The 7 Best Canon Macro Lenses in 2024!

Macro photography has only gotten more popular. With unique applications for product photography, videography, and even portraits, you need the best Canon macro lens if you want to capture stunning macro images.

There really is so much potential for what you can do with macro photography. Whether you’re looking for the best cheap Canon macro lens or the best macro lens for weddings, we’ve got you covered.

Here are Our Top Canon Macro Lenses!

Let’s dive into the best Canon macro lenses!

1. Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens

The Best Overall Canon Macro Lens

Why Buy The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens?

• Capture stunning close up images with 1.4x magnification
• Never worry about blurry images with 8 stops of image shake protection
• Built to Canon’s high Luxury lens standards

The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM lens is the best Canon RF macro lens. As long as the 100mm focal length suits your needs and the price tag fits your budget, you can’t go wrong with this lens.

What makes this the best Canon macro lens for jewelry and a variety of other subjects is the precision design that Canon put into all of the features in the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM lens.

The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM lens has a powerful magnification and a very close minimum focusing distance that’s underneath one foot. This means that you can get outstanding close-up shots of just about any subject.

The aperture is bright and the auto focusing works quickly. This means you won’t have to worry about losing a finicky composition when working with insects or outdoors with flowers.

The pleasant bokeh produced by this lens is also a great choice for anyone looking to capture some unique portraits or take a macro lens to a wedding.

All of these features combined to give you a powerful and versatile macro lens. Canon designed this lens to be a great choice for both outdoorsy nature photographers and studio photographers alike.

What You’ll Love About The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens

• The bright f/2.8 aperture aids in capturing macro subjects which are notoriously difficult to light
• Nature photographers will enjoy the weather-sealed construction
• The 9-bladed diaphragm will create a smooth bokeh effect
• You can get up close to your subjects thanks to the 10.2″ minimum focussing distance

What You Won’t Love About The Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens

• The lens is a bit expensive
• The 100mm focal length might not work for every photographer

All in all, this is easily the best choice you have when it comes to picking up a macro lens for your Canon camera. This lens is ready for professional level work and is going and has the features you need to capture crisp Images even when working with some of the most challenging macro photography subjects.

With that said, from our experience, you should check out the other six lenses on this list because their unique features might actually be better suited to your needs as a photographer.

2. Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM Lens

Best Affordable Canon Macro Lens

Why Buy The Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM Lens?

• If you’re on a tight budget, this macro lens is going to be a comfortable fit
• The two optical elements will help to protect the quality of your pictures
• You’ll never have to worry about lighting a macro shot with the Macro Lite LED
• Overall, this lens is a great way to get introduced to the macro style

If you want the best budget Canon macro lens, look no further.

We picked the Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM as our best Canon macro lens under 300 dollars because its features are honestly right up there with the lenses on this list that cost well over $1,000.

This might be a cheap macro lens, but it’s packed full of useful features. It gives you greater than true to life magnification and still has image stabilization built into the lens.

The aperture is a bit slower than we’d like, but the trade-offs here are nothing that you can’t compensate for with enough skill.

What You’ll Love About The Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM Lens

• Despite the budget cost, you’ll be able to get an useable 1.2x maximum magnification out of this lens
• Canon designed this lens with a retractable barrel for extra portability
• The hybrid image stabilization will help to make sure that camera shake doesn’t ruin your shots

What You Won’t Love About The Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM Lens

• The APS-C Format might not work with every Canon camera
• Design to fit EF-M mounts which limits its use
• Missing features you can find in more expensive lenses

This is easily the best value Canon macro lens.

Despite the incredibly approachable budget price tag, this lens is still capable of greater than true to life magnification. As long as you can work around a few budget trade-offs, this will be a great choice for anyone looking to save money while still exploring macro photography.

3. Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens for Canon EF

The Best Canon Compatible Macro Lens

Why Buy The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens?

• This Canon compatible macro lens achieves true 1:1 magnification
• You can save a lot of money when buying a macro lens from one of Canon’s off-brand competitors
• This lens is just underneath the overall quality of our pick for best macro lens

The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens is the best of the Canon-compatible macro lenses. It works with most Canon EF cameras and saves you money without compromising on quality.

Honestly, the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens is the best Canon macro lens for beginners. Even though it’s not the cheapest, it will give first-time macro photographers a real feel for what it’s like working with a fully-featured macro lens.

