Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Digital SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR Cameras
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Digital SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR Cameras
Customer Review: Awesome glass. You can't buy better for the price.
Summary: 5 Stars
Others have raved about the quality of this lens, and all I can do is agree. It is nearly perfect from an optical perspective. It is fairly fast at f/2.8. It does the finest macro imaging of it's peer lenses. On a typical 10,20,30D, or Rebel body, it is also a FINE portrait or medium telephoo lens. This lens is light, small, and darn near perfect in every way. Just buy one. Be happy, and let the nay sayers wallow in their paranoia.
Someone here said that Canon had anounced that they will be producing only full frame cameras in the future. That was nonsense (or a lie). Canon will continue to lead the world in full frame pro DSLR's, but is commited to maintaining it's edge in the crop sensor realm that it's competition is focused on. The new 10 mp Rebel XTi is a good example of that concept.
Canon APS sensor cameras are here to stay for the long haul. Buy all of the "S" lenses that suit you. Even if you go with a full frame sensor body in the distant future, your APS lens collection will provide you with compact size, IS, light weight, perspective and image quality *right now* that cannot be met by current L lenses.
If you are an APS sized sensor owner today, be bearish on the S lens line. It offers awesome bang for the buck, and until the L line is upgraded with the latest 4 stop IS across the board, they offer you little or nothing.
I own several L lenses, and I owned a 5D. Some L lenses are awesome, but the bulk are outdated, and will be replaced by upgraged optics, and new or better IS very soon. Meanwhile, the S line is very impressive, and reasonable in price. Even if you go to full frame, your current eqipment will last for decades.
I had a 5D. I own a 30D. The 5D is sweet, but it is no where near as fast or trusted as the 30D. It has serious issues that (I hope) will be fixed in the next gen full frame camera. It has a sensor that creates serious vignetting even witrh L lenses. It has serious "dirty sensor" issues that are just being addressed in the Rebel XTi, and it is simply in need of an upgrade. Meanwhile, the lowly crop sensor camera is, and will continue to be the bread and butter format for years to come.
By the way, if you really think that the 5D is the cats' meow of digital cameras, buy one. You still need a solid backup camera though, and an APS sized body and lens set will get the job done. It's not either or. You need both for several reasons, and all of the premium S lenses you buy today will hold their value for years to come.
If you have a crop sensor camera body, buy a 17-55mm S f/2.8 IS lens and factory hood. Buy a 10-22mm S zoom and factory hood. Buy a 60 S f/2.8 macro lens. Then, spend your budget on whatever you please.
Take ultra fine pics today, and let someone else wait for the latest L lenses that might be out tomorrow.
Customer Review: Incredibly sharp images
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 and thought that was a sharp lens. This one's even sharper. I'm accustomed to the razor sharpness of the 85mm f1.2L II, and this one gets mighty close. Plus, it's capable of Macro 1:1 to boot. I won't go into the technical details as you can find that from other sites. But wide open, it's already tack sharp in the center and corners aren't much further behind, and the bokeh is pretty nice. The only difference I found compared to other sites that tested the lens, was that I can actually still use images at F22 aperture shooting macro.
I'm finding it increasingly hard to keep my 50mm f1.4 on my camera over the 60mm f2.8. Portraiture, they perform about the same in sharpness, and bokeh is similar at exact aperture settings. I actually prefer the slightly more flattened, compressed look of the 60mm. Color saturation and contrast are very similar as well. Both focus at about the same speed, with the noticeable difference that the 60mm has a longer way to go from macro 1:1 to infinity focus.
The only quirk, and why I almost knocked it down to 4 stars, is the working distance to 1:1 macro. But I knew that going into this purchase. It's a short working distance (~3.5 inches), short enough to disturb jittery insects. If you feel you're going to be doing a lot of insects and more shy creatures and you want to stay in the Canon lineup, you may want to look at the 100mm f2.8, or even the 180mm f3.5L if you have the money. The reason I went with the 60mm is because it still gave me the 100mm-equivalent full frame focal length for an excellent portrait. The 100mm would've been too long, and the 180mm is in no-man's-land for portraits.
In short, if you want a razor sharp lens that does macro work very well and switches to an excellent portrait lens, and you're not going to be shooting jittery insects most of the time, then pick this one up. If you're doing a lot of insect work, I'd suggest at the least, the 100mm, and maybe even the 180mm. The tradeoff is you can't really use the other two longer lens for portraiture work unless you have an insane working distance.
