The best Canon lenses for macro photography

Which are the best lenses for macro photography? Besides the high magnification that enables you to capture tiny details and textures, what are the other essential features to look for when choosing a lens for close-ups?

Here, Canon Europe Product Specialists Mark Kendrick and Mike Burnhill detail the features that make Canon’s RF macro lenses such outstanding creative aids, and explain the types of close-up work suited to each of these lenses. Documentary photographer and Canon Ambassador Ilvy Njiokiktjien also reveals how Canon lenses for macro give her more options when she’s on assignment.

Ready to get serious about macro? Whether you're looking for a versatile, hard-wearing macro lens or specialist glass capable of capturing close-up details at larger than life size, here are the best Canon lenses for macro photography.

Best all-round macro lens: Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM

Best macro lens for landscape details: Canon RF 24mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM

Best macro lens for general purpose photography: Canon RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM

Best macro lens for close-up portraits: Canon RF 85mm F2 Macro IS STM

Best lens for 3D close-up photography: Canon RF-S 7.8mm F4 STM DUAL

"Another benefit is the Hybrid IS," Oliver continues. "I often do my macro work handheld because a lot of the time I'm photographing subjects that move. A tripod just isn't going to work. With this RF macro lens and the Canon EOS R5, because you have stabilisation in both the lens and the camera body, I can get away with using quite ridiculously slow shutter speeds.”

Oliver adds that the lens's Spherical Aberration Control allows him to control the look of the foreground and background bokeh (softening or hardening it), while adding a soft-focus effect on the subject. "It's a really exciting creative tool," he says, whether you are shooting macro, portrait or product photography. "I was using the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens for about 10 years, and now using the Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM lens it feels quite familiar," says Oliver. "The EF lens was super sharp, and this lens is even sharper.”

Canon Europe product specialist Mike Burnhill says: "The Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM takes all the great things about its legendary EF predecessor and elevates the features to another level. Being able to get close enough to subjects to capture them at 1.4x life-size makes an amazing difference to your images that the numbers just can't convey."

"While typically thought of as a macro lens, the lens is also at home as a portrait lens," adds Mike. The 100mm focal length is ideal for portraits, and the variable Spherical Aberration Control ring can be used to apply a flattering soft focus effect.

“You could shoot a close-up of a flower in a field while including the countryside behind it, for example, or frame an insect in a garden at half-life-size and still pull in details of its surroundings.”

This isn’t a lens that can compete with the frame-filling 1.4x magnification of the Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM, Mark adds, but it isn’t intended to – it’s the versatility of this wide-angle lens that makes it a stand-out choice. “The design of the RF mount enables us to incorporate more features in lenses and extend their creative possibilities. The RF 24mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM gives you that ability to go from shooting a landscape to a close-up without having to switch lenses. It also gives you fantastic image quality, even outperforming the famed EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM in our head-to-head tests – especially out towards the corners of the image.”

The bright f/1.8 maximum aperture and powerful 5-stop Optical Image Stabilizer make this lens an outstanding performer in low light, and its compact size and light weight make it an easy lens to carry with you. “If you want to use only one prime lens for travel photography then the RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM is a great option,” Mark adds. “You never know what you’re going to come across that you might want to photograph, so having the ability to capture subjects from just 17cm away gives you more flexibility.”

Subjects can be recorded with fantastic clarity too. Macro photography is all about revealing details, and the RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM renders in-focus areas sharply while the nine-bladed circular aperture gives a beautiful quality to the bokeh at the same time. Mark points out that the design of the RF mount means that the lens is positioned closer to the sensor, further improving the image quality: “Having a shorter distance between the sensor and the rear lens means that the light doesn’t have to do as much bending, essentially. As more of that light hits the sensor perpendicularly, especially towards the corners, you get fewer problems like vignetting and chromatic aberration.”

"The honeycomb image was taken handheld at 1/60 second, and it's super-sharp thanks to the Hybrid Image Stabilisation. At that shutter speed, the results would normally be quite shaky, but the Hybrid IS really works.

"The autofocus locked on quickly, even when shooting close-ups. The lens has a focus limiter switch, so you can prevent the camera trying to focus throughout the entire range.”

Mike says: "Being a telephoto lens means that unlike with the Canon RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM you do not have to be so close to capture macro images, which can mean there is less likelihood you will block the light reaching the subject. Plus, as you don't have to get so close, it's more suited to shooting animals and insects without disturbing the subject. As well as being a macro lens, this lens is also an excellent portrait lens – so two possibilities in one!”

Mark explains: “The two lenses are only 11.8mm apart on this dual lens, so they're much closer together than they are on Canon's dual fisheye lenses. This means that the two images that are captured are quite similar when you’re shooting a distant subject, and as a result the 3D effect isn’t great. But between 15cm and 50cm, you’re getting the optimum amount of difference in the images for a pronounced 3D effect.

“It’s not necessarily macro in the traditional sense because you’re not showing more than the eye can see,” Mark says, “but you’re able to bring relatively small subjects to life in 3D. People looking at your close-ups are going to get the best viewing experience via a dedicated VR headset, but you can also use a smartphone or simply print out your images and use a really basic viewer to see the 3D effect.”