Marlo,

Buy a camera which will allow you to change focusing screens. At high
magnifications the standard split-image focusing screens are almost useless;
they turn dark & it becomes very difficult to focus using them. There are
special focusing screens for close-up photography. I don't know if Canon EOS
Rebel 2000 has interchangeable focusing screens. I am familiar only with Nikon
cameras. The cheapest Nikon (~$400 on the gray market) that has
interchangeable screns is FM2n.

The sales people in local photo stores are usually clueless when it comes to
specialized photography. I recommend a book called the Manual of Close-up
Photography by Lester Lefkowitz (Leskowitz?). My copy is from the late 70s. It
will teach you everything you need to know about close-up photography both
technical & practical.

Some commercial sites on the Internet also provide very detailed information
on camera specifications. One such place is B&H in New York
(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). I found more information on their site about
Nikon cameras than I could at Nikon's official site. If you live in the U.S.
consider buying a "gray market" camera from a reputable dealer, such as B&H, &
you would save a bundle. These are cameras that were not meant for the U.S.
market & consequently they do not have the manufacturer's usual warranty. But
it is unlikely for a Nikon or any other good camera to break down during the
first year covered by the manufacturer's standard warranty. Some stores that
sell them, for example, B&H, provide their own 1-year warranty for gray market
cameras.

Some other pointers. For the 2-3 mm range you are considering you need to get
extension tubes (or bellows) & reverse your lens. If you reverse a 50-mm lens
you will get a life-size image of the object on the film without any tubes. At
high magnifications reversed movie camera lenses used to be used, which gave
sharper images than reversed ordinary still camera lenses. But I don't know if
these are still available. At high magnifications depth of field is very
limited & you can't close down the aperture too much, otherwise you get
diffraction patterns around the image. The book I mentioned gives tables of
recommended minimum aperture stops to use at different magnifications.

Good luck.

Aydin


On Sat Jan 22 17:14:41 2000,
"Marlo Krisberg" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>OK, all you micro photo experts.  I've gotten to the point where I'm
>seriously thinking it's time I
>gave it a try.  I want to work with material down to 2-3 mm.  SO, I stopped
>by the local photo store
>to get advice.  I wanted to use a 35mm, SLR body.  Here's what they
>recommended that would "make it
>a breeze."
>
>Canon EOS Rebel 2000
>A 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro
>Macro Ring Lite ML-3, auto flash exposure control, twin flash tubes, built in
>mini lamps.
>
>My question is; based upon your experience, will this combo work?   If not,
>what does you experience
>recommend?  Hints and suggestions welcome.
>
>--
>Marlo
>Merritt Island, Florida
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>