Canon EF 50mm F/2.5 Compact Macro Review

For many people photography is much more than simply a hobby, it's a passion. Years ago the initial investment was expensive, but once you had the camera you wanted and a few good lenses, film, developing and a little preventive maintenance were all that was necessary for years of fun.

Digital cameras changed all that-film's been relegated to near museum status, so the pursuit's most expensive component is a thing of the past. But, camera resolution continues to increase and new features are added every day, making it attractive for photographers to replace the digital SLR camera body every few years. And, that's not cheap.

While photography changed radically overnight, the only investments that have remained the same are the lenses. If you purchased good, quality glass from most of the major manufacturers a few years ago, odds are pretty good you can still reap the rewards when changing from film to digital SLRs.

Since the odds are good they'll continue to be useful and every bit as precise on newer camera bodies and operating systems, they're still one of this hobby's rarities you know are a real long-term investment. But fluctuation in exchange rates and unstable markets have escalated prices to more than $1,000 in many cases, especially if you enjoy taking pictures of the smallest things, which require a macro lens. Canon's EF 50MM f/2.5 Compact Macro is different. It comes highly recommended and if you buy it on line-including shipping-you might pay as much as $300. Don't expect to find it below $250.

How well does it work? The lens produces 1/2 life size images of remarkable clarity. In fact, it's pretty hard to determine if the photos were taken though a Canon professional-grade L Series lens or this hard-working, relatively inexpensive glass.

The closest focusing distance is about 10 inches. That's pretty good for a 50 mm lens, a focal distance historically reserved for journalism because it presents nearly the same field of view as a human sees-more realistic to the reader, so to speak, which is why it earned the nickname "normal" lens.

The EF 50MM f/2.5 Compact Macro accepts any 52mm filter and Canon even has screw on magnification versions if you want a larger rendition of the subject. Special spacers are also available that go between the lens and camera body. Metering and focus will work seamlessly when using these on the EOS family of cameras, and they increase your ability to get even more close to your subject, with higher quality.

Under hard use the lens I tested worked flawlessly in some terrible conditions, including heavy fog, below-freezing temperatures and even light rain. Image clarity is incredible, contrast very good and if you're accustomed to the EF lenses, its use is nearly intuitive.

For macro work I prefer setting the camera on a tripod and tripping the camera on its timer. The automatic focus feature probably would concentrate on the flower or bug's feature I'm most interested in, but instead of gambling I turn the lens from autofocus to manual. In repeated uses the button that swaps between those functions worked well and without complaint, unlike a few other lenses in my bag. Once on manual, you simply use the outer ring to focus, trip the shutter and wait. The ring gave good, solid feedback, wasn't stingy, but didn't migrate despite up to 100 exposures per session. The manual/auto focus button is small enough to prevent inadvertently changing settings during fast, handheld photo sessions.

At f/2.5 the lens is sluggish when compared to some 50 mm glass, but remember it's a macro. The tradeoff is well worth it.

When Canon named this lens the Compact, it was for good reason. It measures only 2.7 by 2.5 inches and it weighs a scant 9.9 ounces. Finding a Macro that does double duty as a 50 mm in that small of a package can be a real challenge.

The 9-element, floating optical system can run wide open at that f/2.5 setting or you can increase your depth of field up significantly by going all the way up to F/32. Color rendition is true and there's little or no distortion near the image's edges, even when working in macro mode.

Canon's EF 50MM f/2.5 Compact Macro is one of the best values on the market today for anyone using the EOSfamily of Canon cameras. Its light weight, versatility and performance earned it very high marks in some tough outdoor testing and the images it produces are as close to professional quality as you can get without spending as much or more than $1,000.