On my photo walks my eyes jump from the overall view to small details all the time. A solitary flower popping its head through a brick wall or the texture that frost leaves on otherwise mundane surfaces. The overlooked little nooks and crannies of the world. I believe the best gear is what you have with you, so I’ve captured these dainty scenes with whichever lens I’ve had on my camera. Ranging from standard primes to occasionally a telephoto with a macro switch. The results were nice, but not quite the same as what you can achieve with a dedicated macro lens. So naturally, when I had the opportunity to test Pergear’s new 100mm F2.8 2X Macro lens, I was thrilled.
Pergear 100mm F2.8 2X Macro – At a glance:
- Price: $319/£267
- Macro lens for full frame cameras
- Manual focus and aperture control
- 2:1 magnification
- Min. focusing distance: 0.30m
- Working distance: 0.11m
- Mount: Sony-E, Fuji-X, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Canon EF, Leica L
- Filter thread: 67mm
- Pergear.com
When you shoot macro photography the difference between a regular lens and a true macro lens is that the latter has a 1:1 magnification, meaning that your subject is captured true to life size on your screen. Some lenses offer even more like the Pergear 100mm F2.8 2X, the 2X designation means that the lens can focus on a subject area as small as 18 x 12mm of your 24 x 36mm full frame sensor and can magnify your subject twice-life sized.
Like other lenses from Pergear the 100mm f2.8 2X is a manual focus only lens. This is not a major issue as you would likely used manual focusing for precise adjustments, as AF tends to struggle with macro subjects. Before you start shooting you need to tell your camera what lens you are working with, to do this on Nikon, open the shooting menu and under “Non-CPU lens data” the lens’ focal distance and maximum aperture.
The aperture is also set manually at the ring closer to you. There are no electronics involved so focal-length and aperture information won’t be registered in the EXIF data. This is not unusual for budget lenses, and at only £266 the Pergear’s is one of the cheapest dedicated macro lens out there with a 2x magnification. It has a 0.11m working distance at 2X magnification, so you will need to get really close. This short distance can be problematic if you are planning to photograph skittish subjects like insects.
All that said if you have never used a dedicated macro lens before, let alone a 2x magnification lens, I tell you now you will be oohing and ahhing at every shot you take. At 2x magnification everything appears twice life-sized, and it reminded me of scenes from The Secret World of Arriety, I imagined tiny people taking shelter under the leaves and avoiding sharp blades of ice as they would make their way across the minuscule landscape.
During the course of a few weeks, I took the lens with me on various walks and used it for abstract macro shots, nature close ups, product photography and even took some portraits too. My favourite place to test was in the Cambridge University Botanical Garden. I planned my visit after a particularly cold night hoping to capture some frosty leaves in the morning light and to visit the greenhouse in search of some exotic flowers. As I expected, the gardens and the lens didn’t disappoint.
Build and handling
The overall build quality is really good, I was surprised to see when I first unboxed it that it had a full metal body, giving it a more expensive feel, however, this construction added considerable weight to the lens. If you are used to the lighter, plastic-bodied macro lenses this can feel quite heavy in comparison. It also has a metal mount, and no weather sealing, but at the affordable price it comes the latter is to be expected.
There are two lines of engraved scale markings filled stylishly with red paint next to the focusing ring, the first line tells you what magnification you are working with, whereas the second indicates the subject distance from the lens in feet and meters.
The metal body gives off a very premium feel in your hands but with its 790g weight for a fully manual lens I sometimes struggled to keep it steady enough to shoot hand-held, arms tucked in, feet planted, and breath stopped. It balanced well on my Nikon Z7II, but it would feel bulky and heavy on a smaller camera body.
I found both the focusing and aperture ring to be smooth, however a little too heavy to turn this was making it more challenging to focus hand-held, especially taking into consideration its weight.
Challenges & surprises
I have to admit it took some time to get used to a fully manual lens after the convenience of lenses that can be controlled by the camera. For instance, I repeatedly tried to change the aperture on the camera’s dial instead of the aperture ring on the lens. On the other hand to operate focus and aperture manually made me slow down, pay attention and enjoy the process more.
As its a fully manual lens when paired with my Nikon Z7II it didn’t display the aperture value, however, the exposure simulation still worked. Another thing to keep in mind as it won’t register EXIF data of aperture and magnification is to take notes of your settings as you shoot.
To gain more depth of field and utilise the sweet spot of the lens I tried to keep my aperture around f/5.6 – f/8 most of the time. I found that it is capable of creating artfully blurred backgrounds at almost any aperture setting, especially at close-up distances and resolved a good amount of detail considering just how affordable it is. For a budget lens, Pergear punched above its weight delivering beautiful image quality and overall good sharpness.
