Macro photography - how do you define it ?

I've always believed that 'macro' meant using a lens which is able to focus close enough to the subject to record it on the film/sensor at it's actual size.

Is this the case and if so is it fair to say that you can't actually have a macro shot of any object that is bigger than 35mm or the size of your sensor.

Recently though the term 'macro' just seems to be a word to describe any close up shot.

So what is macro ?

To me, it's just a close up shot

I think like you say Phil the true macro is to produce an image the same size or bigger on the sensor, but I think it has been watered down to mean any type of close up photography.

Yes I agree with Ste, a true Macro shot is one where the image that is recorded on the sensor is close to the same size of the object you are photographing. To achieve this you would need a 1:1 lens (or better).

However nowadays you can get lenses that are 1:2 or even 1:4 which are called Macro lenses as the definition has been watered down. It is now accepted that if the image can be printed on a 6" x 4" print at lifesize, that is a Macro shot.

IMO it also depends on how close to the subject you are, Macro lenses have a closer focusing distance than standard lenses. The shot I took in this thread here could be classed as a Macro and I used my 1:1 Macro lens to take the shot, however I personally wouldn't class it as a Macro given the distance I was from the subject (although the original image certainly seems lifesize ).