to google your camera to find out what the crop factor is of your camera.
If your camera has a crop factor of 1.6 then, take the focal length of your lens and multiply it by 1.6. That is how your lens will look when taking pictures. For example, the ever popular 50mm lens will give you an image as if you took the picture with an 80mm lens.
If you don’t have a pro level camera, chances are it has a cropped sensor as they are less expensive to produce.
(Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means we will earn a commission if you make a purchase. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Contact me if you have any questions.)
Table of Contents
Lens Comparison
Alright, I’m going to compare a zoom lens set at 35mm, 50mm, 100mm and a 100mm macro lens on my full frame sensor camera. I chose these three focal lengths because most bloggers use either a 35mm lens , a 50mm lens OR a zoom equivalent, like an 18mm-55 zoom, because that’s what came with their camera. I prefer the 100mm macro lens over all three of these. The 100mm macro is not an option for a kit camera when purchasing one because of the price. Kit cameras usually come with the least expensive lenses. This lens when sold as a used lens is about $450. I buy used gear all the time – just make sure it’s from a reputable store with good feedback and allows returns. The zoom lens I’m using to do this is a canon Canon 24-105mm, used price $540 – new price $1149.
This test is all about showing you the lens perspective at different focal lengths. See how much background you see in the 35mm shot VS the 100mm macro?
For all the shots above – I used a Canon Canon 5D Mark II with the same exact exposure of: ISO 100, F-Stop 4.5, and a shutter speed of 1/3 second (natural light). This camera is a full frame camera, sensor is not cropped.
35mm Lens (I hardly use this one)
Please look at the perspective of each shot. The shot with the 35mm I had to crop into the shot in order to show the same amount of the carrots. Here, it looks like most of the carrots are in focus, which is what happens with wider angle lenses, its harder to get shallow depth of field. Now depending on your lens you could use a wider F-Stop if your lens can do that to show more depth of field (more things out of focus). This shot, to me does not have much dimension. I would only use a 35mm lens to photograph an entire table of food where I would want more things in focus and I don’t have much room to get all things into my frame that I need to.
50mm Lens (most common lens food bloggers use) – not my favorite
So I noticed that most food bloggers use the 50mm lens. I think it started from a food blogger a while back that had a kit camera (a less expensive camera like the Canon Rebel series that comes with a lens) and they used it well (meaning their photos looked nice) and other bloggers followed suit. In class, when I see a student with this lens and I ask them why they use that lens they either say, a blogger they admire uses it, OR it came with the camera (kit lens).
Many bloggers are using this lens on a camera that is not full frame. This means the image is being cropped a little bit. What this means for our lenses is that a 50mm lens would really be like shooting with a 75mm lens on a Canon Rebel. So, yes, many bloggers think they are using a 50mm lens, as that’s what it’s called, but the image the camera is taking with that lens is more like a 75mm lens, a longer lens.
The other issue I have with the 50mm lens is in order to get a photo that has nice depth of field you have to be fairly close to the food/set each time, so what happens is that all the shots end up looking the same. The 50mm is still considered a wider (angle) lens so you can’t back away from your set very much, or you start showing edges of your set that you don’t want to see, like the edge of table. So you are limited in how close you need to be to your set. Now, there are some 50mm lenses that are macros – so you can get closer to your food but there IS such a thing as being too close.
Both the 35mm and the 50mm can be useful for overhead shots where shallow depth of field is not needed. The more lenses you have, the more flexibility you have for making creative food photos. I think it would be ideal for you to have a 50mm lens and also a 100mm macro or equivalent.
For cropped sensor cameras, consider the 60mm macro lens
A great combination for any cropped sensor camera would be a lens that when you calculate the crop factor of your camera with your lens, you get near 100mm. Let’s take the 60mm macro lens by Canon and use it on the Canon Rebel with a crop factor of 1.6. That will give you an image that will look very similar to using the 100mm macro lens on the Canon 5D Mark II or III because when you calculate the crop factor of the 60mm x 1.6 you get 96mm. See what I mean there?
24-105mm Zoom Lens (one of my favorites)
I think a great lens for bloggers would be one in the range of 24-105mm. With zoom lenses it’s very important to find out what is the widest F-stop before you buy a lens. They call this the “speed” of the lens – I know, makes no sense. They call lenses with really wide open F-Stops a “fast” lens. This means the lens can shoot better in low light situations. The wider your f-stop is the more your background will be out of focus, which is ideal for a lot of food shooting scenarios. Lenses with wider F-stops cost more than those that don’t.
