Macro photography lives or dies on two numbers that beginners rarely compare before buying: reproduction ratio and working distance. Reproduction ratio tells you how large a subject appears on the sensor, with 1:1 meaning life size, and working distance tells you how far the front of the lens sits from the subject at that magnification, which decides whether you can light it and whether you scare away the insect.A true 1:1 macro lens fills the frame with a subject the size of the sensor, and most dedicated macro primes hit that mark, while zooms labeled macro often manage only 1:2 or 1:3. The difference is enormous in practice, because a 1:2 lens needs you to crop to match a 1:1 result, throwing away half the resolution. For flat subjects like coins and stamps, reproduction ratio is the spec that matters most.Working distance determines how the lens handles living subjects. A 60mm macro forces you close, blocking light and alarming anything that moves, while a 100mm or 180mm macro backs you off to a comfortable distance at the same magnification.
Longer lenses
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