Camera Labs

Hi all,
Thanks Bob for suggesting this to me.

Below are a couple of shot via my lovely new Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro USM. I'll post a few more sample shots and a review of this lens in the next few days.


canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM (f7.1 @ 400 ISO)

edit note: the line running left to right is a spider web about 3mm behind the rain drip. Just goes to show how shallow the Depth of Field is even at f7.1 !!! (Edit Note): I held a polarising filter in front of the lens to help bring out the blue sky within the drip.

canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM (f2.8 @ 800 ISO)


edit note: Both shots were not cropped down.

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Hi Julian, thanks for posting these.

I think I speak for many of us here when I ask you to post many more from the 60mm as there's lots of cropped Canon owners wanting a decent macro, and wondering about this lens...

Thanks Gordon. I'm more than happy too.

I'll also post some test shots with and without an EF12 II Extension Tube on the back of it. Along with a couple of test shots looking at what happens when you attach a 500D Close-up Lens on the front.

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Hi

Just a few new shots showing the versatility of the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM.


Firstly two macros


A daisy that's about 1.5cm across (sorry if my size calculations are out)
This is uncropped with a bit of extra sky added to square up the shot.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250) Aperture: f/2.8 ISO Speed: 100



Pink Magnolia
This has a bit of motion blur at the center of the flower as it was a rather windy day
but still, a nice shallow depth of field even at f/4. Slightly cropped along the base

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200) Aperture: f/4 ISO Speed: 200



Now a couple of distance shots


Cockerel
Shot at approximately 1.5 meters away
It was not a particularly bright day and this chap just wouldn't keep still!!
So the f/2.8 came in rather handy.
Cropped top and bottom just to square up the shot

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200) Aperture:f/2.8 ISO Speed: 100



Pink Magnolia
Shot at approximately 1 meter away and uncropped

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320) Aperture: f/4 ISO Speed: 200



Julian

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Excellent examples Julian - feel free to add more whenever you like!

Thanks Gordon.

Just the one new one today:

EXIF data: Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640) Aperture: f/2.8 ISO Speed: 100 Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV


The focal point at f2.8 is just a few millimeters and the ladybird, who had no intention on hanging around, was about 20mm away. The shot has been cropped by approx 50%.

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Woah! Talk about COOL! This seems like a GREAT lens. (I don't think the caps can stress that as much as I'm thinking it) The colors are great the dop is great I really like the colors in #2. When I get my 40d (soon I hope) this is most likely the 3rd lens on my list.

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Jake O'Connell, 40D Crew
Canon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hv
My Flickr
my Blog
"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

Great examples Julian! Do you find that 60mm is too short for insects, as in you have to bring the lens close enough to scare them?

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Graham
Flickr

Thanks grahamnp,

The ladybird was about 5mm in size and I wanted to get as close as posable.
I could have used my extension tube to get a little closer from a bit further away, but I didn't have it with me at the time.

I'm finding that the 60mm is also a good all rounder and hardly comes off my camera. If I had gone for the EF 100mm macro it would have been great for insects, but too close for general use and wouldn't get used often as I would like.

Also the ef-s 60mm macro is for Canons cropped frame cameras (e.g the 30D/40D and 350D/400D/450D) so you're getting a lot closer than 60mm. (60mm x 1.6 crop = 96mm) That's about the same as the 100mm on a full frame 5D.

So, I think its fine for insects. But then again, I'm not sure what my reaction would be if something the size of a house started to chase me around the garden!

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Ah thanks Julian! I plan for my next lens to be a macro.

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Graham
Flickr

A couple of new non macro shots with my canon ef-s 60mm

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250) Aperture: f/2.8 ISO Speed: 100


That's me (if you're wondering) the lens/camera did hunt about a bit trying to work out what to focus on.
So I had to set this up in manual and fire off the shot using my RC-1 remote controller.



Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640) Aperture: f/2.8 ISO Speed: 100



both are very very slightly cropped

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm

Hi Julian, both are great images, especially the second. Nice to see some portraits with the 60mm...

Are those colours natural or did you boost them in-camera or afterwards?

Either way, I think I need to test this EF-S 60mm sometime!

These are really great images.

Just got hold of this lens myself on Tuesday and have been trying it out in the garden while we had a little sun. Having a few issues with the focusing though so need to experiment a little more I think (Only had the camera a week).

Did you use a tripod for the shots of the flowers and ladybird?

Steve

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm VR, Micro-Nikkor AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR, Nikkor 50mm AF-S f1.4G

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40447824@N06/sets/

great lens on my shortlist right now

Hi Gordon, sorry that I’ve not replied sooner !!! Many thanks for the complements.

I think that 60mm is a great lens for portraits, but I do find myself having to step back a bit as it can feel a little close!

Currently I have my 400d camera settings set to default as I’ve not had the confidence to play around with them (but this is something I plan to have some fun with in the near future).

I normally shoot things that are already on the colourful side and depend on natural (Sunny!) daylight to help saturate things up. I also shoot in raw, so I find that my shots will often look very flat once downloaded off the camera?

So as a general working rule, to correct this:
I use iphoto to import and store all my raw shots off the camera. Flag the ones I like and open them into photoshop CS2. Using the Adobe camera raw plugin I tweak the white balance, exposure, contrast and saturation to bring the shot back to life. then I save it out as a 16bit tif and an 8bit jpeg.

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My flickr page
My kit: Canon 400d - Sigma 30mm 1.4 - Canon 50mm 1.4 - Canon efs-s 60mm 2.8 macro USM - Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM and a Canon 18-55mm