Those features are what make all of the difference when it comes to this lens from the Sigma brand. The only thing that’s really missing when you compare this lens with its Canon alternatives is a weather-sealed barrel.

Outside of that, it’s hard to spot too many differences between this lens and a lens that costs twice as much from Canon.

What You’ll Love About The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens for Canon EF

• You’ll get clear shots thanks to two optical elements and the Super Multi-Layer Coating
• The 1’ minimum focussing distance is easy to work with and lets you get close to your macro subjects
• Even though it’s a prime, this lens has OS Image Stabilization to keep your shots free of cameras shake
• You can get even closer to your subjects by adding on the full range of optional Sigma teleconverters

What You Won’t Love About The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens for Canon EF

• This lens is not weather sealed
• This lens isn’t Canon brand which matters to some photographers

If you want a high-end macro lens, but don’t want to pay full price, the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens is a solid option for you.

From our research, this lens packs enough punch to rival other lenses on our list!

4. Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens

The Best Canon Macro Lens for Products and Architecture

Why Buy The Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens?

• Tilt-shift macro lenses are the best way to capture tabletop product photography or architectural work
• This lens is weather-sealed which is ideal for photographers who want to work with architectural subjects
• The flexible aperture stays bright when you need it, but can be dimmed to allow for more complicated exposures

The Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift lens is the best Canon macro lens 50mm. That’s right, a tilt-shift style lens took the slot for best 50mm lens in this category!

You don’t get to be the best Canon macro lens for jewelry photography and other product photography without having some great features.

Tilt-shift photography works by putting you in a very precise and interesting position when it comes to controlling the focal plane. This allows you to do really cool things like creating the miniature effect and capturing stunning architectural photography.

The tilt-shift mechanisms on this lens lock into place so you don’t have to worry about things slipping around while you’re composing your shot.

This lens is also built to Canon’s luxury standard which means it’s designed for professionals and has some of the best glass put into lenses today.

We often think of macro photography as being about tiny subjects, but tilt shift lenses are for when you want to use macro equipment on a much bigger scale.

What You’ll Love About The Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens

• Easy to use tilt-shift controls can be dialed in with just a few adjustments
• The unique types of distortion that come with these complicated lenses are greatly reduced with the Air Sphere and Subwavelength coatings
• This lens puts you in control of powerful perspective controls including: +/- 12mm of shift, +/- 8.5° of tilt, and +/- 90° of rotation
• The minimum focusing distance of 10.6″ allows you to get close to the products you’ll be photographing

What You Won’t Love About The Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens

• The maximum magnification of 0.5x might not be enough for some
• You’re paying a premium for specialty gear

The Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Macro Tilt-Shift lens is the best Canon macro lens for product photography, architectural photography, and interior photography.

Tilt-shift photography is incredibly useful and is one of the most interesting categories of macro photography. You should pick up this lens if you’re interested in exploring one of photography’s best kept secrets.

5. Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens

Best Canon Macro Lens for Close Ups

Why Buy The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens?

• This interesting lens has coatings and optical elements to reduce distortion, aberration, and glare
• Magnification is the name of the game for most macro photographers and this lens gives you a staggering 5x magnification
• This lens is built to be stabilized thanks to the removable, rotating tripod collar

The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens is both the best Canon macro lens for insects and the best Canon macro lens for flowers. Really, the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens is the best macro lens for anything extremely small.

Canon is at their best when they’re working on expanding their range of lenses. The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens is one of the byproducts of creating so many interesting lenses.

This lens gives you the amazing ability to get a five times magnification on whatever subject you’re photographing. This is going to give you an uncanny level of detail when you zoom in on your subject.

This lens is very bare-bones. There is no automatic focusing, built-in image stabilization, or weather sealing. It’s going to be up to you to do a little extra work to make sure that your shots come out right every time.

What You’ll Love About The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens

• Canon’s floating elements system helps you to quickly adjust focus or composition
• The lens is designed to work with Canon’s Macro Ring Lite and Macro Twin Lite
• Despite being a specialty lens, this piece of kit has a budget-friendly price
• The 9.4″ minimum focusing distance is just about the closest a macro lens can get to your subject

What You Won’t Love About The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo Lens

• This is a specialty lens which isn’t right for general macro photographers
• This lens is manual focus only

The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens is as close as it gets to owning the best Canon macro zoom lens. This lens lets you “zoom” from a 1:1 magnification to an amazing 5:1 magnification.

