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Jerry makes some great points - try them out before you buy. What is not really noted in his post is much about the word "MACRO". In my mind by definition that implies you will want to be taking pics of things close up. You begin to get an appreciation for small flowers and other small objects that you never "see" without. What you see behind your viewfinder will fill you with wonder. For me taking pics of individual flowers and small objects a 100mm works perfectly. For taking pictues of entire plants or photo displays like Jerry does a lot - NO. So part of the question would be what is your main intent that you plan to use such a lens for? Also, as he notes, the majority of the common consumer digital DSLR cameras will utilize the lenses as they would appear 1.6X what they would have appeared with a 35mm camera - so a 100 is like a 160. A 50mm will shoot like a 35mm camera's 80mm lens.
Depth of field, as noted by Jerry, is another important consideration. For most of what I take with a macro lens I don't want much depth of field. If I take a picture of a single flower I don't want to see all the leaves behind, other flowers behind that, the garbage can in the background, the electrical outlet on the wall, etc. With good technique you can learn to fuzz out/create "bokeh" that will actually create artistic expression to enhance the detail of your point of interest that IS in focus.
Yes Yes Yes - as Jerry noted - try some out and see what fulfills your needs! Enjoy the journey.........
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