Canon recently announced the new Canon EOS Rebel T2i (550D) as the latest addition to its range. The T2i is widely seen as a replacement for the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) which was only released in 2009. IT continues the trend by dslr manufacturers to pack more of the features and technologies of professional cameras into the consumer end products.

In this post we’ll take a look at the key features of this new addition to the Canon range.

18Mp CMOS Sensor & Improved DIGIC 4 processor

This size of sensor take a big leap on from the 12.2MP that was in the 450d. This new sensor from Canon means you have the ability to be able to crop images much more without losing quality/size. Printing large posters or prints becomes much easier. Perhaps the best advantage this new sensor brings is the improved low light performance thanks to the DIGIC 4 sensor.

ISO Performance

ISO performance is always a key benchmark to look for in new cameras. The 550D’s ISO range  will be 100-6400 and expandable up to 12800. This huge range (along with the enhanced on board noise reduction) means much better performance in low light conditions. In addition you can set the maximum ISO to use if you are shooting in auto ISO mode.

Full HD Video Capture

Since it’s introduction on the Canon 5d Mk II Canon has gradually been adding this functionality onto it’s new models. The 550D will record full 1920 x 1080p HD resolution video at  up to 30fps, much better than the sometimes jerky 20fps on the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) it replaces.

Drop down to 720p and you can shoot at up to 60 fps. Also a nice feature is the ability to plug in an external mic, enabling you to capture the best possible sound. The camera also has an HDMI connection allowing you to playback photos or video on an HDTV with minimal fuss.

Another nice addition is the movie crop feature. This allows you to shoot video using only the center part of the sensor, magnifying you subjects by about 7 times! This is perfect for when your subjects are a long way away and you can’t change to a telephoto lens.

LCD Display

As you’d expect the LCD display on the 550D is bigger and brighter than ever. Measuring 7.7cm it boasts a 3:2 ratio allowing you to preview your shots in the true ratio. The 1040k resolution screen displays  vivid colors making previewing your shots on camera a pleasure.

Additional Usability

One great little feature is the new “Q” button on the back that allows you to access the quick control screen which contains your most used controls. A simple but very slick addition.

This camera follows in the footsteps of the 7D and allows you up to 5 stops up or down of exposure compensation, great for making sure you get the perfect exposure and simply awesome for the HDR lover!

Another great addition is the compatibility with Eye-Fi memory cards. Replace one of your regular SD cards with and Eye-Fi card and you can transfer pictures from camera to computer directly using wifi, no need for any leads whatsoever, you don’t even need to remove your card from your camera.

Available for less that $800 on Amazon this camera is sure to be a hit.

I’ve been thinking recently about what makes a good photography book. I would classify very few as being really good. However every now and them one comes along that seems to open up a new door in your progression as a photographer.  Hot Shots: Make Every Shot Your Best by Kevin Meredith is definitely one of these books.

Kevin Meredith, the author of Hot Shots, is more familiar to many by his flickr id ‘lomokev‘. For a few years now he has been building a loyal base of photographic admirers on the site. In fact he is one of a growing number of photographers that have managed to turn their flickr popularity into a commercial business.

His alias lomokev stems from his love for Lomo LCA cameras, something that is very evident when flicking through his latest Hot Shots book or his flickr photostream. If you are not familiar with Lomo cameras take a look at our article on them here. Kevin’s photography is all about the subject matter, lighting and composition. He is a master of the lomography style of photography.

Every double spread in Hot Shots features a photo on one side accompanied by text on the other explaining the technique used, the story behind the shot as well as the odd invaluable tip or nugget of advice from Kevin.

The great thing about this book (and Kevin’s style of photography) is that much of it is done using a relatively simple zone focusing, 35 mm film camera. As a result there is much more focus on the other aspects of photography that we are all guilty of neglecting such as subject selection, composition, perspective, attention to lighting etc.

If you are a digital shooter it doesn’t matter that over half of the images in the book are shot using film, in fact it is probably a good thing. When you see the stunning results Kevin achieves with such a ‘low tech’ camera, and learn exactly how he captures these images you suddenly realize that you are probably guilty of over complicating things with your digital shooting technique.

What this book taught  me was that i often spent so much time worrying about getting my exposure just right, not blowing out the highlights, adjusting the white balance, obsessing about shutter speeds etc that I neglected some of the fundamentals. By refocusing more of my thought process on the choice of subject and composition I have witnessed a definite improvement in my photography.