Zoom Lens Set To 100mm VS 100mm Macro Lens (my favorite)
So this is interesting. The zoom lens on the left is a pro grade zoom lens and the 100mm is the consumer grade prime lens. A prime lens means that it is not a zoom and is only that one focal length, in this case a 100mm macro.
Consumer grade means the less expensive quality type of lenses. All manufacturers of lenses make consumer and pro grades. Consumer grades are cheaper and pro lenses are a lot more money. I was surprised at how different the focal lengths were between these two lenses. The 100mm zoom lens on the left looks much wider than the prime 100mm on the right. Very strange.
Please know that zoom lenses will never be as sharp (in focus) as a prime (fixed) lens. Even with pro level zoom lenses, in my opinion, they are still not as sharp as a prime lens.
You Get What You Pay For In a Lens
So in order to match the look of the zoom lens on the left, I had to back up the camera and raise it a bit. Then, when I zoomed in at 100% of the file size, I was shocked at how bad the image quality was on the zoom lens while the consumer grade fixed lens looked really clean and very sharp where it was supposed to be. I am constantly disappointed with my zoom lens. It was not cheap and it’s just not as sharp as a fixed lens.
Here’s the zoom on the left – not nearly as sharp as the lens on the right. I did not alter these in any way. Now, you might look at these and not think this is a big difference because we are looking at it on the web at 72 dpi. When you go to print these at high resolution, that’s when this quality difference will be a huge problem. So if you’re a food blogger and think you don’t need to worry about this – I hope you never have to do a printed cook book. Just some food for thought.
When shooting with the 100mm macro lens – unless you’re doing macro work, you will be a little bit farther away from your set than you would be with the 50mm lens and certainly much farther away from the set compared to the 35mm lens.
Side Note: Styling the Carrots
Even a simple shot like this takes time to prep the food. These were organic carrots. Not sure why but it seems like “organic” means that there’s going to be a lot more dirt on them. I buy a lot of organics and I find this to be the case with most veggies. These little purple guys were no exception. I spent a good 20 minutes just cleaning the dirt off of these. Notice in the main shot above how they are a deep rich glistening color? That’s because I put a mixture of water and glycerin on them. The mixture is a 50% ratio – half water to half glycerin. Then when I’m done shooting I just give them another rinse to get the glycerin off of them. Water will work but it evaporates too quickly.
You can see my purple bottle labeled with my glycerin mixture.
To summarize all this in six points:
- 35mm lens is considered a wide angle lens and it’s difficult to get shallow depth of field with it
- 50mm lens is not as wide but you have to get pretty close to your food to get shallow depth of field and this can make this lens limiting
- The 35mm and the 50mm can be useful for overhead shots as they are wide angle and depth of field is not an issue here
- 100mm macro lens give you the most flexibility with your shots on a full frame sensor camera
- If you have a kit camera like a Canon Rebel or equivalent and you want to upgrade your gear, get a better lens first. If you upgrade to a pro body your kit lenses WILL NOT work on your pro Canon body – Nikon kit lenses will work on pro bodies, but they will still crop into the image because the lens quality can not handle a full frame image.
- Consider the 60mm macro lens for your cropped sensor camera.
- Ideally, you want a wider lens (like a 50) for wide shots, then a longer lens for your hero, up-close, food shots
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You might also like these posts:
The Best Zoom Lenses For Food Photography
How To Properly Clean Your Lens
My Favorite Photography Lenses
Some of these links are affiliate links. Should you choose to buy any of these items, I will receive a small commission.
Tina Boes
Hi Christina. This post was very helpful, and I learned a lot about my camera as a result.
My Nikon D7100 has a 1.5x crop on normal settings, but has the ability to change that to 1.3x changing the focal length from 75mm to 65mm. Am I better off using the 1.3x for food photography, even though it reduces resolution a little? This is still a bit confusing to me.
Thanks so much,
TIna
Christina Peters
Hi Tina, there isn’t enough of a difference with the crop factor to justify the loss in resolution – if there really is a loss in resolution. What you need to do is determine which lens is best for the type of shot you are wanting to do. For example, for close up shots, you’ll most likely need a macro lens. For overhead shots, it’s much easier to use zoom lenses.
Sunny Gandara
Hi Christina,
Thanks for this article, great information! I am a food blogger and just getting into photography lenses, and have been doing a bunch of research. I am curious what you think about the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM vs the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Zoom you recommend in this article? Differences/uses, etc. ? Thanks in advance!
