Canon EF-S Macro 60mm F/2.8 lens - A year of use in the field

After a year of use on thousands of observations, the Canon EF-S Macro 60mm holds up as a highly versatile tool for shooting wildlife, particularly in regards to the needs of the iNaturalist user. The lens functioned as a perfect introduction to macro and DSLR photography for me, and I highly recommend it to any iNatter looking to build a beginner DSLR setup with an APSC body such as the popular and affordable Canon Rebel series.

What makes this lens, in my opinion, so highly useful for iNat is its adaptability to nearly any field-shooting circumstance. Autofocus and infinity focus make for a lens which can seamlessly transition from shooting jumping spiders at 1:1, to larger reptiles, mammals, or plants, and even capture birds quite effectively due to the narrow field of view and precision sharpness. The lens is also quite small, and utilizes fully internal focusing, highly valuable qualities for ease of use and dirt/water resistance while hiking. This lens is easy to use, and hard to break. While Macro has a reputation for being difficult to learn, I can honestly say that this lens made photographing any subject smaller than a frog or flower far easier almost immediately, and I felt that I had developed a substantial familiarity with shooting at or near 1:1 within only a few weeks. The learning curve was not at all discouraging, and while mastering macro can require practice, it does not take long to be able to get amazing macro images out of this lens.

For these reasons, the Canon EF-S Macro 60mm has been by far my most used lens over the past year, and is the lens I would recommend most, not only as an excellent basic macro/portrait lens, but as a "default" lens for those who prioritize the ability to quickly and effectively capture a wide range of wildlife while in the field.

Posted on December 21, 2023 10:08 PM by hsug1747