While Hot Shots may not appeal to the most digitally centric photographers out there it really is a must read book for all photographers. In terms of refocusing you on the basics and re-invigorating your approach to photography this is a must have book. Check out the latest prices on Amazon.

I recently spent $40 on a great little device that has transformed my external hard drive into a wireless network drive. My ever expanding collection of electronic gadgets has meant the tangled mess of wires in my home is growing bigger by the day. Here is how I’ve started to cut the wires from my life….

The Problem I Had

I have an ever expanding collection of media: photographs (mainly in RAW format), music, video etc. Recently it became un-manageable storing all of this data on my laptop as I was quickly running out of space.

I recently decided to move all of my media onto and external hard drive, freeing up some much needed space on my laptop. Doing this meant I was able to keep all of my content in one place and also made a considerable improvement to the performance of my laptop.

image by stuant63

The problem I was left with was that every time I wanted to access any of my media (including my photographs) I had to plug in my external hard drive to my laptop. This meant I was constantly moving the external hard drive around (as i work in different parts of the house), spending lots of time fiddling around with power cables and usb leads to the laptop.

The Solution

I wanted to find a way to make my external hard drive wireless so I could leave it in one place and access the content from anywhere in my home, with any laptop or computer. After a bit of digging around and searching the net I eventually found a cheap, easy to use solution: The Addonic NAS Adapter.
This is a small device that allows you to connect any USB device (in my case my external hard drive) to your wireless broadband router. The device then becomes available to access over your home wireless network. This means that I can now access any of the files on my external hard drive via a wireless connection, via multiple laptops or computers.

I simply leave the hard drive plugged in to my wireless broadband router and can access my files on it from any computer or laptop in my house, from any room.

Installing the NAS Adaptor was very simple. The device came with some easy to follow instructions and i also found a very clear step by step set up guide here.

It uses little power and also has the ability to sleep/wake up my external hard drive during periods of inactivity. Although it is early days I can’t really find anything negative to say about this device.

In addition the NAS Adapter to this core functionality the Addonics has many other features i’ve not played with including:

- The ability to let other external devices such as an XBOX 360 or Nintendo Wii access your files (great for watching video files)
- The ability to act as a FTP server meaning you can potentially access your files on your external drive from anywhere in the world with an internet connection
- You can control which users on your network have access to which directories (read/write access)
- You can use the device as a printer server (attach any usb printer to your wireless network)

There are various other ways to connect an external hard drive to a wireless network but they are all a lot more expensive than this great little device. It is easy to install, has a low power consumption, allows me to access all of my photographs (and other media) via wireless from anywhere in my home. It has turned by external drive into a wireless external hard drive! For about $40 this thing is a bargain.

We’ve written a lot on Digital SLR Guru about the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. In fact for about two years it was my go to lens that rarely got taken off my camera. All this changed however when I decided to upgrade to it’s older brother the Canon EF f1.4 50mm….

Differences between the 50mm f1.8 and f1.4?

Well the obvious and main difference between these two lenses is the extra f stop you get with the f1.4 version. If like me you tend to shoot indoors a lot (in poor light conditions) having that extra stop will make a big difference.

On top of the extra f stop the f1.4 has everything that the f1.8 gets criticised for not having;

• Faster & Less Noisy USM Focus Motor
• Solid All Round Build Quality
• Usable Manual Focus Ring
• Metal Mount Ring

In our review of the 50mm f1.8 we dismissed these features as worth sacrificing for the wonderful image quality. Well the 50mm gives you both the image quality plus all of the above.

Build Quality

One of the main criticisms levelled at the 50mm f1.8 is the cheap, plastic build quality. For the price and image quality of the f1.8 this can be forgiven in our opinion. The 50mm f1.4 on the other hand is build much more like the rest of Canons range of lenses. The f1.4 feels like a “proper lens”, one that is built to last and one that belongs on your expensive digital slr, and will last for many years to come.

The f1.8 version was often accused of feeling like a toy, this f1.4 version doesn’t have the same problem. The f1.4 is built using much more robust materials, including a solid metal mount ring. Overall when mounted on the camera this version feels much more balanced with the weight of you slr.

Usability

One of the big advantages of the f1.4 is the fast ad quiet USM motor that powers the auto focus. The 50mm f1.8 often tended to hunt about for focus in very low light. With the 1.4 this is much less of a problem with focusing being much faster and quieter.