Christina Peters
Hi Sunny, the 24-70 lens would be good for an overhead shot and a table top shot that you want to show a lot of items. It is not a macro lens so you can’t do details shots with it.
Sunny
Ok great – thanks so much for your reply, very helpful!
Christina Peters
You’re welcome, glad to help 🙂
Angela
Hi Christina, very timely article for me, and obviously many others! I am currently working on launching my food blog, getting ready to purchase camera and lenses. My budget is right around the $1500-$2000 range. I’ve chosen the Canon 80d body only, and you sold me on the Canon 60mm Macro. As far as wider shots I’m having trouble deciding on what lens to chose for wider shots while staying in my budget, Starting to go a little crazy from it! Any inout would be put to work. Thank you.
Christina Peters
Hi Angela, for wider shots I think a zoom lens would be great. I use the 17-40mm zoom on my cropped sensor camera – but it’s about $800 new – you can use ebay to get a great price on a used lens. Then you can stay in your budget.
Angela Greven
Hi Christina, thanks so much for the help! I will start my search for the 17-40mm, looks like it will be a good combo with the 60mm. Great site, really appreciate you taking the time to answer. Have a super day!
Christina Peters
Sounds good Angela, and yes, those two lenses will work well for you for food and that 60mm lens will be very nice for portraits as well.
Anita
Hi Christina, thank you for the explanation in this article. I am a food blogger, and I have been using my Canon Rebel XSi (cropped sensor) with its lens kit for a very long time now. If I keep my camera and upgrade my lens, would you say the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens ($469) is a good candidate? Or do you have another suggestion for the very first lens upgrade to get? Thank you 🙂
Christina Peters
Hi Anita, yes, that 60mm lens will be great for detail shots and shots where you want to show one dish on your Rebel. For overhead shots, you’ll need a wider lens and it’s easier if that lens is a zoom lens.
Anita
Thank you for your reply Christina. Another question, if I only have the budget for either Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Zoom Lens, or Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens, but not both. Which one would you suggest to get first? Thanks again 🙂
Christina Peters
Hi Anita, this all depends on what type of shots you want to shoot the most. One lens is not perfect for all types of shots. You’ll have more flexibility with the zoom, but it’s not a macro lens so you can’t get as close. If you want to do close up mostly then the 60 would be great. So you need to figure out the type of shots you are going to want to do.
zube
Fantastic article. My favorite two lenses for my 5D III are the 24-105 and the 100mm L.
Christina Peters
Hi Zube, me too. I use them the most, that’s for sure with that camera.
Adina
Hi Christina, very helpful article. I have been thinking about buying a macro lens for my canon 700d for ages now, but I keep putting it off because I just don’t know what to buy. They cost a lot and I am afraid about buying the wrong thing. I have a food blog and I would love to be able to get better pictures. Do you think this https://www.amazon.com/Canon-100mm-Macro-Digital-Cameras/dp/B002NEGTSI/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1520947554&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=canon+ef+100mm+2%2C8+lid would be a good choice?
Thank you for your help.
Christina Peters
Hi Adina, the 700D is a cropped sensor camera – that’s the first part of the post that cover. That 100mm macro lens is great for full frame cameras. In the post I recommend the 60mm macro for a cropped sensor camera. So I suggest you see if you can try that out to see if you like it first.
Adina
Thank you, Christina. I checked about the crop just like you suggested and I saw that my canon is a cropped sensor camera. But the price difference between the 60 mm and the 100 mm is only about 200 Euro (I got a good offer), so if the 100 mm is better than I would pay the 200 extra. Unless you think the difference between the two is not worth 200 euro. Or is the 100 mm macro lens not appropriate at all for cropped sensor cameras? Thank you again.
Christina Peters
Hi Adina, ok so you need to do that math for how those lenses will behave. The 100mm will feel like a 160mm lens – that a VERY long lens for food photography. Unless every shot is a macro shot, or really close up, you’re going to have to be very far away from your set if you want to include other things in your shot. The 60mm macro will end up being like a 96mm lens. If this doesn’t make sense to you right now – you have to test each lens before buying them so that you can see what I’m talking about. Go to a camera store and look through each lens on a cropped sensor camera and it will be very obvious the difference.
Adina
Ok, super Christina, that really helps a lot. The way you say it I think a 60 mm makes more sense for me, but I will check as well. Thank you very very much.
