Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Digital SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR Cameras by Canon
|
List Price: Our Price: $424.00 You Save: $326.00 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $375.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Digital SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: EF-S 60 mm Macro Lens - Works Great!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I only wish that I had bought this lens earlier so I could have been using it longer. I am especially pleased with the short minimum focus distance - about 3 inches. This allows you to get very close to a small subject and to still fill the frame with the subject.
I have had no problems with this lens and I love it.
Digital camera Review: EF-S 60mm Macro
Summary: 5 Stars
Image quality on this non-L series lens is superb, a great complement to the 18 megapixel censors of either the 60D or 7D. You do have to be very close to your subject and the depth of field is very tight but the image quality is brilliant. Focus is sharp and the autofocus system is near silent. For the price, especially as this is a reasonably fast f2.8 lens, this is an excellent lens and a damn good portrait lens also with its 96mm equivalence.Digital camera Review: EF-S Brilliance
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fantastic lens. The optics, focus, rendition, build is of the highest standard for canons line-up, even though its EF-S.
I mean, with all the high quality L-lenses in canons line-up for FF, one could get the impression that canon is not really serious about their APSC offerings, then you come to a lens like this, and it has a way of reassuring you that canon still cares about EF-S lenses. There are a few shining diamonds in the rough of APSC lenses, such as the 17-55 f/2.8 IS and the 15-85mm IS that tell us APSC users that we are taken seriously. This is one of those special lenses that make you feel cared for.
On an APSC, the 60mm range is equivalent to 96mm on FF, giving it a field of view approximately equivalent with a 100mm macro on a FF. Some people prefer a little more working distance for distance and things. This is especially true for insect photography, making 100mm more appropriate, or simgas 150mm or canons 180mm. However, for still macro work, such as food and flowers, this is a very appropriate choice. Food was one of the reasons I got this lens in the first place, and also as a double as a portrait lens. The ~96mm range is great for portraits, and the sharpness has made my 50mm lens completely redundant except for low light situations. As a general use lens, it's a little long, but its really a lens for portrait and still macro work.
Let us get to build. This lens has a very nice solid feel. It's compact and weighs approximately 330g, making it excellently lightweight. The manual focus is very very smooth, allowing for micro-corrections if need be. It just feels nice to slide that ring around, but it could be a little better weighted like some of the high quality Ziess lenses, but hey, it is certainly smooth enough for all applications and fantastically built, especially for the relatively low price tag.
The USM on this lens is fantastic. Certainly lightning fast and deadly accurate. When it comes to USM, this would rank amongst the finest implementations, as I would say it is almost flawless and the best I have ever seen, and I would say its better than many implementations on L lenses. It really only fails in the most difficult of circumstances. So it is a real pleasure to use. In fact, when some of my other lenses focus is bugging me, I mount this lens and shoot with confidence that over 99 percent of my shots will be in focus.
The image quality is stunning. In terms of pure sharpness, this lens certainly run rings around the resolution of my sensor at f/4, absolutely tack sharp, phenomenally so. Even wide open, this lens is quite sharp, and certainly sharper than many faster lenses stopped down to f/2.8, the detriment to quality at f/2.8 is very well controlled, and barely noticeable to all but the most avid pixel peepers. This lens ranks amongst canons sharpest lenses, but because it is not Full-Frame, it probably gets overlooked by "serious" APSC users wishing to go Full-Frame in the long run. That said, this is the kind of lens that makes you think you could stick with APSC sensors. If I had to name a single optical flaw of this lens, I would have to say that there are lenses, such as the 135mm L, 85mm L and the 70-200mm (f/4L IS), with better colour and contrast. Don't get me wrong, its contrast is great and colours are great, there are just some lenses that do it better, but it is only worse than much more expensive lenses.
Overall, this is a seriously excellent lens for serious APSC sensors. The resolution and image quality is truly special that just dances with your sensor. This is combined with a good build quality, weight and phenomenal implementation of USM. Highly recommended for those who wish to stay with the APSC range.
Digital camera Review: EFS 60mm F2.8
Summary: 5 Stars
Come on people, there is a reason why Canon makes this lens for us. Yes it 's EFS for APS-C camera bodies only. But this lens can be doubled as a portrait lens for its focal length. Some may argue that its working distance is too short as a macro and may scare critters away. I partially agree. But the same argument applies when you use the EF100mm on a full frame camera. If you have the money, by all means, get the EF100mm F2.8L IS. This is the lens I will be drooling all over once I move to full frame. And I think IS would be a great help if you use EF100mm on a crop body. Remember the "safety" shutter speed for hand held is 1/(focal length x crop factor), you can hand hold the EFS 60mm better than the non-IS version of the EF100mm. With that said, the existence of the EFS60mm is justified.
The EFS60mm offers the best optical performance in my lens collection. It beats my EF 24-70mm F2.8L in terms of sharpness and chroma aberration at the same focal length and aperture. I use the EFS60mm not only for macro but also for other stuff like people and still objects. When I move to full frame, I am pretty sure I would still keep a crop body as a back up and also for telephoto stuff. So the value of this lens would not diminish. A great lens like this one should retain its resale value. You shouldn't worry too much about "oh, but I 'm going to upgrade to full frame some time down the road." Just get this lens if you want more versatility. Recently I have a business partner who has moved to full frame, and he sold his EFS 17-55mm F2.8 at 98% of what he had originally paid for. It 's better than renting.
Digital camera Review: Economical, Near-L Quality Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an entry-level photographer with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi (400d) and have been shooting with it for over a year now. My first of three lens was the "kit" EF-S 18-55mm (good for beginners, but you'll want to upgrade), my second was the EF 28-135mm IS USM (a highly versitile lens with mid-quality optics and Image Stabilization, a life-saver if you know anything about photography), and my third and most recent purchase was the EF-S 60mm USM Macro.
This lens sports superior color and sharpness to either of my other two lenses, and it shows in the pictures I have taken using it. Even with the aperture wide open, the graphics stay sharp and crisp with excelent bokeh. As a prime, this lens obviously has advantages in both sharpness and color over any non-"L" zoom. However, even with it's fixed focal length, I did not expect the quality that this lens has shown. As it's title sugests, it takes excellent macro photos, and, with it's fast aperture, it is also good for portraits.
As I mentioned in the title, if you're looking for "L" quality with a big white lens, you won't find it here. But this lens comes so close to "L" that it is nearly impossible to tell the difference. And with a price this low, how can you complain? I would recommend this lens to all photographers using an APS-C frame (1.6x conversion) in Rebels, XT's, XTi's, and 20-40d's.