Macro lenses

Talking macro photography, the best way is still a dedicated macro lens.
Macro lenses are generally of very good quality.

I have an 85mm macro lens, or micro as Nikon prefer to call it. It will take snapshots in a 1:1 ratio. In the past, I have had a set of extension tubes, and since the last update of these pages I now also have a bellows, that I have tried many years ago, and remember as being really great, so I had to have one. Also, I have just tried the reverse ring system with a lens I usually don't use. With that spare lens, it can take photos, at a much closer point of focus.
And then I recently got a 105mm for a fullframe camera. I got it second hand. And its from back in the film days. But its a good quality lens.

A genuine macro lens is also good for portrait photography, as they give very sharp pictures. Fixed focal tends to give you the sharpest results. A macro zoom makes it easy to crop the motif and they are cheaper, but the quality is a bit lesser.
A conclusion is; Buy a fixed focal length macro lens, if you can afford it, the quality is simply better, and it can be used for other kinds of photography.