Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro

I purchased this lens as I started to become more and more interested in photographing bugs and insects close up.

I decided on the this lens because it was the cheapest that Canon offered. The 100mm lens was £100 more (£460) so thought I'd rather buy the cheaper one just in case I didn't take to macro photography. When I purchased the lens I was using it with a Canon 400D but have since moved up to a 7D.

The real benefit of a dedicated macro lens is that it allows you to photograph a subject at 1:1 size. In other words you can virtually fill the entire frame with something the size of a house-fly. Although to many this doesn't seem like something worthwhile photographing (as I first did) I am now hooked on the fact you can see all the details from individual hairs down to the skin textures and so on. Seeing these small animals close up is fascinating.

Anyway back to the lens! Having never really used anything other than normal Canon kit lenses that come with cameras such as the 400D (18-55mm and 70-300mm) the first thing to strike me was the weight of this lens compared to what I was used to. Although not heavy in the grand scheme of things it felt 2-3 times heavier than the lenses I was used to. It also feels much better made than my previous lenses but I suppose you get what you pay for.

Being a fixed length (prime) lens the actual focusing mechanism is contained within the body of the lens so the end of it doesn't turn like some lenses. Very handy if you have any filters attached as it obviously doesn't rotate them.

Another thing that struck me when using this lens was how quiet and quick the auto-focus was. It literally focuses within a second on the object you are photographing. However, after playing around with it some more and looking at the images shot once they were downloaded to the computer I realised that they were slightly out of focus. This did beg the question was the lens alright or had it been damaged during shipping but I soon realised it was due to the cameras AF system. Once the lens was in manual mode, which it now almost permanently stays in, the images are very clear and pin sharp. Something which all of the Canon macro lenses seem to benefit from after reading other reviews.

The lens itself benefits from an aperture of f2.8 (max of f32). This means that it is capable of allowing a lot of light in meaning quick shutter speeds. Obviously that's a bonus when photographing flies and spiders that move quickly. However, it also means that the depth of field (the bit in focus) is very shallow so you have to make sure the focus is spot on where you want it to be. It very often makes for pleasing results though.

The closest focusing distance for this lens is 20cm so if you don't like getting too close to creepy crawlies I'd suggest you start looking at lenses like Canon 100mm or the offerings from Sigma and Tamron. Or if you have lots of spare cash the Canon 180mm L series which is currently retailing at £1299!

From my experience a lot of animals don't always like you getting that close but with a bit of practice you learn how to approach them slowly so as not to startle them. You also have to be quite patient I have found. You can't just run up to something get a good photo and walk to find something else. I've found it best, especially with things like flies, to wait by the flowers they are feeding from fairly close with the camera already roughly focused and then sit patiently for a few minutes and they will start returning at which point you can start photographing.

Sounds a bit sad sat waiting for a fly to appear but if you want to get in to macro stuff then that's what you have to do!

I used the lens with the 400D for around 2-3 months before I upgraded my camera to a 7D. On this camera the AF of the lens works fantastically but as previously stated that I believe is down to the actual camera rather than the lens itself. It still gets it wrong sometimes though which is why I prefer manual focus.

Since getting more in to macro photography I'd recommend either a ring-flash or it the budget extends (much) further a twin lite flash. Marumi do ring-flashes from around £109, Sigma start at about £280, Canon £450ish (I'm sure sometimes you are just paying for the name) and if you want the twin flash from Canon they are now retailing at £899. Don't let that put you off though I picked one up of eBay for a little over £300 that had hardly been used. A good saving of £500 :)

Anyway, although I am more than happy with the lens and I'd recommend it to anyone I'd probably say buy the 100mm lens as it offers a better working distance than the 60mm. That is the only reason why I haven't given it 5 stars.

The 60mm is a fantastic lens which produces good, clean, sharp images. I am more than happy with it but as I said, wish I'd have spent that extra £100 for the 100mm.

I've (hopefully) attached a few images. One is a very common hoverfly which was about 6mm long to give you some example of the sort of image this lens can produce. The other is a cattapillar which again was only about 8mm long clinging to some chives. As you can see his big lips can be seen perfectly (is it me or does he resemble the plant from the film Little Shop of Horror?).