A macro lens is nearly a necessity for each individual Canon Digital SLR owner. Although this article is about the Canon Macro 60mm, you may not need that one, but you do need a macro lens in your camera case.

If you are lucky enough to possess a Canon Rebel or a Canon 60D, the Canon 60mm macro lens should be one of your very first lens purchases. You can plan to capture truly countless numbers of pictures that will amaze your loved ones and pals, not forgetting those people who check out your photo gallery on your internet site or Flickr (or PhotoBucket).

Maybe you already possess a good quality macro lens. That's fine. The Canon 60mm is still a great supplement to your photography equipment because of its versatility.

Just a few of the things it does well:

• Close-up photographs (of course) - get those remarkable photos of insects, flowers, and other tiny items up to a 1:1 ratio, featuring excellent fine detail that is typically not noticed by the human eye.

• Get fast shutter speeds with an aperture as wide as f/2.8 and super bokeh (bokeh is the ability to get blurry backgrounds that make the subject of your picture stand out and create professional looking images.)

• Portrait photography is effortless with a Canon 60mm lens. On an entry-level or mid range digital SLR, the focal length is equivalent to 96mm resulting from the 1.6 crop factor.

• Help save some money by getting this lens instead of the 100mm macro. The picture quality is exceptional, consequently you will never be remorseful regarding the purchase (no "buyer's remorse")

• Excellent lens for movie recording on your digital SLR camera. Sharper lenses produce better quality video, and the image quality of this lens is indisputable. Performance is much better in lower light while shooting video because of the wide aperture.

• Specifically made for APS-C category of image sensors. If you have a Rebel, a 20D-60D, or a 7D, this lens is for you! Canon produces EF-S lenses such as the Canon 60mm to work with the specific kind of sensor in those dslr cameras. The technology is ideal for gaining the finest outcomes with the entry-level to mid-level digital SLR cameras.

There are a couple of things on the down side:

A lens hood is not provided with the purchase.

The Canon 60mm macro does not have image stabilization (IS). Some do not consider this a negative on a lens of this quality at this price, but others do. It is always most effective to use a tripod when shooting macro shots mainly because of the desire for crisp, clear details.

User Satisfaction:

Look at the user remarks in places like Amazon and B&H photo. Customers are in love with this lens. One of the most frequent statements is that they don't know why they hesitated when considering this purchase.

The explanation for hesitation is fairly obvious. The Canon Macro 60mm does not get all the focus of some of the other lenses in this grouping. But it really should. It is a remarkable acquisition to anybody's camera case.