Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens Review

Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Handling and features

Weighing only 280g, this lens is relatively compact and lightweight. Despite the light weight, the build quality is excellent, with much of the barrel being constructed from high grade plastics and the lens mount from metal and it balances well on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II used for testing.

Focusing isn't particularly fast, as is common with macro lenses, but it does hunt back and forth quite a lot before locking onto a target, even in ideal conditions and at normal distances. The lens extends by about an inch at its closest focus distance of 23cm, but the filter thread does not rotate, which makes this lens ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. The filter thread accepts 52mm filters, which is not a standard size for Canon, who normally use 58mm filters for many of their other lenses. Manual focus is smooth and reasonably well damped, making it easy to make fine adjustments.

A clear distance scale window is located on top of the lens, providing information on the focused distance, magnification and hyperfocal markings are provided for f/16 and f/32. No focus limiter switch is provided, which is a shame as this could speed auto focus, especially at normal distances. A magnification scale is provided on top of the lens barrel as it extends for use with the optional life size converter.

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