EF-S 60 mm 2.8 macro...Should I?

I have been to the lens archive. I see many people that were posting no longer have this lens in their signature. Is this one of those that people think might be nice to have but after trying it find out it isn't what they had hoped for? It would fit in great with my extensive line up of 2 lenses. I also really like to shot close-up stuff. I would love a lens with this capability yet could be used for regular work as well. I hate not having infinity focus with extension tubes and close up filters. Is this thing sharp enough at the wider apertures? I don't see tons of people owning this one.

It is a very nice lens and I use mine a ton. I bought it for macro both above and soon below water but really like it for general use as well. Very sharp and fast to focus. People who need more working distance prefer the 100s but I have not had issues with that.

I had one and it was the last EF-S lens I sold after I went full frame. It will be excellent on your 60D.

There is nothing wrong with this lens but, if I wanted a 60mm lens to also be used as a general purpose lens; I would investigate the 60mm f/2 Tamron macro because it is a stop faster.

It's not the 60 2.8 macro only that gets brought and sold a lot. In general macro lenses get brought and sold quite often. Usually, people think "I like to take close up of stuff" and buys a 1 to 1 macro. Then after a while they realize that most of the time they don't need 1 to 1 and as a result most of the time they make do with other lenses. Remember that 1 to 1 means that the image projected onto the sensor is the same size as the real life object. And considering the size of a full frame sensor (pretty tiny in the scale of the human world) you can see why not everyone finds a use for a macro lens.

I miss my 60.Damn sharp portrait lens. I wish canon would make a comparable lens to this for 1.3/full framers.

I use my 60mm for portraits and general non-macro photography. It's very sharp wide open. I think too many people think of it as just a macro lens.

Legacyruss wrote in post #12766711
I miss my 60.Damn sharp portrait lens. I wish canon would make a comparable lens to this for 1.3/full framers.

Well, I guess for FF, the 100mm Macro(s) would suffice.

I had the EF-S 60 when I had my 40D and it was my sharpest lens. It was a great lens for general purpose and macro and I was sorry to see it go. I would say it is as sharp as the EF 100 but benifits from being more compact. Coincidentally, I have just ordered one from Amazon for lab use at work!

That's a good lens, although I prefer the 100 macro for the extra working distance (I take shots of things that bite and sting).

Julius

Here are few shots from an EF-S 60 today:

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING! HTTP response: 404 | Byte size: ZERO

I got this lens just a couple of weeks ago, and I fell in love with it. Not only for macro photography, but as a great portrait lens as well. Super fast auto focus, very sharp, light - great on my 60D. Today I took it and the Sigma 17-70 OS for shots in the local park, but used mostly the 60mm.

I was looking at the sample gallery for this lens last night too, I think it's going to be my next lens. $450 is pretty reasonable, and it looks amazing.

Boy, I keep hearing sharp, sharp, sharp...I guess I just don't know about the short working distance to get 1:1. I guess I can always crop. I looked through the Tamron 60 mm lens archive. I would live a bit faster aperture for background blur. However, I'm not sure the color/contrast of the tamron lenses suits my taste. I have had a couple other tammy's and there was something I just couldn't get used to. Hmmmm, this one is tempting.

I had one and it was one of my favorite lenses. I intended to use it mostly for macro, but ended up using it much more than I thought. Get general purpose lens. Only reason I sold it was I went FF. You won't regret getting it.