In praise of the Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM Macro Lens

[FarQinell]

This wonderful little lens is sharp right thru from a couple of feet to infinity.
I had been using the Canon 85mm f1.8 and the Canon 100mm f2 to photograph aircraft in flight (panning shots coming in to land at 150mph app) but was getting quite a few unsharp failures at f4 and 100 ISO (for grainless images).
The 60mm f2.8 changed all that with a very high rate of ultra sharp photos.
Maybe the autofocus is better on this lens - I don't know.
In terms of kept images these lenses are listed in order: 60mm clear first followed by the 85mm and the 100mm last.
Forget about the macro name - this really is a fine general purpose lens and at 60mm is of course ideal for portraits.

[telephonic]

Well it's much younger lens, and the name 'macro' speaks for itself. You'll never get disappointed in terms of sharpness.

Be aware, though, that some people may dislike your picture of them when it becomes too sharp.

[jimmy156]

I love this lens too, its my favourite lens, as you say super sharp, good AF (although i rarely use it for macro) and a great focal length for general purpose stuff too. (although it does tend to show some vignetting with wider apertures when focussed near infinity.)

You say forget the Macro desigination, but it does that pretty well too:


IMG_9763 by jimmyb156, on Flickr

[D.Sim]

Unless you were really really near, you'd have to be cropping in quite a bit on that lens though...

[jimmy156]

Unless you were really really near, you'd have to be cropping in quite a bit on that lens though...

The lens was focused at 1:1 so pretty near! The little fella is probably 20-25mm "arm to arm" so i don't think its much of a crop.

[D.Sim]

Unless you were really really near, you'd have to be cropping in quite a bit on that lens though...

The lens was focused at 1:1 so pretty near! The little fella is probably 20-25mm "arm to arm" so i don't think its much of a crop.

Oh, lmao, not your macro, I love that, a real bit of praise for the 60mm Macro...

I was referring to the original post, using 60mm for shooting planes... especially if the 85 and 100mms are able to shoot it too.  Sorry if I wasn't too clear. 

[jimmy156]

Unless you were really really near, you'd have to be cropping in quite a bit on that lens though...

The lens was focused at 1:1 so pretty near! The little fella is probably 20-25mm "arm to arm" so i don't think its much of a crop.

Oh, lmao, not your macro, I love that, a real bit of praise for the 60mm Macro...

I was referring to the original post, using 60mm for shooting planes... especially if the 85 and 100mms are able to shoot it too.  Sorry if I wasn't too clear. 

  ah, i see. Yes that's a good point, i tend to use my 120-400 when i take shots of planes at air shows etc!

Sorry for the confusion 

[Marsu42]

Unless you were really really near, you'd have to be cropping in quite a bit on that lens though...

The lens was focused at 1:1 so pretty near!

Well, it's great people love their lenses, but to add a piece of information if anybody reads this who *doesn't* own a macro lens yet: a) go get one :-) and b) if you need a larger working distance, get one of the 100mm macro lenses or even the 180mm - with animals that are alive might scare this is a very big advantage.

[Abraxx]

This wonderful little lens is sharp right thru from a couple of feet to infinity.
I had been using the Canon 85mm f1.8 and the Canon 100mm f2 to photograph aircraft in flight (panning shots coming in to land at 150mph app) but was getting quite a few unsharp failures at f4 and 100 ISO (for grainless images).
The 60mm f2.8 changed all that with a very high rate of ultra sharp photos.
Maybe the autofocus is better on this lens - I don't know.
In terms of kept images these lenses are listed in order: 60mm clear first followed by the 85mm and the 100mm last.
Forget about the macro name - this really is a fine general purpose lens and at 60mm is of course ideal for portraits.

+1
This lense is one of our favorites. Really sharp, light weight and well suited for portraits too!
For macros though I sometimes missed an IS, when not being able to use a tripod.
But I still prefer the IQ and speed over Tamrons version with IS.

[Bennymiata]

I love my EF-S 600mm macro lens too.
Great for product shots and insects too.

[Quasimodo]

I am happy to hear this:) My wife just borrowed this lens this very weekend to use on her 600D. I can't use it on my 5D MKII, but I tried on her 600 and a friends (the one who owns the lens) 7D and it looked excellent. Also very happy to hear that it works well as a all purpose lens, given that she is just learning to use a DSLR camera, so I guess that this will be her walkaround lens.

I started a discussion thread a week ago called What is your favorite Canon lens and why, but nobody has mentioned that lens there, so I am happy I happende to stumble upon this thread.