Christina Peters
For that camera, the 60 macro is great. For full frame cameras the 100mm macro is the equivalent.
Teresa Chagas
Hi I am a pastry chef but completely new to photography and bought by impulse a 90mm macro lens for my crop sensor camera now after reading this I think I probably made a mistake… do you thibk I would be able to use it for food fotography? It meabs I will have to be further away fron the food? I am a little lost now (too much to learn) thank you <3
Christina Peters
Hi Teresa, you will be able to use that lens, you will just have to back up away from your set more as you figured out. What will be tricky is doing overhead shots because you might not be able to get the camera far enough away from your set.
Eli Hinze
Okay, the 2:1 glycerin-water mix is genius. Is this a well-known trick? I’ve honestly never heard of it, but I’m just now getting into food photography!
Christina Peters
Hi Eli, well I learned this trick in the late 80’s so I think it’s safe to say it’s been around for a while 🙂
Thomas Brown
The reason you have more dirt on organic carrots is that they are grown in the soil while not bio carrots are not necessarily.
Anyway, thanks for putting together such an in depth article. I’m about to upgrade the photos on my site and researching for a good enough camera and lens. The Cannon 750D seems like a reliable choice but I have no idea about lenses.
Christina Peters
Hi Thomas, yes, lots of folks get overwhelmed with all the choices of lenses. Just look at whether the camera has a cropped sensor or not, then go from there.
Dave
Hi Christina – I’m almost embarrassed to ask this question, but I’m going ahead on the premise that when I am learning, there is no such thing as a silly question, right?
I’m just starting out with food photography and have so much to learn – and so I am really glad I found your site!
Before I spend big money in the camera department, I want to start playing around with what I have for now. I’ve got a little Canon Powershot bridge camera – the lens cannot be changed, and it’s not a dSLR, though it tries its very best to be.
Do you have any tips I can refer to, to get me started, before I get myself a dSLR with the 100mm macro lens you recommend above? I’d really love to start and am afraid that the camera I’m restricted to for now, will kill my passion to do this.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Christina Peters
So for your camera, when doing overhead shots, you will we setting the lens to a wide focal length so that you don’t have to have the camera to high above your set. For detail shots, you will want to zoom your lens in to get closer to your set.
Dave
Thanks so much for this!
Tasso
Hello Christina what a great blog.
Got one more question for you.
I shoot with a Fuji Xt 2 and use now the really great 18-55 and in some cases the samyang 12mm.
But i miss a little macro and there is one macro that i like. It’s the samyang 100 mm 1:1. Do you think that this is to long for food? 100 mm on s crop is now 144 mm. The 60 mm is to close to 55 mm of my lens that i got and the 60mm is not 1:1
Christina Peters
Hi Tasso, if the 100 would end up at 144mm, it could be too long but it’s very hard to say. I always suggest renting the lens to try it out first to see how you like it.
Dave
Hi Christina, the Canon 1300D Eos I am looking at has a 1.6 cropped sensor as you mention in your post above. With the 100mm macro lens, this rate is now 144mm which is possibly too long, as you say – what option lens would you recommend I then buy instead to compensate for this sensor crop factor?
Christina Peters
Hi Dave, I would suggest the 60mm lens that is listed in this article for the cropped sensor camera you have also look at the 24-105mm zoom as well.
Dave
Great! Thanks a ton!
Christina Peters
Sure thing
April
Hi Christina, I’m glad I came across your blog. It has tons of valuable information. I love it. I am looking to purchase a new lens. I have a Canon Rebel EOS T3i and shoot with the 1.8 50mm. I bought it because like you said, that is what most bloggers recommend. I’m not too much in love with it. I was thinking about purchasing the 100m lens. Is the 100mm lens a wide angle lens? I’m looking for something that is wide angle, macro too but also a lens that wont crop so much. Would I be able to use the 100mm lens on my camera? Sorry for so many questions. All this camera lens stuff is quite confusing. Thanks in advance.
Christina Peters
Hi April, the 100mm lens is NOT a wide angle lens, it’s a much longer lens – totally the opposite of a wide angle lens. The bigger the number of the focal length of the lens, IE 100mm, the longer the lens is. The smaller the number of the focal length, IE 35mm, the wider it is. So if you want a wider lens than the 50mm, you need a 35mm, for example.
Peter E.
