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Best Macro Lenses
Nikon AF Nikon Manual Focus
Canon
Sony E-Mount
Fuji X
NEW: OM System
Tokina for Nikon & Canon
Minolta (Sony A-Mount)
LEICA
Pentax
Sigma & Tamron
Nikon D200 with AF 105mm f/2.8D and R1C1 flash system.
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April 2023 Better Pictures Nikon Canon Sony Fuji LEICA Zeiss All Reviews
See also How to Shoot Macro
Great Macro Lenses vs. Great Lenses for Macro
These are all great macro lenses, but most of them aren't great for serious macro photography. What?
All of these macro lenses are super-sharp and free from distortion. Any half-decent macro lens is extraordinary for use as a normal or telephoto lens for general photography — but here I'm discussing which lenses are best for serious macro shooting.
For serious macro shooting, you need a much longer lens, at least 100mm and preferably 200mm, so that you can make close-up photos from at least a foot or two away. With any 40mm to 60mm macro lens, by the time you get close enough for serious macro work, you're so close that you block your own light, annoy the subject, and the picture looks funny because of the unnatural perspective from being too darn close.
For instance, the Nikon 55mm f/2.8 (both auto and manual focus versions) is arguably the sharpest lens in photography, but it's a poor choice serious macro use because it's too short and you have to get uncomfortably close.
Regardless of how ultra-sharp or merely super-sharp any of these may be for general photography, because depth-of-field is nonexistent at real macro distances, lens sharpness isn't important because you'll be stopped down to f/32 anyway. Therefore, these will all be indistinguishable from each other as far as sharpness for serious macro use is concerned. At f/32, diffraction makes them all the same. Shoot wider, like at f/8, and nothing will be in focus, so again, whatever miniscule differences there may be at infinity won't matter. These are so good technically that sharpness doesn't matter — but focal length does.
Hint: for great macro on a budget, use any 2x teleconverter with a 105mm or 100mm macro lens to give you a 200mm macro lens and let you stand farther away for the same magnification— but it will be much more difficult to compose and focus because you'll only be at about f/8 after adding the converter at most macro distances. For Nikon, a used manual-focus TC-200 for about $50 and any 105mm macro could be all you need.
Here are the best macro lenses for both general and macro photography. All of these are at least as sharp, and usually sharper than regular lenses, even at infinity. See also How to Shoot Macro.
Get the lens you really want, since unlike cameras, good lenses are always a great investment.
Click each for its complete review. See also the Comparison sections of many of these reviews for far more details.
Nikon Auto Focus top
Explicit Nikon 60mm G vs. 60mm AF-D and 55mm AF comparison
All these lenses focus to directly to 1:1, meaning that the image on the sensor is the same size as the subject.
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62mm filters, 15.1 oz./428g, about $550 new.
Too short for serious macro use. |
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62mm filters, 26.6 oz./752g, about $800.
Good choice for macro, but twice the price of the 105mm AF-D to do the same thing. VR is nice hand-held when used as a tele, but is of no help when shooting serious macro, which we do with strobes.
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52mm filters, 19.8 oz./562g, about $350 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Good choice for macro, but still less working room than we'd like for the best perspective. |
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62mm filters, 35 oz./990 g, 1.2'/0.37m close focus, about $1,400 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Great choice for macro.
This is the world's only zoom true macro lens, but more expensive used than the 105 VR new. It's that good. Use it when you need to reframe moving macro subjects rapidly; otherwise, get the 200mm f/4 AF-D instead. |
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62mm filters, 41.6 oz./1,180g.
Check price.
Best choice for macro on Nikon.
I use mine daily. It's ultra-sharp at every distance, has no distortion, it's super-tough, half the barrel is the manual focus ring I use constantly, and it has plenty of working distance between me and my subject. |
Nikon Manual Focus top
All these get to half-life-sized (1:2) at the image sensor. They all can be used with extension tubes to get to 1:1 life size or more.
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52mm filters, 17.6 oz./500g, about $175 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Good choice for macro, but still less working room than we'd like for the best perspective.
The f/4 aperture is fine for normal shooting, but since we lose light at very-close focus distances, an f/2.8 lens makes it much more pleasant to frame, focus and shoot for extended periods. Optically, this $175 classic lens is as good as any of the other 100mm and 105mm lenses so long as you don't mind a darker finder. |
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Manual-focus only, 77mm filters, 29.2 oz./828g, 1:1 macro, 1.14'/0.345m close focus.
Check price
08 January 2019 |
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52mm filters, 29.1 oz./824g with collar, about $325 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Excellent for general photography, but sadly the only lens here with lateral color fringes at macro magnifications. In its day, this was the exotic dream lens of professional bug and macro photographers, but today for product shots, it doesn't do it for me with its lateral color fringes at close distances.
For serious macro use, use the optically superior 200mm f/4 AF-D and never look back. |
Canon top
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2017-today
for 1.6x cameras only
27mm filters, or 49mm with included hood
6.6 oz./187g
1:1 reproduction ratio at 0.43'/0.16m close focus
Too short for serious macro use. |
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1x to 5x magnification (won't work for normal photography).
58mm filters, 25.0 oz./710g, about $950 new.
This is a crazy lens that starts at a life-sized image at the sensor, and can zoom to up to five-times life size. This means a grain of rice can fill a full-frame!
