Canon EF-S 60mm Macro: closer to heaven

Macro photography may be fun with a compact camera, but it is addictive with a dSLR camera. The kind of quality achieved by a dedicated macro lens plus the full power of a dSLR provide the ultimate rig for close-up photography.

We have reviewed before the EF 100mm Macro, an excellent lens, yet it is big and heavy. Another disadvantage is the focal length when used in a sub-frame camera: 160mm equivalent.

If you have a sub-frame camera and looking for a macro lens, you should take a look to the EF-S 60mm macro lens. Since it is an EF-S glass it won't fit a full frame camera. But if that doesn't bother you, the 60mm is a very tempting option with several important advantages.

Can't buy me love

You can't buy love, but you can buy an excellent macro lens for $360 if you choose the EF-S 60mm. You can save $83 compared to the $443 100mm (and that means that you can buy about 20 grande cappuccinos at Starbucks).

Size & weight

The EF-S 60mm is a very compact lens compared with the 100mm that is a pretty big animal. Having a much lighter and more compact macro lens is very welcomed, especially in those big-outdoors excursions for an exotic flower.

Focal length

It depends on the kind of photos you need. The 160mm (35mm equiv.) of the big brother may be useful if you want to take a certain distance from your subjects (e.g. insects). The 60mm has a 35mm equivalence of 96mm (pretty close to the 100mm focal length in a full frame camera) that allow the photographer to get closer. Most of the product photographs in PhotoAficionado.com have been shoot with a 40D and the EF-S 60mm, and we found that the focal length of this lens is excellent for table-top studio work.

Construction and Optical Quality

The poly carbonate body has good quality, although the overall feel of the lens is not as good as an L lens. If you check the under $400 price tag you can imagine that you won't have weather sealing or a red ring, but the lens is reasonably solid and the metal mount feels pretty good. The lens features an excellent ultrasonic motor that is, unsurprisingly, smooth, fast, very precise with auto focus and near silent.

The optical quality is extremely good, comparable to the excellent EF 100mm that delivers the goods and excellent images between f/8 and f/11. With a maximum aperture of f/2.8 this prime macro lens is pretty fast and it features a minimum aperture of f/32.

That's it for the techno-babble. How does the EF-S 60mm Macro feels?

We are extremely pleased with this lens that is our first choice when doing close up photography. The compact size and reduced size are a great plus when we are on the move; the optical quality is extremely good. The ultra sonic motor is excellent and the only point that is slightly sub par is the construction quality, but it doesn't feel by any means as a cheap lens. You don't have the quality of the L lenses, but the price tag is pretty attractive. If you want to go serious about close up photography and don't mind using a lens just with a sub frame camera, this is an excellent choice and you won't feel disappointed.