The wonder of a true macro lens (1:1 or better on the sensor/film) is the minimum focusing distance. Otherwise it just acts as a pretty heavy, high-quality prime lens.
In other words, at two or three feet, expecting something special or "macro-ish" from a "macro" lens is...wrong.
The flipside of that is that the 80-105mm "macro" lenses (generally f/2.8) are some of the best portrait lenses around - not because you're shooting macros of faces - but because the glass (and all else) is normally so fantastic in these primes.
This is a really, really, really important point in this discussion (at least in terms of (D)SLRs). If what I'm saying isn't making sense, please have me try again.