The USM Focus on the 50mm f1.4 lens is impressive

The focus ring on the f1.4 is on the middle of the lens barrel (like most other Canon lenses) and has a smooth action allowing fine adjustments by using the ridged rubber grip. This is much better than the barely usable end mounted ring on the f1.8 that made manual focus virtually impossible.

Unlike the f1.8, the f1.4 comes with a focus distance window, again very useful for manual focusing. Also this lens incorporates manual override feature allowing you to over ride the autofocus by simply twisting the focus ring.

Image Quality of the 50mm f1.4

The image quality if very similar to the f1.8 version in out tests. Unless you look very closely it is very hard to detect much improvement in the quality of images the two lenses produce.

You may expect to see a massive improvement baring in mind this lens costs over twice the price of the f1.8 however most of the extra money goes on the features discussed above. It just proves that the f1.8 was built with only image quality in mind, at the expense of everything else!

What this lens does is excel in low light. The extra f stop and USM focus motor mean sharp shots i very low light are possible. The shot blow was hand held at f1.4 on a very low light street.

50mm f1.4 Low Light Performance

The quality of images is still great even for a lens at this price. Colours are vivid and the lens is tack sharp about a stop and a half from maximum aperture.

Another benefit of this lens over the f1.8 is the bokeh it produces. The f1.4 has an 8 blade aperture (compared to 6 in the f1.8) which gives it a softer, more rounded bokeh effect when shooting at big apertures.

Summary

Whether you choose the 50mm f1.8 or the f1.4 version will depend both on your budget and expected use required from a 50mm lens.

If like me you are regularly shoot in poor light (and like to avoid using the flash) we’d recommend you opt for the 50mm f1.4. The big aperture of this lens allows you to shoot fast shutter speeds using lower ISOs.

Don’t get us wrong the f1.8 is a great lens however we feel the better build quality, extra f stop and faster/quieter USM focus motor make the f1.4 a better long term purchase.

Click here to check out the latest prices of the Canon 50mm f1.4 lens.

In case you need clarification that this is a mantra often heard but rarely stuck to by all photographers The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis is a great example.

It is a book that contains over 200 photographs taken by Chase with just his iPhone camera and effects created by various iPhone apps.

This book was put together by the talented photographer and artist Chase Jarvis in order to illustrate the imagery possible by a simple low resolution camera found in the hugely popular iPhone. The iPhones camera is often derided for for producing poor quality images, having too low a resolution and not being a zilion mega pixels (the smart phone industry seems obsessed by mega pixels as opposed to lens quality).

The point made by Jarvis in this book is really well illustrated with some amazing images. In many of the books frames he uses the Iphone camera’s point of weakness to his advantage. Much as a high ISO can be used to produce that classic grainy film noir look, Jarvis uses the low resolution and camera shake to great effect in some of the images.

The book itself is small, compact and full of great images. This book is not a ‘how to shoot great pictures with a crappy iPhone camera’ kind of book. Instead it is one that will get your creativity stirred and will motivate you to get out there, shoot more pictures an be less reliant on only shooting with big expensive cameras and lenses that cost thousands of dollars.

Click here to read more about this book .

The aim of this lens is to provide professional photographers with a small, portable standard zoom lens to use on everyday shoots. At is widest this lens provides the photographer with a great wide angle while also having the ability to zoom to just over the 100mm mark.

It must be remembered that if you are using this lens on a cropped frame camera then the equivalent focal length of this lens is about 38-168mm meaning you miss out slightly at the wide end but gain some zoom at the telephoto end.

Build Quality

As with all of Canon’s L series lenses the build quality is superb. Unlike non L lenses this lens is weather sealed meaning it will be fine in a light shower and in addition comes with a lens hood included in the price.

The USM motor makes the focusing both speedy and quiet while the Image Stabilization does a great job of reducing the effects of camera shake, meaning you’ll get sharper images, especially at lower shutter speeds.

If you are new to L series lenses the first thing you will notice is that performance and build quality often comes at the expense of weight. This lens is naturally larger and heavier than other similar lenses in Canon’s range such as the EF-S 17-85mm or EFS-18-55 or kit lens that comes with most of the cropped body cameras.