With a macro lens, the zone of focus is so incredibly small, that the slightest movement can cause the subject to fall out of focus, so I would recommend using a tripod most of the time. However, it is not impossible to focus handheld. The focus peaking option on my camera proved to be a lifesaver both when mounted on a tripod and in hand.
Focus bracketing manually
Normally the easiest way to get front-to-back sharpness in a macro shot is to use automated focus bracketing in your camera and use focus-stacking in an editing software like Photoshop or Serif Affinity Photo to achieve that overall sharp look. But the first part of this method relies on your camera’s autofocus capability. Without autofocus, I had to manually focus bracket images if I wanted to create wider areas in focus. To do this I moved the focus by hand then took an exposure after every small adjustment, slowly advancing the zone in focus from the very front to back. For this method, I definitely recommend using a tripod and delaying your exposure, or connecting your camera to your phone to remotely control as even the tiny movement of pressing the shutter would shake your setup out of focus.
When I compiled the image in Photoshop I noticed there were areas that remained out of focus. Even with the focus peaking option and stacking 30 exposures. I would love to get my hands on a macro rail for another time and adjust focus precisely.
The lens is subject to focus breathing, so as I gradually adjust the focal point the scale of the scene actually changes, even though the position of the camera doesn’t. This is a fairly common issue with macro lenses and can be mitigated in software by auto aligning the images and cropping in after stacking them.
Another tip is to keep your subject flat and parallel compared to the sensor of your camera and gain more area in focus, however this will only help if your subject is relatively flat to begin with.
When directed towards a bright light source the lens is prone to considerable flare and ghosting, so a lens hood would have been a welcome addition, however when used creatively it can also be an aesthetic tool to achieve striking images.
Portrait and product use
Apart from using it for the obvious close-up subjects given its 100mm focal range, it doubles up as a portrait lens. The 13 blades of the aperture diaphragm and the bright F2.8 aperture deliver a pleasing bokeh, allowing you to isolate your subject from the background beautifully. As it is a manual focus lens I won’t recommend it for fidgety subjects, it can be better suited for studio use where your subject’s distance is more controlled.
As for product photography, macro lenses have been a favoured choice. It is a great tool to capture delicate details and draw attention to certain features as you are able to highlight parts of a product which you’d almost struggle to see with your own eyes. As I was photographing a vintage ring the tiny chips along the stone’s etching revealed themselves at 2x magnification.
Pergear 100mm F2.8 2X Macro – Conclusion
After getting used to its quirks I thoroughly enjoyed using this lens, to capture things larger than life and see the world around you in a different scale is mesmerising. It is a special purpose lens, ideal for macro, product and the occasional portrait photography. If you are considering taking a step into shooting macro but your budget is limited this lens is an ideal option.
Other brands provide lenses with fairly similar specifications. The TTArtisan 100mm F2.8 Macro 2X lens is in the same price range and has cold shoe mounts for attaching lights or other accessories, a clicked aperture ring, and a longer focus throw on certain models.
There is also the fully manual Laowa 100mm F/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO (only the Canon version has CPU chip and motor for aperture control), however, it costs over twice as much at £560. The Nikkor Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S has a 1:1 reproduction ratio and boasts AF, weather sealing and built-in vibration reduction but those specs don’t come cheap, as it normally sells for around £1049.
If you are happy to make a compromise on using a fully manual lens the Pergear 100mm F2.8 2X Macro provides a very affordable entry option to the world of macro photography all the while delivering surprisingly good optical quality.
AP readers and online followers get an 8% discount, using the code AP2025 at Pergear.com.
Pergear 100mm F2.8 2X Macro – Full specifications
| Price: Price | $319/£266 |
| Filter thread | 67mm |
| Magnification | 2:1 |
| Minimum focusing distance | 0.30m |
| Working distance | 0.11m |
| Lens elements | 14 |
| Groups | 9 |
| Diaphragm blades | 13 |
| Aperture | f/2.8 – f/22 |
| Angle of view | 20.6 |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Manual aperture, de-clicked | Yes |
| Size | 15.7 x 8 cm (for Z-mount version) |
| Weight | 790g |
| Lens mount | Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, Canon EF, Leica L, Fujifilm X |
| Included accessories | lens cap |
Related reading:
- The best value macro lenses
- The Best Macro Photography Tips and Techniques
- Complete guide to Macro Photography – create great macro photos
