What type of lens is specifically designed for close-up photography?

A macro lens is specifically designed for close-up photography, making it the ideal choice for capturing intricate details of small subjects, such as flowers, insects, and textures. This type of lens allows photographers to focus at very short distances, facilitating sharp, high-quality images that showcase fine details that would be lost or blurred with other types of lenses.

Additionally, macro lenses typically feature a 1:1 magnification ratio, enabling life-size images of the subject to be captured. This capability sets macro lenses apart from wide-angle, telephoto, and zoom lenses, which are not optimized for the extreme close-up work that macro photography demands. Each of those lenses serves different purposes, such as capturing broader scenes or distant subjects, but they lack the specialized features that a macro lens provides for detailed close-up shots.