Great info for a pro-level camera noob such as myself. I recently bought a 55mm fast prime lens (Zeiss f/1.8 55mm) for my Sony A6300 which has an APS-C sensor. Using the appropriate crop fact that means the actually focal length of the lens on my camera 82.5mm. Do you think this lens would be good for general food photography which is what I had in mind when I bought because I’m going to take my camera on an upcoming trip to Japan. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
Christina Peters
Hi Peter, if you already have the gear – do a test shoot. Do a set up similar to what you think you might be shooting in Japan and photograph it and see if you like the gear for that. It’s hard for me to tell you if it will be great for you as I have no idea what you will be photographing under what conditions and where. Have a great trip!
Rachel Hinderliter
Wow this post is SOOOO helpful and answers so many questions I have had! Thanks so much for going into so much detail!
Christina Peters
Hi Rachel, Glad you liked the post and thanks for reading!
Heather @Boston Girl Bakes
Hi,
Quick question the prime lens (100 mm macro) you used for the carrots on the right.. I wasn’t sure if that was the same as the link you included for the 24-100 mm lens that you like or if it’s different? Thanks 🙂
Christina Peters
Hi Heather, the prime 100mm macro lens is a different lens from the 24-105 zoom. Prime means that it is a fixed lens (no zoom) and one focal length, in this case 100mm. I do use both lenses a lot. When I feel the 100mm macro lens is too long – I can’t get far enough away from the food to shoot it, then I switch to the zoom lens. Hope that helps.
ramsab
Hello christina, thank you so much for this useful article . I wanna ask you I have nikon d5200 with kit lens 18-55 dx lens. I want to shoot cooking videos with different angles but this lens does not give good quality images and videos. I want your advice and this will help me a lot in upgrading my lens. Thank you so much
Christina Peters
Hi Ramsab, the same rules apply to video for lenses. The lens you have is a very wide angle lens and would be good for shooting architecture. Also, all kit lenses use very low quality lenses so that is why the images won’t look very good with that lens. I suggest renting some lenses so you can figure out which ones will work the best for what you are shooting. You can rent lenses here: Borrow Lenses (this is not an affiliate link).
ramsab
Thank you so much
ramsab
Thanks a lot but would you please give me some suggestions for lenses to try out. As there are a lot in the market and I’m lost one the many details and names. Thank you so much for helping me
Christina Peters
Ramsab, I would suggest the lenses I’ve written about in this blog post.
Mat
thanks for this article but what if we shoot with a sony hybrid ? is 30mm macro lens good?
Christina Peters
Hi Mat, you need to find out the exact sensor of your camera, then look up the crop factor. If it’s a Sony APS-C sensor, then your crop factor is 1.5. So that would make your 30mm lens act like a 45mm lens (30 x 1.5), which is still a very wide angle lens, good for overhead shooting. So google, “what sensor does Sony (your camera model) have” Or you could try to google what the crop factor is of your exact camera and see if that comes up.
Adams
Thanks for the info. I don’t normally shoot food, but did it a few times.. completely intuitevely using 50mm, the results were quite good. Thanks for the confirmation on the lenses !
Christina Peters
You’re welcome Adams!
Joseph
Thanks for your extensive & quick answer to my question. It’s really what I wanted to hear!
Thanks again and keep it on we really love what you do!
Christina Peters
You’re welcome Joseph, thanks for reading the blog and happy shooting!
Joseph
Thank you so mush Christina!
Christina Peters
Hi Joseph, great shot! Thanks for sharing!
ZDR
Hi Christina,
This was great – thanks! Much useful info that you don’t really read elsewhere.
I did have some questions though. I’m getting into food photography, and I have a Nikon D7000 (I’m amazed at how low the price of this device has dropped since I got it – but I digress). I’m looking to get a good lens for this. I know you don’t like the 50mm particularly, and I know it gets good reviews probably for the reasons you mentioned, but it is tempting since the price is about $200 and people seem to like it.
Would you recommend the 105mm Nikkor? It’s about $900 – I wouldn’t be able to afford that currently. Any alternative suggestions?
Lastly, do you use any filters? I’ve never used them before, not even clear ones. Any you could recommend?
Thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi there, it’s not that I don’t like the 50 – I use that for overhead shots when I need a wider lens. Many bloggers use the 50mm on cropped sensor cameras and love it as that’s actually making that lens act as a 75mm lens (depending on the camera). There are many different price points for the 50mm lens going from $100 – $900-ish. The cheaper the lens the less quality it has, so keep that in mind. Your D7000 is also a cropped sensor camera. So the 50mm will look like a 75mm lens, the 105mm will act like a 168mm lens so you probably won’t like that. I would suggest the 60mm lens as that would act like a 90mm. Nikon makes two 60mm lenses. The “G” and the “G ED”. The G ED is more money because the lens quality if better as it will correct a common problem around highlights called Chromatic Aberration. This lens is currently $600 on Amazon. And yes, all our gear drops in price as soon as we buy it! Apparently it’s a “rule” 🙂
ZDR
Thanks for the detailed information, Christina! I will check out the 60mm lenses. There’s a place nearby that rents out lenses, so I might try a few of them out as well.
Have a great day!
Christina Peters
You’re welcome ZDR! I rent lenses all the time as I have many different camera systems so I don’t have every lens I’d like to use. Good idea!
J
Hi Christina,
Thanks so much for all your info!
I’m a beginner when it comes to food photography but I am thinking of purchasing the Sony A600 and getting a 18-105mm lens based on your recommendations in this post.
Should I get similar results as you’ve mentioned or am I best to purchase a full frame dslr with the recommended lens?
Many thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi, the full frame cameras will give you the true focal length of the lens. The 18-105 is not a macro lens so you’ll be limited how close you can get to things.
Moritz
Excellent post! I’ve done a few food jobs myself and have always used my 24-105mm (mostly on 105mm). Interesting to see the comparison to the makro lens!
Christina Peters
Glad you like the post Moritz!
Kelly Kardos
Hi Christina-your photos are gorgeous and this post was packed with great information. Thank you-I use a nifty fifty almost exclusively for my still life-I’m a hobbyist so it’s hard to justify the cost of other prime lenses just for the fun of it. It’s fun to dream tho!
Christina Peters
Thanks Kelly, and yes, I dream about all kinds of equipment I want!
Christine@24CarrotKitchen
Hello,
I love your site and all the great information. I am really enjoying learning about food photography.
I was wondering your opinion of extension tubes? I currently use a Nikon D5100 (cropped sensor) with the 50mm 1/4 G. I plan on renting the 105 macro to try it out. Would extension tubes work just as well?
Thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi Christine, glad you like the site. Good question, there’s two kinds of extension tubes. One kind has some sort of glass and the other is totally open, no glass, and is moving the lens away from the camera to enabling you to take a picture that is closer to the food. I never use tubes with a glass element in them. That can degrade the image. I only use tubes that only have space in them. Every tube will cut down the amount of light getting to your camera sensor. This means you have to open your exposure – either open your F-stop wider, slow down your shutter more to compensate for this, or raise your ISO setting. I always shoot on a tripod, so I choose to slow down my shutter to compensate for the amount of light needed.
Amanda
Love the tips! I use a 50 mm on a canon 5D mark ii and have been feeling like I need another lens to add, I think I will look into the 100 mm macro 🙂 I also LOVED your e-book, especially the lighting portion! Thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi Amanda, The 50 is great for overhead shots too so having more than one lens really helps with taking different shots. Glad you like the ebook!
Lebinh
great post! I’m struggling on what to lens to buy next for my Canon 600d. I’m a food blogger and love my DSLR
Christina Peters
Hi Lebinh, the 600D is NOT a full frame sensor camera. This means that all lenses will act like they are “cropping” into your picture. For example, if you use a 50mm lens on this camera, the image it takes will probably look like it was shot with an 85mm lens. You must keep this in mind when buying lenses for these kinds of cameras. You can also get more info on my best photo equipment for food photography page.
Whitney
Hey Christina! I am quite embarrassed to say that I just have a regular old Nikon d60. Stock lens. I have been looking to upgrade for a long time now..but I just don’t know where to start. Should I just go ahead and get a whole new camera, or do you think a prime lens would work with what I have? I always thought I’d want a 50mm, but now after reading your post, I think I want the 100 macro. I don’t know what to do! I have even looked at borrowlenses, but I am so overwhelmed!
Christina Peters
Hi Whitney, We all start somewhere, so don’t be embarrassed! I highly suggest you rent a good 50mm lens and also the 100 macro lens and see what you like. Keep in mind – I never use just one lens. Each type of shot needs a certain kind of lens so if you only get one lens, you’re really limiting what you can shoot.
