Canon EF 50mm 2.5 Compact Macro Lens

The Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Normal Autofocus Lens is probably the cheapest way to get into the close up world with a macro lens. It is a very lightweight and compact macro lens for close up images up to half life size or up to full life size with the optional converter.

This lens can also be a very effective lens for general photography, including portraiture and normal photography.

I absolutly love close up macro photography and I am a a photographer who believes that several macro lenses belong in every photographers bag.

For the photographer on a budget this macro lens can be obtained for a little over $200 and it will give a magnification of 0.5 by itself, however with optional life-size converter it gives a magnification of 1.0.

If you peruse this web site you will observe that I love my macro photography and spend probably 20% of my time on it. Get into macro photography the world in miniature is wonderful. Even if you have only a small garden then you will find many types of insects to photograph with your macro lens.

If you want to get into close up photography without a macro lens it is far more difficult, as you will need to fiddle around with extension tubes and close up supplementary lenses, it will be far easier to get the macro lens and go from there.

There are quite a few options with the Canon macro lenses and some are summarised below.

• EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro,a compact Macro Normal Autofocus Lens and Canon Life-Size Converter EF,
• MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, a manual Focus Lens with 5 times magnification,
• EF 100mm f/2.8 USM, a medium focal length macro telephoto lens,
• EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, a medium focal length macro lens with image stabilisation,
• EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM, the longest telephoto macro lens.

In choosing a macro lens bear in mind that the longer the focal length of the lens, the easier it will be to approach shy insects and animals so the focal length will need to be chosen on the type of photography you do.

Also do not forget that a macro lens can also be used foor other applications such as portraits or landscapes it is not just limited to close up images.

See the Flickr site for image samples from this lens.

Specifications

• Focal Length, 50 mm
• Aperture Maximum, f/2.5
• Aperture Minimum, f/32
• Camera Mount Type, Canon EF
• Format Compatibility, 35mm Film, Full Frame Digital Sensor, Canon APS-C
• Angle of View, 46°
• Minimum Focus Distance, 9.06″,  23.01 cm
• Magnification, 0.5 times
• Maximum Reproduction Ratio, 1:2
• 8 Groups,  9 Elements
• Diaphragm Blades, 6
• Filter Thread, 52 mm
• Dimensions (DxL), 2.7 x 2.5″,  6.86 x 6.35 cm
• Weight, 9.88 oz,  280 grams.

Features

• Image Stabilization, No
• Autofocus, Yes
• Tripod Collar, No.