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Anonymous
Macro, strictly speaking, means the lens offers 1:1 or greater magnification. For example, if you're shooting a twig two centimeters long, then the lens will be (in combination) long enough and focus close enough to project it onto the sensor large enough so the image of the twig will be two centimeters (life-size) or longer.
Since most people just care about getting relatively close pictures of flowers or bugs for art or entertainment, and most people are uninformed, and, manufacturers want money and like an uninformed public, any lens that focuses closer than is typical for its focal length is marketed as "macro," e.g. that Sigma. They're close enough for most people's purposes, but they aren't really "macro."
As I hinted at above, theoretically, a macro lens can be any focal length, so long as it focuses close enough to get that 1:1 magnification. The widest macro lens I know of is a 19/2.8 Macro-Nikkor (for some reason not "Micro-Nikkor" like the rest of Nikon's macro lenses, except the 35, 65, and 120mm companions in its series) that will cover 4x5. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
However, since it has twice the magnification, a 50mm lens needs to focus half as close as a 25mm, making it easier to design, and most people appreciate the extra working distance. So most macros for 135 format are made 50mm or longer.
>>230176 >Generally a macro lens won't be quite as sharp as a non-macro prime of the same focal length, but they still tend to be really good.
Really? I've always heard they're generally sharper.
>>230150 >wide angle is way different. On a cropped body usually around 10 or 12mm .. full frame good ones start at 14mm
That's ultrawide and not "usual." More like 17, 20, 24 for crop bodies.
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