Hi!
The first question is "What macro subjects will you be photographing most of the time?"
I think that it will be fifty-fifty. I am going to be taking my tripod to the field and doing some real life macro stuff. And of course I have plans to do something in the silence (or lack thereof) of my house...
If it's bugs and other highly mobile, animated subjects, a ~100mm macro or a 100mm to 135mm lens plus auto extension tubes would be a good starting point. (a 100mm macro lens focuses close with built-in extension so it's the same as adding tubes to a non-macro lens; of course a macro lens is more "corrected" for close focusing)
I think that I will start with the tubes I have. Depending on the result I will either enable me with AF tubes or go along the macro lens route.
If you want more than 1x magnification, reversing lenses and stacking lenses are good inexpensive options.
For now, 1:1 will be more than enough I think.
If you want a good book, get John Shaw's "Closeups in Nature" for a lot of techniques for closeup photography that can be applied to nature subjects as well as other subjects.
I am going to have to look this one up.
Thanks!
Boris