As mentioned above the weight instantly makes this lens feel solid and like it will last an age, after all this lens is designed to be used on a daily basis by professional photographers so it needs to be tough.

Performance

The internal optics offer a constant aperture of f4.0 throughout the focal range of the lens. Both the zoom and focus ring are reassuringly smooth and solid at the same time allowing you to make very small precise changes easily. You can also adjust or override the automatic focusing at any time by simply turning the focus ring which is a nice option.

As expected all focusing is internal meaning that the lens doesn’t increase in size as you focus (unlike most cheaper lenses in the same class). When on auto focus mode the USM motor is fast and quiet – no complaints in this area.

Canon claim that the Image Stabilization system on this lens offers the equivalent of 3 stops of compensation meaning hand holding is a possibility at much slower shutter speeds. This is the equivalent of being able to hand hold not at 1/60 of a second but at 1/6, a truly remarkable performance enhancer! During our tests the IS system certainly made a dramatic difference to the shots we took.

Image Quality

The old adage of you get what you pay for certainly holds true with this lens. The lens performs well throughout its focal range and certainly way above the non L series lenses. Unlike some of its competitors there is minimal vignetting or chromatic aberrations.

If you are looking to upgrade your kit lens to something that will last you well into the future then this lens has to be one of the best options out there. Not only does it offer you are large focal range from traditional wide angle to short telephoto but the image quality is impressive throughout. This really is a multi purpose lens that will last you a life time. The Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM is certainly one of the best lenses we have tested here at Digital SLR Guru.

The unique design of the Lowepro SlingShot 300 AW (and it’s younger brothers the 200 and 100) provides you with quick access to your dslr without the need to remove the bag from your body. The 300 AW aims to solve the age old problem with traditional camera bags which is that in order to get your camera out you have to remove the bag, rest it on the ground, open it up, remove your camera then stand up and take your shot.
The Slingshot series of bags allow you to slide the bag around from off your back and in front of your body giving you access to a small zip pocket that allows you to remove your camera (with lens attached) without removing the bag from your body.

The 300AW is a nice size in that there is plenty of room for lots of gear while the great design means the external dimensions of 44cm x 32cm x 19cm are not overly large. In fact this bag surprised us by how much we were able to fit in it. The main compartment

This style of bag is perfect for all sorts of photographers ranging from photo journalists, sports photographers right down to keen amateurs. If you want a comfortable bag that gives you quick access to your camera gear then this may be the solution for you.

The quality of materials and workmanship is as you would expect from Lowepro, very good.

How we got on with the AW300

We loaded up out bag with a Canon Rebel XSi body with a Canon 70-200mm lens attached and it fitted perfectly. In addition using the configurable inserts we fitted in an external flash unit, and additional 4 lenses, a couple of lens hoods in the main compartment. There is also the top compartment that has plenty of room in it for drinks, snacks, guidebooks or extra accessories. There are is also two smaller accessory pouches designed to accommodate memory cards and batteries.

In  our tests the 300 managed to hold all of the above gear no problems at all but of course it did way quite a bit as a result. The bag features one large padded shoulder strap that comes over your right shoulder. This kept the bag comfortable for a couple of hours at which point the weight began to cut in and my shoulder started to ache (to be fair this would probably have happened with other bags as we were carrying a huge amount of gear!).

To help spread the weight around there is also two waist straps, similar to those found on large outdoor type rucksacks. By using these straps tight and loosening off the main shoulder strap the weight was more evenly distributed and the comfort level undoubtedly increased.

One feature we really liked is the waterproof cover that is concealed nicely in a hidden compartment at the base of the bag. If you are stuck out in the rain simply pull it out and over the bag and you have a very water proof cover over the bag, which is itself water resistant. Basically, your gear is only going to get wet if you are stuck in a monsoon.

Summary of the Lowepro 300

In our view this is an ideal bag for day trips/shoots. Whether you are a professional out on a short assignment or a hobbiest taking your gear out while on holiday this is an ideal solution. The bag is plenty big enough to fit in a couple of bodies as well as extra lenses/flashes while still leaving room for a few non camera essentials.

The benefit of being able to access your camera easily without removing the bag are the biggest selling point of this bag.

