With the best macro lenses, photographers can capture startlingly detailed images of the tiniest subjects, both natural and well-made. If you've come across an image of a tiny insect or plant that dramatically fills the frame with incredible levels of detail, and have wondered how it was made – well, chances are good it was with a macro lens.
Macro lenses are built with a specific optical construction that enables the dramatic magnification of small subjects. They're also designed to focus at close distances, helping to throw out the background, and provide a flat plane of focus that reduces softness in the corners. We've reviewed and tested a great number of macro lenses, and these are the ones that have made the best impression – for all the major camera systems.
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! In this guide, he has selected the best macro lenses for each system.
Sony users have plenty of choice, as always, but we particularly like this capable telephoto prime packed with useful features for macro. It's pricey, but the quality is amazing.
This stunning lens offers a big reproduction ratio, highly effective stabilisation, and a dedicated bokeh control ring! EOS R users get one of the best macros around.
Sigma deserves special mention for its top-notch macro lenses, and this 105mm for Sony mirrorless cameras is our pick of the bunch – its image quality is absolutely stellar.
This beautiful lens ain't cheap, but for Fujifilm X users it's also an absolutely sublime piece of kit. Image quality is beautiful, and the lens itself is weatherproofed.
With excellent quality throughout the entire aperture range, Canon's DSLR macro lens helps you maximise depth of field. It's got a nice manual focus action, too.
An all-around stunning lens with pro-grade construction and handling, the Nikon Z 105mm offers a level of precise control for super-fine adjustments to focusing.
An affordable lens for shooting macro on APS-C Nikon DSLRs, this is one of the best beginner lenses for close-up work, with a 'Vibration Reduction' stabiliser.
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Typical of Sony’s recent G-series and G Master lenses, there’s no shortage of quality in this 90mm macro prime. It’s fully compatible with full-frame and APS-C format E-mount cameras, and packs plenty of high-tech features, including a Dual DDSSM (Direct Drive Super Sonic wave Motor) autofocus system for rapid, accurate and near-silent performance, plus ‘Optical SteadyShot’ stabilization. The optical path includes aspherical, ED and Super ED elements, built into a precision-engineered, weather-sealed metal casing. Handling benefits from a super-smooth and precise focus ring, with an electronic fly-by-wire coupling. There’s also a three-position autofocus range limiter switch and a focus hold button. Image quality is outstanding but it’s a pricey lens to buy.
Stabilizer: 5 stops (2 stops at 1.0x) / 8 stops on Canon EOS R5 & R6
Minimum focus distance: 0.26m
Maximum magnification: 1.4x
Filter thread: 67mm
Dimensions (WxL): 81.5x148mm
Weight: 730g
Reasons to buy
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1.4:1 reproduction ratio
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Ridiculously sharp
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SA (bokeh!) control
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Near-zero focus breathing
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Possible 8 stops of IS
Reasons to avoid
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Expensive, inevitably
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Only for Canon RF cameras
Somehow Canon did the impossible, the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM takes everything that was great about the EF version of this lens and makes it even better. Magnification? Boosted to 1.4x. Stabilization? Upped to 8 stops (on the EOS R5 and R6). Bokeh? Even more beautiful, thanks to a control ring that shifts the lens elements. Focus and breathing? Faster and more controlled than ever. It's a superb standalone portrait lens as well, with pin-sharp rendering and a flattering focal length. If you're an EOS R-series shooter and you want to photograph close-ups of small things and large things alike, you've just found your next purchase! Unfortunately, the price has increased along with the specs, so start saving...
Sigma already makes an excellent 105mm f/2.8 macro lens for DSLRs, but this version has been completely redesigned for mirrorless cameras. For revealing ultra-fine levels of detail in anything from insect and bug photography to extreme close-ups of all things small and smaller, this is a fabulous macro lens. It’s super-sharp and delivers stellar image quality in all respects, while the feature-rich, high-quality build ensures wonderfully refined handling. The lens also works well for portraiture and general short-telephoto shooting with Sony full frame cameras (it's also available in an L-mount version).
While Fujifilm users do have to fork out a considerable chunk of cash for this macro prime lens, it is a wonderful piece of imaging technology. Image quality is, of course, gorgeous, just as we’ve come to expect from X-mount Fujinon lenses. The maximum aperture of f/2.8 gives you plenty of depth-of-field flexibility, and the equivalent focal length of 122mm means it also functions as an excellent portrait lens. The minimum focusing distance of 25cm lets you get nice and close to your subjects for true macro work, and the extensive weatherproofing around the chassis means you can fearlessly take the lens out into wet and otherwise inclement conditions. Those wanting a shorter focal length, for closer working distances, then also consider the Fujifilm XF60mm f/2.4 R Macro.
Along with sturdy L-series build quality, Canon’s 100mm macro features hybrid optical stabilization. Typical upmarket attractions include ring-type ultrasonic autofocus and a three-position autofocus limiter switch, which can lock out the short or long end of the range. The lens also has weather sealing and an Ultra-low Dispersion element. Image quality remains impressive throughout the aperture range, right down to f/22, helping you to eke out a little extra depth of field. Autofocus is fast and accurate and quiet but, more importantly for most macro shooting, the manual focus ring is smooth and precise.