If you’re working with the smallest subjects out there, or you want to explore an affordable, but very unique lens, you should pick up the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens.

6. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens

Best Canon Macro Lens for Weddings

Why Buy The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens?

• A professional lens is exactly what you needed for situations like weddings and other events especially when you were getting paid for your pictures
• This lens is weather sealed which means it’s safe for outdoor weddings in inclement
• The 100 mm focal length on this macro lens is going to let you get close-ups of interesting wedding details while still leaving some comfortable room for portraits

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is the best Canon macro lens for newborn photography as well as weddings.

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is essentially the EF equivalent of our number one pick for the best Canon macro lens. This means it’s going to lead the way when it comes to features and flexibility.

There’s almost nothing that you won’t be able to accomplish with this lens in the world of macro photography. It’s a perfect choice for capturing images of products or taking to a wedding.

The rounded 9-bladed diaphragm is going to give you a perfectly smooth bokeh every time while the image stabilization helps to prevent camera shake from destroying the images you work so hard to capture.

This is the best Canon DSLR macro lens. This means that this lens is also going to be weather sealed and feature multiple optical elements and coatings to ensure high quality photography every time you push the shutter button.

With a focusing distance of less than 12 inches and true-to-life magnification, this lens has the two most important factors that you want to see in any macro lens.

What You’ll Love About The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens

• You can get clearer images with the built-in image stabilization
• The lens offers true 1:1 magnification
• Quick autofocus matters with macro photography and the USM motor delivers on silent, fast operation

What You Won’t Love About The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens

• This is a very expensive lens
• Wedding photographers might not need a macro lens depending on what they’re looking to capture

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is the best Canon ef macro lens.

If you’re shooting on a Canon DSLR camera, this is going to be one of the best all-purpose macro lenses that you can pick up. The price tag might be a little bit high for some, but it is well worth the cost when it comes to quality.

7. Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Lens

Best Canon Macro Lens for Video

Why Buy The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Lens?

• 35 mm is an incredibly flexible focal length when it comes to shooting video which makes this lens a great choice for videographers
• The cost of this lens is very approachable which is ideal for video production budgets that don’t have a lot of wiggle room
• Despite being cost-effective, this lens has an amazing aperture value and plenty of features for you to make use of

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM lens is our pick for the best Canon macro lens for videographers. It’s highly flexible focal length that allows you to go wide and establish your shot, but it also has macro capability.

This lens is incredibly affordable. That’s going to make it a more reasonable purchase for videographers just getting into macro.

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM lens is exceptionally bright and the perfect choice for photographers you don’t want to carry too many lenses with them out into the field. It’s going to be the right thing to take with you whether you’re headed to a dimly lit nightclub or a sunny field.

What You’ll Love About The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Lens

• This lens features an optical image stabilizer which is critical when shooting macro video
• This lens features a quiet and responsive STM autofocus motor with a full-time manual override switch
• The nine-bladed diaphragm is going to allow you to capture smooth bokeh during all of your shoots
• This is a flexible macro lens that’s perfectly at home taking close-ups but also working with street photography and portraits

What You Won’t Love About The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM Lens

• No 1:1 or greater magnification—only 1:2
• Focal length might not be far enough for some

The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM lens is one of the best canon macro lenses for videographers.

This lens becomes the best choice for videographers because of its blend of flexible features as well as macro capability.

One major thing that you should consider before purchasing this lens is the type of macro photography you plan on filming. If you’re looking to lock your lens down on a tripod and take macro video of insects, you might be better served with one of the 100 mm lenses on this list.

All of the lenses on this list can be interesting choices for video, but this one happens to be one of the most useful in general.

Conclusion – The Best Canon Macro Lenses

So, which Canon lens is best for macro photography?

If you want the overall best Canon macro lens we recommend picking up the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM thanks to its great all-around performance and Luxury features.

There are other choices to consider. The Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo is a unique choice with an incredible zoom-like magnification for stunning close-up work. If you want to dip a toe into the world of macro, the budget-friendly Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM lens might be your pick.

Picking the right macro lens for you doesn’t have to be a challenge. Any of the lenses on this list will help you explore this unique style of photography.