Julia
If i dont have a tripod, then how important is the IS? Is it really worth the money to get the Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS USM macro vs. the same version without the IS? I would really like to get the right lens, so if there’s a big difference between with and without IS, then I’ll still go for the lens with IS, despite the price. I’d love to hear your opinion 🙂
Christina Peters
Hi again, see my reply above and also, you can always rent either lens first to try it out for yourself to see the difference. This company has both the lenses we are talking about – http://www.lensrentals.com (these are not sponsored links). The other place I’ve heard of to rent lenses is http://www.borrowlenses.com – but they don’t have both lenses. Set up a test shot, not an important shot, shoot both lenses the same way, one with the IS on, then try it without the IS one, then try the other lens too. Look at all your files at 100 focus (zoom in on the file) to see the difference in sharpness.
Julia
Hi Christina,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this blog post! I’m the world’s biggest newbie at food photography and hardly know what half of the photographical terms mean (but I’m learning!). That being said, I do love making food and taking pictures of it and last month I was so fortunate to be able to borrow my uncle’s camera. It was a canon 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens. An AMAZING camera! Unfortunately, it was HIS camera, so I had to give it back.
Nevertheless, I have really supportive parents who want to buy me a camera for my food photography, and I would like to make sure to get the right one. I’ve been surfing the web for ages now and have read that a lot of food bloggers use a 50mm lens, which made me really uncertain if I was sure I wanted the same lens as my uncle. Thank God for stumbling across your blog though, because this post really helped me have a little more confidence in my decision on the 100 mm lens. Though I do happen to have 2 questions that I would love your help on!
1) I do not have a tripod and am not really thinking of getting one if isn’t absolutely necessary. Considering this, do you think I should get the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens or the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens (without the IS (which I honestly don’t really understand what is)).
2) Right now I have a semi old Canon EOS Rebel XT, but if I were to get a new DSLR camera, which one would you recommend? This is my second priority and it would have to be towards the cheaper end since my budget is approx. 1000 US dollars, and the lens would steal a big chunk of that.
Christina Peters
Hi Julia, so here’s the deal – you have to start using a tripod. Please read my post about ISO to understand how important it is. You don’t want to be a blogger that gets asked to do a cook book and you have to reshoot all your images because the publisher says they are all too “noisy” because your ISO was too high. Now for the lenses, the more money you spend, pretty much, the sharper the lens will be. IS stands for Image Stabilization. The camera tries to correct for motion blur when hand holding shots. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. That why I shoot on a tripod. Please read about cameras and lenses on my Best Photography Equipment page. I explain what a cropped sensor is and how it effects lenses – cropped sensor cameras are also why many food bloggers say to get a 50mm lens. They are not explaining that it is like shooting with an 80mm lens.
Fang
Hello Christina!
What do you think of the Canon ef-s 60mm Macro?
I am choosing my new lens for food photography and I will for sure buy a fixed one and Macro.
I am worried that with a 100mm I will have to stay too far from the subject, for example if I wanna take a photo perpendicularly from the top.
Thank you!
Christina Peters
Hi there – this depends on your camera. Is your camera a full frame sensor? If you don’t know then google it. If it is a full frame sensor, then the lens will be a true 60mm lens. If your sensor is cropped, then your lens will appear to be a longer lens and depending on your camera it will be like a 90mm lens or longer. I think the 60mm macro is an excellent lens, by the way.
Also, for overhead shots, you have to use a wider lens or you will dangerously be handing off of ladders or step stools. One lens will not do all the jobs. If you really want good shots, you need lenses that are appropriate for all your shooting scenarios.
Darlene
Hi Christina! I’m looking at upgrading to the Canon 100mm macro you have in this post. I have two questions:
1. What kind of tripod do you have and can you recommend? I need to upgrade that before I will trust it with a new lense! The one I have is flimsy.
2. What do you think about IS or Image Stabilization? I’m trying to figure out if I should go with the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS Macro EF L IS USM or just the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro (without the IS). Do I really need IS if I will use a tripod? Thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi Darlene, please see my post about tripods here: https://foodphotographyblog.com/the-easy-way-to-do-an-overhead-food-shot
You will not need IS if you use a tripod. Save your cash! IS makes me very seasick anyway so I hate using it.
Darlene
Thank you!
Chef Paramjeet singh
Thanks christina for a excilent blog of yours …..!!!!!
Christina Peters
Thanks Chef Paramjeet!
Maggie
Hi Christina,
I’m so glad I found this article and your site. The comparison picture of the 100mm zoom lens and macro one is really really helpful.
