Stepping past the arrogance for a second, there’s more to macro photography than f#. A big factor is the working distance to the object. Not only is this import

Stepping past the arrogance for a second, there’s more to macro photography than f#. A big factor is the working distance to the object. Not only is this important for skittish live subjects, it’s also important for static subjects for the practical reason that the extra distance provides space for proper lighting equipment. A good used Nikon macro lens can be had for less than a grand and a DX SLR body for less than $300. That’s cheaper than the price I paid for my iPhone 13 Pro, which has proven a bit of a disappointment for macro work. Further, the wider open the lens, the more shallow the depth of field, which is already quite shallow in macro work. Having the space for proper lighting can allow one to stop the lens down and capture more parts of the image in focus. F# is a secondary consideration as macro often works best at f/8 or f/11.