Have a look on Amazon to find out the latest prices of this bag.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens is currently Canon’s widest lens in its entire EF/EF-S lens line up. In the world of wide angle lenses to fit crop sensor cameras this is one of the most talked about and popular. The 10mm range is the equivalent of 16mm on taking into account your cropped sensor which is certainly wide. This lens is a very popular choice for those after seriously wide angle however recently it has faced much stiffer competition from the likes of Sigma and of course the Tokina 11-16mm.

Build Quality

As you would expect from a Canon lens the build quality of this lens is good with a solid construction (though not quite as good as the Tokina in our opinion. As you would expect there is a metal mount for this lens which adds to the overall feel of quality this lens has however no sign of the weather proof sealing you get on the L-series glass.

Compared to some of the other EF-S range this is certainly at the higher end of the scale in terms of build quality.

Lens Performance

When focusing the barrel does not either extend or rotate which is not always the case with other cheaper alternatives. In addition the 10-12 is powered by a USM motor which focuses both quickly and quietly. Manual focusing feels smooth, solid and as it should.

With such a wide angle lens flare is to be expected however to be fair this lens does a pretty good job to keep this down to a minimum. That said it is still rather annoying that Canon does not include a lens hood with this lens. For the price you’d expect to get one included as you do with other manufacturers such as Tokina.

The picture quality of this lens is very impressive. Image sharpness is pretty good throughout the focal range. If we had to pick some weakness then if you look really hard images at about 10-11mm look a bit soft and some sharpness is lost in the corners of images. This however is a problem that affects almost all ultra wide angle lenses.

Despite it’s wide angle distortion is kept to a minimum, in fact it is as far as ultra wide angle lenses go this is one of the best we have seen for this. Even down at 10mm there is minimum distortion.In addition there is very little chromatic aberration (another inherent weakness of wide angles) and any that is detected is fairly simple to fix in post processing.

If this is your first ultra wide angle then don’t be worried if you get some initial disapointment from this lens. Shooting at such wide ranges as 10mm take some getting used to and you really need to learn how best to fill your composition to get interesting shots out of a lens like this. Once you do get it right however the results are spectacular.

Verdict on the Canon 10-22mm Ultra Wide Angle

Overall, this is a very nice lens. Optically, the EF-S 10-22mm performs very well producing very sharp images throughout it’s focal range.The build quality is great with a durable solid feel, without it weighing a ton.In truth if thy stuck an L on this lens it would not look out of place.

Shooting so wide can take a bit of getting used to however when you do the images this lens will produce are stunning. Whether it is landscapes, architecture or quirky portraits that you shoot a lot this lens will produce some great results for you. If you are looking for some wide fun then you could do a lot worse than invest in this lens!

Check out the latest prices of this lens on Amazon.

A zoom lens with a big range is what many people are looking for when they upgrade from the kit lens they got with their SLR. As a result the Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens will be one that many people will consider when looking to upgrade.

Canon have pitched this lens firmly at the ‘all day’ lens crowd for people who want a truly all purpose walk around lens. On a standard cropped sensor slr camera such as the Rebel XSi 450D  the effective focal length of this lens is 29mm-320mm which is a massive increase from the standard kit lens (18mm-55mm).

Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS Features

Aperture ranges from f3.5-f5.6 which is pretty good considering the massive focal range. One nice bonus is the front ring doesn’t rotate meaning you can add filters without a problem.

The lens also incorporates Image Stabilization to help avoid blurred images caused by camera shake. As is the way with Canon IS the feature is visible through the view finder making it much easier to compose your shots, despite being zoomed in.

This lens is not compatible with full frame cameras so if you think you may upgrade at some point in the future it may not be for you, unless you have deep pockets.

Build Quality

The actual mount is made of metal with the barrel and rest  of the lens made from tough plastics, making it feel much  better quality that the 18-55mm kit lens. There are switches on the side for Auto/Manual focus, Image Stabilization and  a zoom lock which is a nice feature missing from the Nikon 18-200mm. Though it feels a solid lens there are some noticeable downsides to the build quality of this lens.

Firstly there is no USM motor meaning that the auto focus is fairly noisy, however to be fair it does tend to focus relatively quickly. On it’s own this is not the end of the world however an added annoyance is that the manual focus ring turns when using the auto focus. This can be annoying and we found ourselves having to adjust our grip several times after switching to auto. That said you would soon adapt to not holding the lens using the focus ruing if you use AF a lot.

