Ya' know, for as long as I've been into digital photography (about 10 years) one might assume that I would know the basic stuff I'm about to ask, but I'm pretty much clueless.

What are the most common methods (lenses, macro filters, lens tubes, etc) used for taking shots of very small subjects ???
I mean, I see all kinds of lenses advertised as being "macro" lenses, which I know generally means you can get much closer to the subject, and that's all fine and good, but the thing that throws me off, is that almost all of these so-called macro lenses are /only/ a 1:1 ratio ?
In fact, of all of the macro lenses I see available, the only one that seems like a /real, true/ macro lens, is the Canon MP65, which is a 5:1 macro lens ! Now THAT is a macro lens !

Forget /lifesize/...... I want to be able to fill the frame with a 1/16" ant, with zero cropping !

Why are their a million 1:1 macro lenses....... and then one of them that is a 5:1..... and yet I see basically no other 2:1's, 3:1's, etc ???

So what then ? Lens tubes ? Macro filters ? Seems to me more companies would just make a lens which didn't need to be rigged, to get the job done ?

Hmmmmm......
Please educate me,


Thank you,
Fish
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