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We are told that Canon will introduce a new macro lens in the first half of 2025. and it will have/be a “macro design first”. We weren’t given any details on what the “first” will be. It will be an autofocus lens, so no MP-E 65mm update. That’s not really a lens you’d use autofocus for anyway, but maybe I’m wrong.
Is there a way to make a zoom 1:1 macro? Could they add tilt or shift features? I would think it would be longer than 100mm as to not overlap with the current lens. Would there be a need for a “Z” feature? I’m not a macro shooter, so I really don’t know macro shooters would want.
We have seen plenty of patents as to what Canon is going to be doing with the upcoming autofocus tilt-shift lenses with automated in-camera control, which will be an industry first. Maybe there’s something they could do there for macro shooting?
The lens will also cost “significantly more” than the current RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro we were also told.
As for the new macro lens on the horizon, sound off on the forum with your opinions of what would be a desired “macro design first”.
A partial historical rambling about the Canon macro lenses
Canon released the RF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro back in April 2021, and it was well received and did everything that macro shooters wanted, as well as its secondary use as a super sharp portrait lens.
The EF lineup as you all know had a lot of really cool macro lenses. In 2009, Canon introduced their first image stabalized macro lens with the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM.
The 180mm f/3.5L USM Macro has what I would call a cult following, as most people rolled with the 100mm macro, but “if you knew, you knew”. It was among our least rented lenses when I was in that business.
There was also the EF 50mm f/2.5 compact macro, while not all that popular with everyday shooters, it was a terrific lens for art reproduction. It’s what we used when I worked with that sort of thing.
The EF-S line had the 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro, which was a fantastic macro lens. They also made the EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM with a built-in ring light. I’ll be honest with you, Richard had to remind that the 35mm even existed. I have no recollection of it all.
We also had the super unique MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x manual focus macro. This was such a cool lens, the bug photos made with that lens were surreal. Instead of making VR lenses for that tiny niche, howabout another one of these Canon?
Canon also made the EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM, which also had a built-in macro light, and that was a cool design. The reports of my dislike of EOS M have been greatly exaggerated! It was a really good lens, though I didn’t use the ring light.
The latest round of tilt-shift L lenses from Canon had a macro feature, but they were 1:2. We also saw the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM with a macro ability.
There was no such thing as a bad macro lens in the EF/EF-S lineup. I still recommend the original EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro to people that don’t want to spend a lot on their first macro lens.
As for the new macro lens on the horizon, sound off on the forum with your opinions of what would be a desired “macro design first”.
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