Lens Performance

This is a good little lens. However it’s relatively low price means that there will be areas where it is not so great. Under out tests the image quality was much better at the telephoto end rather than the wide end. The weaknesses at the wide end include some barrel distortion, , chromatic aberration and not as much sharpness. When zoomed however the lens performs really well with nice sharp images, a soft bokeh and good colour reproduction.

The above negatives are however expected as you simply can’t make a perfect all round lens for this sort of money. The main benefit is the huge optical range you get which means that you really can walk around with this lens all day and photograph a huge variety of types of photographs without having to swap lenses. The image stabilization works very well enabling you to take sharp images when fully zoomed in.

If you are looking to upgrade your kit lens and yearn for more zoom this really is  a good option for the money. Check out the latest prices for this lens on Amazon here.

If you are looking to buy a macro lens then the 100mm may well be on your short list. Below we’ll review this lens highlighting both it’s strengths and weaknesses.

Build Quality  & Usability

The build quality is as you would expect from Canon, solid as a rock. In fact this lens would not be out of place with a red ring round the front as part of the L series lenses (not just for build quality but also thanks to the quality of images it produces, more on this later in the review). Compared with similar lenses from Sigma we’d say the Canon wins hands down in terms of “feeling nice”!

The focusing of this lens is completely internal, meaning the barrel does not extend when focusing. This is in stark contrast to the Sigma 105mm and Tamron 90mm which nearly double in length when fully focused for close up macro work.

The Auto Focusing system is not the quickest we have seen from a Canon lens however when the AF does find it’s target the focus is usually spot on. That said due to their nature all macro lenses take a while to focus from a very close range to infinity so you can’t really hold this against the lens. If you are manually focusing the ring is nice and big and has a smooth action throughout allowing very fine focus adjustments that are often required for macro photographs.

The lens is reasonably sized and fairly light so adding it to your carry round all day bag will not break your back. As with all macro lenses you’ll get the best results when using in conjunction with a tripod however hand held shots are more possible by opening up the aperture and decreasing the shutter speed.

Due to its size, focal length and macro function this lens is best used with a tripod, especially when shooting with smaller apertures. The only thing missing from this lens is IS (Image Stabilization). However such is the quality of this lens that the addition of IS would increase the price probably enough for Canon to move this lens into it’s prestigious ‘L’ series of professional lenses.

One thing we would recommend you do as soon as you get this lens is to buy a UV filter to stick on the front. The front of the lens is big and due to the relative size and weight of the lens it is easily bumped making the security of a UV filter well worth the relatively small investment.

Image quality of the Canon 100mm f1.8 Macro

One of the great features of this lens is that it has true 1:1 macro size that will allow you to take some stunning macro shots. This basically means that the Canon 100 f2.8 will deliver an image onto your cameras sensor at the same size as real life when shooting at the minimum focus distance of 0.3m.

In addition the 100mm focal length means that you do not have to get too close to your subject. This makes this lens much more favorable than the 50mm macro lens from Canon for those that intend taking macro shots of insects and bugs.

Stunning Sharpness

The most impressive thing about this lens is the sharpness of the images it produces. Even at smaller apertures than it’s maximum f2.8, images are nice and crisp with good rich colors and contrast though the sharpest images tend to come at around f2.8. The sharpness of images it produces matches any of the L series professional range lenses easily.

As usual canon does not include a lens hood with this lens which is a real shame. Though probably not necessary unless shooting a lot of outdoor portraits, it would be nice if Canon included hoods with lenses of this quality (and cost!).

Another huge benefit of this lens over other macros out there is it’s potential to be used as a portrait lens. The sharpness of this lens combined with the wide aperture of f2.8 make it an ideal portrait lens. This lens has the quality to replace a standard portrait zoom such as a 85-135mm.

The eight blade aperture helps ensure any background blur or bokeh is beautifully round making low light pictures a true thing of beauty. As mentioned above the optics produce incredibly sharp pictures and wonderful colors that truly ‘pop’.

Summary

If you are looking for a lens that will help get you in to macro photography we think it is worth paying the extra money for the Canon 100mm as opposed to either the Canon 60mm f2.8 or the Sigma 105mm f2.8. Not only is it a truly great macro lens but it is an equally good portrait lens. In fact the fast f2.8 aperture means you’ll also be able to happily use it for smaller sporting events too.

Another point to consider if you are thinking about the 60mm Canon macro is that of the two only the 100mm is compatible with a full frame sensor camera should you wish to upgrade in the future.