I have been shooting with Nikon D7000 and 50mm 1.8. Last month I just upgraded to D750. I got the 24-120mm and thought I have enough lens for shooting food. However, I suddenly found out the 50mm cannot get close enough when shooting with full frame. The 24-120mm worked quite well, but somehow it’s still not close enough when I shoot very smaller dishes or I want to show more details of the food.
Do you think it’s a wise investment to make for me to get a 105mm macro lens? I didn’t expect to spend a lot after getting the full frame, but if it does make a difference and has benefits in the long run, I’ll consider it.
Maggie
To add a bit more information. I shoot Asian food primarily and the dishes are tend to be very small. Will 105mm get close enough to the food? I never used a macro lens before so I have no idea how it works. And since we don’t have a lot lens rental service here, I need to make the decision carefully before purchasing.
It’ll be really helpful to hear your opinion. Thanks! 🙂
Christina Peters
Just looked at your blog – really beautiful photography Maggie! You need to get that lens and you will love it.
Christina Peters
Hi Maggie! I LOVE the 105 macro. I used to have one when I had a Nikon system. In order to get close enough to the food you have to have a macro. Canon and Nikon do funny things. They will not make the same exact lens. So they get pretty close. The Nikon 105 macro will work just the same way as the Canon 100mm macro will, unfortunately though, Nikon gear is more expensive for some reason. I suggest you look on ebay from reputable sellers to get that lens. I’m sure there will plenty of options on ebay. Happy shooting!
Jeff Parker
KInda shocked at the difference between the 100 zoom and the 100 macro!
Christina Peters
It is shocking! I had no idea they would be so different until I started testing them together. With lenses, you really get what you pay for.
Stuart
Thank you for this article. It was well written and very helpful.
I’m hoping to move more and more into food/restaurant photography.
Christina Peters
Hi Stuart, thanks so much for reading the blog!
Alfred
Hi Christina
How about 100mm on a APS-C camera?
The 1.5x crop factor concern me, would 150mm focus a problem? That would be a distance away isn’t it?
Thanks!
Alfred
Christina Peters
Hi Alfred, you have to make sure the 100mm is a macro lens – and yes it will appear to be a longer focal length, you’ll have to back up a little bit but I’m sure it would look great. You can always rent lenses to try them out first before buying.
tamara p
I love your photos, and am so glad I happened upon your site! I’m just a newbie and trying to figure all this out. I have the Canon Rebel T3 w/ kit lenses (of course) but trying to learn all I can. I presently have the zoom EF 75-300 1.4-5.6 and the 18-55 lens as as well. I had to quit work and became home bound, 5 yrs. ago. My mom bought me my first DLSR (25th wedding anniv. gift) and just being able to zoom in on birds, fall colors, etc..has been nice for me when my home, sadly, sometimes feels like a prison. 🙁 But, on better days…trying to shoot food. ugh..I’m just not getting it, at times. People seem to like my shots, but I keep thinking do I need a better lens?
Christina Peters
The key with any lens that is longer than 50mm is being able to be close enough to the food AND still be able to focus. The 75-300mm lens is a telephoto lens so that means it is made for shooting things far away, not close ups of food. That’s why I love the 100mm macro. I can get close enough to the food and put what I want in focus.
Rebecca
Christina,
I liked your tips here and I am intrigued now (I.e. looking for a possible upgrade in my lens)
Currently I shoot with sigma 50mm f/1,4 EX DG HSM, but I was looking at a Sigma 105 f2.8 ex dg macro os
Would it make much difference in your opinion?
Great blog, I love it
R.
Christina Peters
Hi there, you will LOVE the 105 macro – it’s almost the same as the 100mm macro. The canon lens is the same price as the Sigma, by the way, but, if you already have Sigma lenses I can understand why you would want to stick with the same brand. Great blog name by the way!
Ashley Cox
Hey Christina! This is an awesome post! By the way, I totally feel you when you say the purple carrots stopped you in your tracks! I was exactly the same way recently when I saw Purple Cauliflower in Whole Foods. Seriously thought I had died and gone to heaven, and shouted OMG and ran over to it!
I can definitely see the difference in the lenses. The glycerin tip is awesome!! You’re amazing! Keep up the fab work! Can’t wait for your ebook!
XOXO,
Ashley
Christina Peters
Thanks Ashley! And I saw the purple carrots in Whole Foods too. Their farmers are up to some pretty cool things!
Mary@SiftingFocus
You always share great information Christina. Thanks for the glycerin tip too.
Christina Peters
Hi Mary! Glad you liked the post. I’m working on an ebook filled with lots of tips so stay tuned for that!