This one is more for the microscope guys, not for shooting the sort of fist-sized things I call macro. With this lens, you can't shoot anything at any less than life-sized. |
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67mm filters, 17.5 oz./496 g, 1.1'/0.34m close focus from image sensor, 1:2 macro reproduction ratio.
Check price
15 January 2021 |
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Full-Frame, 67mm filters, 25.7 oz./730 g, 1.4× maximum macro magnification, 0.85'/10.2"/0.26m close focus.
Check price.
21 April 2021 |
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67mm filters, 22.0 oz./623g, 1:1 close-focus, about $900 new.
Good choice for macro, but twice as expensive as the 100mm f/2.8 USM for doing exactly the same thing.
They are both ultra-sharp, and Image Stabilization is of no help for serious macro shooting where we use strobe lighting. |
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Metal 77mm filter thread, 54.7 oz./1,550 g without tripod foot, 2.75'/0.84m close focus, about $2,049 new.
Not really a macro lens, but focuses so close at 400mm it generally replaces the need for separate macro lens for most users.
For tabletop and product shots, this 100-400 may be the the only macro — and tele — you need. It also replaces 70-200mm lenses!
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Manual-focus only, 77mm filters, 29.2 oz./828g, 1:1 macro, 1.14'/0.345m close focus.
Check price
08 January 2019 |
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Full-frame, 1.3x and and APS-C coverage, 72mm metal filter thread, 37.3 oz./1,057g lens only, 41.4 oz./1,173g with collar, 1:1 1.5'/0.48m close focus.
Canon's best macro ever. Ultra sharp and long enough focal length for plenty of working room between lens and subject.
check price |
Sony E-Mount top
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Full-frame and APS-C, 55mm filters, 8.3 oz./236g, 1:1 macro close focus at 0.53'/0.16m.
Too short for serious macro use, and crummy focus performance. Skip this and get the 90mm: |
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For Sony, for Fuji and for Canon EOS-M APS-C mirrorless cameras.
Metal 52mm filter thread, 11.2 oz./318g, 0.54 feet or 6.5" or 0.165 meters close focus, 2× double life-size maximum macro reproduction ratio lets us fill the frame with something only ½″ or 12mm across!!!
Excellent optics and goes all the way to TWICE life size, but zero data coupling to the camera making it a pain to use except on a tripod.
Check prices.
03 February 2020 |
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Full-frame and APS-C, 62mm filters, 21.3 oz./603g, 1:1 macro close focus at 0.9'/0.28m.
Best macro available for Sony mirrorless. |
Fuji X (APS-C) top
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(90mm equivalent)
39mm filters, 7.7 oz./218g, 0.9'/0.27m close focus.
Pretty good performance, but only goes to half life-sized.
2012 ~ |
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For Sony, for Fuji and for Canon EOS-M APS-C mirrorless cameras.
Metal 52mm filter thread, 11.2 oz./318g, 0.54 feet or 6.5" or 0.165 meters close focus, 2× double life-size maximum macro reproduction ratio lets us fill the frame with something only ½″ or 12mm across!!!
Excellent optics and goes all the way to TWICE life size, but zero data coupling to the camera making it a pain to use except on a tripod.
Check prices.
03 February 2020 |
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(120mm equivalent)
62mm filters, 26.3 oz./746g, 1:1 macro or 0.8'/0.25m close focus.
Best macro for Fuji cameras.
Check price.
27 March 2019 |
OM System (née Olympus) top
Minolta MAXXUM (Sony A-Mount) top
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55mm filter thread, 18.1 oz./513 g, 1:1 close focus, about $400 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Best choice for macro on Minolta and Sony. There is no 200mm macro for Minolta or Sony, so this is the best there is, with flawless optics. |
Tokina for Nikon and Canon top
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55mm filters, 18.1 oz./513g, 1:1 close focus, about $460.
Good choice for macro on Canon and on Nikon, but a 180mm or 200mm lens is much better for practical and perspective reasons.
If you won't spring for the Nikon 200mm f/4 AF-D or Canon 180mm f/3.5 L, this Tokina is as good optically as Nikon's or Canon's 100mm and 105mm lenses. |
LEICA M top
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39mm filters, 7.8 oz./223g, about $4,000 with adapter, new.
Best choice for macro on LEICA M, but shooting macro on a rangefinder camera is for masochists unless you use a VISOFLEX system or the live-view of the newest LEICA M240. |
Pentax top
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49mm filters, 1:1 close focus, 11.9 oz./336g, about $550.
Good choice for macro on any Pentax digital camera—but a 180mm or 200mm lens is much better for practical and perspective reasons. |
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49mm filters, 1:2 close-focus, 12.5 oz./354g, about $100 used (see How to Win at eBay).
Good choice for macro on any Pentax camera 35mm or digital—but a 180mm or 200mm lens is much better for practical and perspective reasons. |
Sigma and Tamron top
I wouldn't buy either of these brands. Even if the optics can be as good as the others, the mechanical quality of the samples I've seen has not been up to my standards, and there is far more potential for the lenses you buy today not to work on the cameras you buy tomorrow with these brands than with camera-maker-brand lenses.
The main reason people bought Sigma and Tamron was for price. Today, you're much better off with a used manual-focus Micro-NIKKOR for even less money with far superior quality, but hey, if you prefer these off-brands, don't let me stop you.
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