Product reviewsCanon EF Compact Macro 50-50mm f/2.5 EF Lens

Old Style Image Perfection

Old construction lens moves the entire lens group towards the close up subject but by doing so this design has integrity of construction not shared by so called internal focussing close up lenses. Downside, its slow to say the very least when used as an autofocus lens, which I am not doing at all, since in my case it is used as a manual focus lens for video or stills from a tripod.Read full review...

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Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: alfayya0

A must for all lens kits

What a great little lens. Small enough to tuck in a pocket but carries a punch when it comes to images. Shots are sharp, focusing quiet and fast. Will always have this lens to hand.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: gamesfan2015

Older but a smart buy

It might now be a few years old but this is still a lovely lens. I’m not interested in it’s macro facility (although I have used it), it was the fact it has been reviewed as canons sharpest 50mm EF series lens. It is incredibly sharp. It might only be F2.5 but I shoot almost everything at infinity so this is not an issue. I shoot a lot of night stuff under bright lights and as the front element is small and a long way inside the body it generates almost no flare (as long as you don’t use a filter)
I think it is now my favourite lens.
I paid £50 + p+p for mine. Incredible lens for a decent price.
Every canon photographer should try this lens. It might not suit everyone but for me it is great.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: pavelsatny

Ahead of its time

Great little lens that has stood.the test of time. The design is not the best in terms of focusing but the image more then makes up for it

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: fullhousetboy

Canon EF 50mm 3.5 macro

Compact sharp accurate focussing but a bit noisy

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: cheetawear

good lens, good price

good lens, good price

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: throplesham

Excellent True Macro Lens Reveals A Whole New World!

The Canon EF 50mm “Compact Macro” is one of the most important lenses in my bag. I am finding that really close-focus photography is a fantastic way to capture truly interesting images. A whole new world is revealed when you look through this outstanding optical glass.

This is a “mid grade” model that is very affordable. It takes INCREDIBLY SHARP photographs, truly as sharp as a pro lens. It features a useful “distance scale window” with indications for macro ratios. It is well constructed and has the superior stainless steel lens mount. This fantastic lens has proven to be completely reliable.

The “Compact-Macro” features nine elements in a “floating” optical system for improved focusing accuracy, especially at very close distances. The front element extends as you focus, but it does not rotate, so circular polarizers and special effects filters are never a hassle. The front glass is deeply recessed behind the 52mm filter threads, so a hood is not needed, it’s “built-in”.

The Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro Lens has a 1:2 magnification factor. The “half life-size” images are awesome. You can make a coin look like a manhole cover. This is especially true on “small frame” digital SLRs like any of Canon’s Digital Rebels, 20D or 30D cameras. It becomes the equivalent of an 80mm lens on Digitals, which is an extremely useful focal length.

The Canon Compact-Macro is very comfortable to carry around, for hours on end. It “balances” beautifully on semi-pro camera bodies, making it a joy to handle.

I am amazed at how beautifully this model performs for non-macro applications. The six-blade aperture is fast enough for almost any “low-light” situation and the optics are incredibly free of distortions. Best of all, it is really, really sharp, and I mean “L class” sharp! Color and contrast are consistently superb and very pleasing to the eye.

This model employs the AFD “Arc Form Drive” auto focus design. It is not the quickest and not as quiet as a USM lens, but for the price it is excellent. Besides, for close-ups, you will want to use manual focusing anyway. Really tight shots require that you get the exact subject element that you intend to “feature” into crisp focus. The extremely fine focus adjustment gives you the ability to be incredibly precise.

This lens produces amazing “bokeh” Despite the fact that it has a relatively simple six-blade aperture. Portraits really have that vibrant 3-D quality, with the most pleasant blurred backgrounds that you will ever see from an affordable lens.

As a “walking around” lens, this is as good as any prime in its price range. The macro feature is like icing on the cake! It is faster and sharper than almost any zoom lens. It does a great job of performing many tasks extremely well. It’s a killer portrait lens, a great lens for “street” photography, it’s a fine choice for nature hiking and adventure photos. If it were not a Macro, it would still be worth every single penny, but fortunately, it is a Macro too!

Macro photography is where this lens really shines. To get the most out of it, you need to wake up your creative juices and look at things directly through its magical Macro eye. You can capture the most artistic shots that you have ever seen. Just glue your eye to your viewfinder and you will find beautiful things to capture everywhere you look.

If you want to have a lot of fun, get a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact-Macro and turn yourself loose in a brand new small world!

Copyright © 2006Read full review...

Canon EF 50mm f2.5 Compact Macro Autofocus Lens

I use a Canon 30D. I often want to get closer than my 17-85 zoom will go. I chose the 50mm for a variety of reasons:

* On my 30D, the focal length is effectively 80mm
* The lens feels well-balanced on the camera, and is easily hand-held.
* The quality is spot on.
* Canon's 100mm macro, which I fancied, is a cracker but is too heavy for me to carry all day - I am a pensioner - and difficult to hold steady.
* In retirement, the price is also important.
* Whilst the macro lens is on the camera, I can still take (some) landscape shots and also portraits, etc.

In summary, this lens will see me taking more pictures, and missing less possibles, so for me it is a winner.Read full review...

Using the Canon 50mm macro lens

I bought this lens for the macro capability and it hasn't dissappointed. Being a Canon prime, the optics are excellent. I'm using it on a 7D body so actual macro ratio is 1.6 to 2, this is more than adequate for my needs. It doesn't have the quiet USM motor so auto focus is accompanied by a bit of a buzz, but after a few shots I don't really notice it. As it's almost always necessary to use manual focus for macro work, this won't apply (so no scaring off of insects etc.). It's a bit lighter and less robust than my L lenses, but the price is good for this level of optical quality. Even makes a passable walkabout lens, so quite versatile. Worth noting that it stops down to f32, thus increasing DOF for macro work (where there's enough light).
So,
PROs....great optics, macro capability, light, relatively cheap.
CONs....No USM, built a bit lighter than I would have wished.
I'm happy I bought it and look forward to doing a lot more macro work with it.Read full review...

Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Lens

This lens is small and compact, with outstanding picture quality. Very good back ground blur gives it the ability to double as a good portrait lens. The only down side is the autofocus, which is slow and noisy. For the overall cost of this lens, you can't go wrong. It's not the best macro lens that canon do but it is very good value and gives you some very good results. If you are a serious macro photographer and wish to take close ups of moving objects ie, insects. The autofocus may let you down at times but for close ups of none moving objects it's very good. Im not disappointed with this purchase and will keep this lens, even if I upgrade.Read full review...