CANON 60mm vs 100mm - which is best?

Pls advise for what to choose between Canon 60mm MACRO and Canon 100mm MACRO with T2i for best macro, portraiture, and landscape. Pls justify for image quality, mechanical quality, and performance. Thank you so much for every comment.

I had only the 60mm, so I can't really compare. But it worked great and did 1:1 really well. Many would suggest the 100mm just to get a greater working distance. I would imagine that the EF-S is better optimized for an APS-C image circle. The 60mm on a crop using TDP's comparison tool looks sharper slightly than the 100mm. But the 100mm on full frame ccamera appears even better.

I own both and would say they're pretty much the same as far as image quality, mechanical quality and performance are concerned. Which leaves focal length -

For Macro the extra working distance of the 100mm is a good thing if you're shooting stuff that is likely to get spooked by having a lens thrust a few inches from them. If you're shooting static stuff like coins then a short working distance isn't so important, although it can make lighting more difficult.

For portraits the 60mm is a much better focal length. I find 100mm means I need to get too far back, although it's probably be fine in a studio.

Landscape - no preference.

I have a 100mm & both FF & crop bodies. Purely from a focal length point of view I prefer it on FF. I find 100mm on crop too tight.

I think quality, performance, build etc you can't really go wrong with either.

The 60 was one of my first lenses after getting a DSLR. It is a wonderful lens and one of the two that I use underwater. The other is a fisheye Tokina. On a crop it is the way to go. I got the 100L because I got a FF and wanted a macro lens. I have not used it on the cropper yet though I plan to.

If say for all it comes down to working distance.

For macro how the 100mm will get you farther way which is good for bugs and such but not really a factor with things that are not easily scared (flower, ect). So do you need the extra working distance?

For portraits the 60mm will have you closer to your subject then the 100mm. So how far do you want to have to stand from your subject?

Landscape........neith​er are landscape anything.

Build, IQ, and everything are all pretty much identical. So like I said, working distance.....how much of it do you need (macro) or want (portrait)?

I don't have an APSC (1.6 crop) camera, however a friend of mine does and has used my Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro extensively as well as her own Canon 60mm Macro. She can find little, if any, difference and would be happy with either.
I have used her 60mm Macro on my 1D4 (with a 13mm EF/EFS extension tube and found it extremely good.
Decide on the focal length you need and then get a lens - they are both excellent!

Thank you so much for every comment. I am very new to photography, will keep on learning and practising whatever tool and equipment I have on hand, and be careful of trying to have what the pro is using. You are so great!

I have both and they are outstanding lenses. For portraits, I prefer the 100mm. But the 60mm is very good for portraits as well. You can't make a bad choice here. You'll be very happy with either.

The 60mm is an outstanding lens. Its the oldest one I still have. I had planned to sell it when I bought the 100mm L IS macro, but it's just too good to part with. It fits into the only gap I have between 10mm and 280mm.

I had both for a long time and ended up selling the 60, for what it's worth. I prefer 100 for macro work, which is all I really use it for. The 60 has great quality and is nice for being smaller and lighter.

I love my 60mm macro, it's great value for the money. The only reason I might sell it is that I now have a 6D and I can't use the 60mm on it. At least with a 100mm macro I can use it n either camera.

Image quality is no concern with any of the Canon macro lenses.

It comes down to...

1. How large a lens you want to carry... the 60mm is far more compact and lighter. Add the hood to the lenses... the 100 USM's matched hood is huge (it is possible to use a smaller screw-in hood with it, but it won't reverse on the lens for storage).

2. Working distance... at 1:1 you have about 3.5" working room with the 60mm, or about 6" with one of the 100mm macros. These are working room from the front of the lens (without hood). Normally minimum focus distance is measured from the "film plane", and is closer to 8" for the 60mm and 12" for the 100mm... But MFD isn't the same as working distance because the camera and lens occupy part of the minimum focusing distance.

3. Potential for background blur... the longer focal length throws backgrounds more out of focus, with the subject framed the same size and using the same aperture.

4. Tripod mounting ring... optionally can be added to the 100mm lenses and is helpful for macro work. None can be fitted to the 60mm... But, of course, the 60mm is smaller and lighter enough that a t'pod ring is probably less needed.

5. Focus limiter.... the 100 USM has a limiter (two stage), the 100L IS does too (three stage), the 60mm does not have a focus limiter. A two stage limiter is most useful for non-macro shooting, to speed up focus and prevent/reduce hunting at "normal" shooting distances. A three stage limiter is useful restricting the lens to focusing within either macro or non-macro ranges.

6. Filters.... the 60mm uses 52mm, the 100 USM uses 58mm, the 100L IS uses 67mm.

Personally I'm not a big fan of using a macro lens for portraiture. Often they are just too sharp, capture more fine detail than subjects want shown. Few of us are photographing 17 year old models with flawless skin fresh from a $200 an hour make-up session. Most everyone else would prefer some of their flaws be overlooked, and macro lenses can be pretty unkind. Of course, you can soften images with filters and/or in software.

It's not a matter of "best"... All the Canon macro lenses are top quality, with full features. It's more a matter of which lens fits your particular needs best. If you travel with your lenses a lot, the 60mm might be preferable. Or the smaller lens might balance better on a Rebel/xxxD series camera. If you use a tripod a lot for macro shooting (most serious macro shooters do), then the tripod mounting ring might be an essential accessory for you. For portraiture on a crop camera such as the T2i, I'd probably choose a 60mm over a 100mm lens much of the time (on croppers I mostly use 50/1.4 and 85/1.8). Personally I have no other lenses that use 52mm or 67mm filters, but a number that use 58mm.... a minor point, but another that influences my own choices.

Just to add to the confusion... there are also a number of very good third party macro lenses. For example, if I were leaning toward the 60mm I'd also take a hard look at the Tamron 60mm, which at f2.0 has a full stop larger aperture than any other autofocus macro lens (the Zeiss ZE 100 Makro is the only other f2.0 macro lens I'm aware of for use on Canon... The ZE lenses are manual focus only and are very pricey).

amfoto1 wrote in post #15775039
the 100 USM's matched hood is huge

A tip for those who own both the 100 and 60mm macro lenses. The 60mm hood fits the 100mm lens and is substantially shorter and less annoying.