Customer Review: Hidden Treasure
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens is a "hidden treasure" - it is easy to overlook being classified as Macro. It is great for object and portrait photography as many other reviews state. Build wise it feels like a high quality product. Photos taken with this lens look like from L class -- very sharp and vibrant. I'd go as far as to say that this lens justifies owning APS-C body, just to be able to use this lens.
Keep in mind microadjustment function available in some Canon cameras. I performed it on my 7D and no adjustment was needed. This may be obvious but I will mention anyway: this lens is not for moving objects and it is not best choice for landscapes. Focusing while not slow is not fast either. f/22-f/32 range seems to be slightly less sharp, but then again most lenses produce sharpest results at around f/5.6 - f/8 range.
Try shooting butterflies with flowers in the background at around f/4 - f/5.6. Bokeh is so nice, it looks almost like if background was purposefully "manufactured". You are practically guaranteed getting colorful "spring-mood" shots worth framing. Just watch for exposure to be fast enough if handholding by choosing ISO accordingly.
Rating note: my reviews are for the subject product. Shipment, seller pricing & support, etc can be noted but do not impact my ratings.
In a way of discalimer: I prefer buying from Amazon but I did not buy this item from Amazon which sometimes happens based on availability, value, or shipment dates.
To conclude: I was considering expanding lens collection to macro and portrait "some day" since my hobby doesn't justify high expenses. Then I noticed this lens, removed Canon 50mm (~$99) from my wish list and went for it! Three birds with one stone, figuratively speaking...
Customer Review: Top-Notch
Summary: 5 Stars
I once thought that macro lenses were too specialized and that I would seldom need something so fine that I could photograph the segments in an insect's eye. That was until I bought this lens.
I use it with a Canon 20D. My other lenses include the 17-85 IS zoom (versatile range but slow and not sharp), the 70-200mm f2.8L non-IS zoom (great for those moderate telephoto needs), and a 50mm f1.8 prime (very good for the price). But the 60mm is now my favorite lens, by a large margin. It's on my camera all the time, and the other lenses spend most of their time in the bag.
It's very sharp; it's not heavy or conspicuous, and it handles fine macro photography or standard walking-around work (though not useful for wider angles).
It's a little unfortunate that it doesn't come with a hood - Canon must make a fortune selling those hoods at the prices they charge. I'm probably going to have to buy a hood or hope somebody sees it on my Amazon wish list. It also doesn't come with a case, but if you're keeping the lens in a decent camera bag you don't need a case for the lens.
More important than a hood is some kind of support for camera if you're doing any serious macro photography. With the lens wide open at f2.8 and the subject close to the lens you will only have about 1/4 inch (2-3 mm) of depth-of-field. Your breathing can move the camera enough to ruin your composition or knock the subject out of focus. So I'd suggest investing in some kind of small tripod or a bean bag or something to help hold it still. Of course, you can also boost the ISO and thereby get away with a faster shutter speed, but that's at the expense of a slight loss in quality. Depending on how your pictures are being used, that may or may not be important.
Customer Review: It's Made in Taiwan -- NOT IN JAPAN!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I own two of Canon's greatest lenses: the Canon EF 135mm f/2.0 L USM and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro. As every Canon fan knows, these two expensive lenses are both optically superb in sharpness, distortion, chromatic aberration, etc. And these lenses are made in Japan, where Canon's main office resides.
The mark on the box, "Made in Taiwan" gave me the impression that this is a cheap lens for beginners who don't want to spend too much money and mediocre image quality is more than good enough. I have nothing against Taiwanese but I thought the Japanese will have more experience in manufaturing lenses since they've been doing this for much longer.
I tried the lens, took several shots with my 7D, downloaded the 18MP raw images to my computer screen and then inspected the images -- pixel by pixel.
Then I realized this lens is SHARP! Especially at f4, f5,6 until f11. Even at f2.8 it is very good! It has a nice blur (bokeh) especially at f2.8 and its shading isn't noticable from f4 beyond. As for CA and distortion, maybe it has slight but I can't see it. Focusing is fast, almost as good as the 135mm f/2. The only disadvantage maybe is, you may not want to use it for portrait images. It is too sharp!
All in all, this lens can challenge the "Canon EF 135mm f/2.0 L USM" and the "Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM" in terms of optical quality. A great lens at less than half the price of either two.
But i don't want my now three great lenses to "fight" and "compete" with each other, they will all work together with me and take best photographs possible. I'll keep all of them and use each where each is best at.
I highly recommend this lens. It's a great "Made in Taiwan" product!