Costs 50 per cent more to buy than Nikon’s Z MC 50mm lens, but well worth the extra outlay
Nikon’s MC 105mm is one of two new Z-mount macro lenses. There's also the cheaper Z MC 50mm f/2.8 which is a good lens, but this MC 105mm has a more practical focal length for macro photography and is a properly pro-grade lens – it's well worth the extra cost. Sublime image quality for both general shooting and extreme close-ups is backed up by a super-fast and highly accurate autofocus system, along with highly effective optical VR (Vibration Reduction) that can work in tandem with the in-body stabilizers of Nikon’s full-frame Z-series cameras. Handling exotica includes a multi-function OLED display, a customizable Lens-function button and control ring, plus an autofocus range limiter, along with an electronically coupled focus ring that enables ultra-fine adjustments. Everything’s wrapped up in a tough, weather-sealed construction. Image quality, all-round performance and handling are simply sensational.
Delivering unparalleled magnification, this lens is a step forward for macro.
Specifications
Mount: MFT
Elements/groups: 18/13
Diaphragm blades: 7
Autofocus: Yes
Stabilizer: Yes
Minimum focus distance: 0.25m, or 0.224m in S.Macro mode
Maximum magnification: 2:1 (equiv. 4:1 in 35mm format)
Filter thread: 62mm
Dimensions (WxL): 69.8x136mm
Weight: 453g
Reasons to buy
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Powerful 2:1 magnification
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180mm equiv. focal length
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Brilliant sharpness
Reasons to avoid
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Takes practice to use
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May be too narrow for some uses
The Micro Four Thirds system lends itself well to macro photography. The cropped sensor delivers an effective focal-length magnification of 2x, meaning you get more telephoto reach from lenses that are both cheaper and lighter than their full-frame equivalents. This also has the advantage of increasing a macro lens' magnification factor. So, the OM System M.Zuiko 90mm f/3.5 Macro, which has a magnification ratio of 2:1, in practice delivers a 180mm field of view with a whopping 4:1 magnification ratio. Tiny subjects get blown up to four times' their actual size on the sensor, revealing an enormous level of detail. As you might imagine, this lens takes a bit of practice to wield, and its extra-tight focal length may not be suitable for every macro application. However, it's a spectacular lens that makes the most of the inherent advantages of MFT.
The Panasonic Lumix impresses with its compact size, particularly notable for a full-frame macro lens. Its lightweight design stands out, making counterparts from other major brands seem bulky in comparison. Additionally, it seamlessly integrates with Panasonic’s full-frame prime lens lineup, boasting similar dimensions and weight, facilitating easier video balancing.
Image quality is great across the frame, although wide open, the corners are average until you get to f/4 before they sharpen up, but image quality in the centre is pin sharp at any aperture. At close focusing distances, the lens exhibits some focus hunting, although once locked, the focus is silent and highly accurate.
Despite the absence of optical image stabilization, Panasonic’s reliable B.I.S. compensates well, though there's curiosity about whether combined stabilization could offer even greater stability.
Better working distance than Nikon’s 40mm DX macro lens.
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‘Vibration Reduction’ stabilizer
Reasons to avoid
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f/3.5 aperture is narrower than average
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Lacks sharpness at wide apertures
Nikon makes a cut-price 40mm DX format macro lens but this is a far superior optic for close-up shooting. Its minimum focus distance is more generous and the inner barrel doesn’t extend at shorter focus distances. The net results is that the working distance from the front of the lens to the target in full 1.0x macro shooting is 14.5cm compared with the 40mm lens’s paltry 3.5cm. Further advantages include VR (Vibration Reduction) and an ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element, both of which are lacking in the 40mm lens. Sharpness is uninspiring at f/3.5 but much better at medium to narrow apertures, more commonly used in macro photography. Ultimately, the Tamron 90mm and Sigma 105mm lenses still have the edge for shooting with DX as well as FX format cameras.
While lots of lenses with decent close-up capabilities are referred to as macro lenses, there is actually stricter criteria to qualify as one. For a lens to be considered a "true" macro lens, it needs to have at least a 1:1 reproduction ratio, meaning that the subject on the sensor plane is the same as or greater than its size in real life. This is the key to getting those spectacular, frame-filling images of minuscule subjects.
There are some other important requirements for macro lenses. You're going to be getting very close to your subject, so a short focusing distance is a must, and they also tend to be longer in focal length (the sweet spot is generally agreed to be around 90-105mm, though there are variations in both directions), as this again makes it easier to fill the frame with one subject. For this reason, macro lenses are often useful in other contexts as well – their sharpness makes them good take-everywhere primes, their longer focal lengths make them handy for portraiture, and their ability to render detail makes them fantastic for food photography.
Are macro lenses good for portraits?
Yes! As you'll see from this list, most macro lenses tend to be telephoto primes around the 80-110mm mark, and this is right in the sweet spot for portrait photography. A narrow focal length like this allows you to flatter a subject's facial features, and makes it easier to throw out the background. Also, many modern macro lenses are stabilised, which is handy when shooting handheld – something you're honestly more likely to do when capturing portraits than macro images, which are often tripod-bound.
What is the different between a macro and a 'normal' lens?
The key thing that marks out macro lenses is that they are designed to focus at extremely short distances. This means that not only are they designed with a short minimum focus distance, but they also perform well when used at this distance, with a flat plane of focus and little to no fall-off in the corners. As such, macro lenses tend to be very sharp in general (as they need to be for detail-focused photography).
How we test macro lenses
We test lenses using both real world sample images and lab tests. Our lab tests are carried out scientifically in controlled conditions using the Imatest testing suite, which consists of custom charts and analysis software that measures resolution in line widths/picture height, a measurement widely used in lens and camera testing. We find the combination of lab and real-word testing works best, as each reveals different qualities and characteristics. See more on how we test and review at Digital Camera World.
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Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!
His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.
In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.
