Review: Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X – The Most Affordable 2X Macro?

6 days ago 5

Introduction

It seems to have become a trend among Chinese lens manufacturers to produce full-frame macro lenses with 2X magnification. Here, we have one of the most affordable options: the Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X. Let’s dive into its strengths and weaknesses!

camera-icon2 I tested this lens on a 46 Mp Nikon Z7ii (Sample images were taken with a Nikon Zf and Nikon Zfc)
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!

Sample Images

Nikon Zf | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X | f/8-11

Nikon Zfc | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X | f/8-11

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Specifications

Focal Length
Angle of View	22.6°-43.6°
# of Aperture Blades	10
Max Aperture	f/2.8
Min Aperture	f/16
Min Focus Distance	19.1 cm
Filter Size	62mm
Lens Mount	Sony E, M4/3, Fuji X, Nikon Z, Canon R, L-mount
Weight	≈ 600 g
Size (D x L)	68 x 124 mm (Nikon Z version)
Elements/Group	10 / 7

Lens Construction | Pergear 60mm f2.8 Macro 2X

Disclosure

Pergear kindly provided this lens for test and review purposes.

Variations

There has been an original 60mm f/2.8 macro lens from 2021, that was for APS-C cameras, the one I am testing is MK2, which should cover a fullframe sensor.

Handling

Pergear 60mm 2.8 MK2 is a fully manual lens, no autofocus, no aperture control from the camera and no electronic pins for data transmission to the camera. It is built fully in metal and glass, and looks a little bit large and heavy for being a 60mm lens, but it also gives a solid impression. There is no image stabilisation built in to this lens and it doesn’t come with a lens hood.

It features a very wide and generously sized focusing ring and an aperture ring. Both rings turns very smoothly and feel nice. The focusing ring has besides meter/feet markings, also magnification ratio markings from 1:2 to 2:1. It has internal focusing, so the lens length does not change when you focus close or far. The focusing is not very easy as the focusing ring is not very well damped, you can get past the focus point easily, but with some exercise you get the grip of its operation. I normally, prefocus the lens at a certain magnification and try to move the camera back and forth to get the subject in focus, so that is not a big deal for me when doing macro work, but when I do non-macro work it is a little annoying.

The aperture ring has variable distance aperture value markings for each full stop from f2.8 through f16. There are no click stops, the ring is completely clickless, something I’m not a big fan of for still photgraphy. I happened to move the aperture while using it without being aware, Part of the pictures were taken with a different aperture than what I had intended to.

Although this lens is marketed as a full-frame lens, it only functions as such for macro work. At portrait distances, mid-range, and beyond, the vignetting on a full-frame camera becomes so severe that it renders the lens unusable. However, on an APS-C camera, the lens can be used effectively for both macro and non-macro distances, even at infinity.

For some reason, the lens came with a focusing tab, and oddly enough, it’s branded as 7Artisans. The tab can be attached to the lens barrel using the pre-applied adhesive.

Optical Features

MTF curves | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 macro 2X

Sharpness (Infinity)

For the infinity sharpness test, we look at three areas of the image, centre, mid-frame, and corner, see highlighted areas in the image below!

Infinity sharpness | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X | Nikon Z7ii | DX mode

The infinity sharpness was tested in DX mode, i.e. 21.5 Mp. APS-C area.

Sharpness is very good at f/2.8 in the centre, good in the midframe, but soft in the corner. Stopping down to f/4 and you get excellent sharpness in the centre, the midframe is much better but the corner is still soft. At f/5.6 the midframe sharpness is very good, but corner while better, is still soft. You have to stop down f/11 for the corner to become good. The centre and midframe remain excellent and very good to f/11. At f/16 sharpness becomes weaker due to the diffraction, which weakens the sharpness even more at f/22.

Sharpness (Portrait)

Let’s look at the points of interest for portraits at the portrait distance: the very centre, the centre’s inner periphery (1/3 rule intersection), and the centre’s outer periphery (1/4th intersection).

Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X Portrait distance f2.8 APS-C

As at longer distances the FX format is not usable, I tested the portrait distance sharpness for APS-C format only. The centre sharpness is very good, inner circle is good and outer circle is soft.

Sharpness (Close-up)

This is where the sharpness of this lens really matters. At 1:1 magnification, sharpness is very good at f/2.8, though it softens slightly at f/4 while remaining quite good. At f/5.6, sharpness remains good, but contrast takes a noticeable hit. By f/8, the image softens more, though it’s still acceptably good, and at f/11, it’s softer with reduced contrast but still good. At f16 it is OK and at f/22, it’s on the edge of being barely acceptable.

At 2:1 magnification, sharpness at f/2.8 is actually better than at 1:1 magnification. Stopping down improves sharpness, peaking at an excellent level at f/5.6. Diffraction begins to affect the sharpness at f/8, though it remains very good, and it’s still good at f/11. f16 completely usable and f22 it is soft.

Lens Distortion

The lens shows pincusion distortion and normal distances, here on an APS-C sensor

As this is a macro lens I tested the distortion at macro distance too. The distortion at aboout 1:1 magnification is more than at long distance on APS-C, more or less the double.

Vignetting

On full frame cameras the vignetting is 4.1 EV at f2.8 at infinity and it only gets worse when you stop down. It is so serious that I do not enter all the values. But the vignetting is pretty decent when used on APS-C cameras at infinity.

Focus Shift & Aberrations

The chromatic aberrations are very well corrected in this lens as there is no Loca or LaCA visible.

LoCA | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X | Nikon Zf

LaCA | Pergear 60mm f/2.8 MK2 Macro 2X | Nikon Zf

Flare Resistance

The flare resistance is not good at all, avoid the sun in the frame or near edges and backlight shots.

Focus Breathing

This Pergear as all macro lenses suffers from heavy focus breathing.

Bokeh

At close distances (magnification 1:2 to 2:1) the bokeh is super soft and almost nothing is recognisable in the background. See sample images.

Conclusion

I LIKE	AVERAGE	I DON’T LIKE
Price Sharpness Chromatic aberrations	Build and handling Lens distortion (normal distance)	Flare resistance Focus Breathing Lens distortion (macro distance)

This is a highly affordable macro lens, offering excellent value for money. It’s one of the most budget-friendly options that can achieve 2:1 magnification on a full-frame camera. When used on an APS-C camera, the crop factor enlarges the effective field of view by 1.5 to 1.6 times compared to a full-frame sensor.

Sharpness is impressive, rivaling more expensive competitors, with excellent chromatic aberration control. However, unlike some competing lenses, this one isn’t versatile enough for use as a regular lens on full-frame cameras—it’s designed specifically for macro work. On an APS-C camera, though, it can double as a short telephoto lens without any issues.

One downside is the aperture ring lacks click stops, which I found inconvenient for still photography, and another, the weak flare resistance.

In conclusion, if you’re looking to explore macro photography or only shoot macro occasionally, this lens offers outstanding value and delivers image quality on par with more expensive lenses. However, if you’re serious about macro photography and plan to use the lens frequently, it might be worth investing in a higher-quality option, though you’ll need to budget for at least twice the price.

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Alternatives

As mentioned earlier, almost all Chinese lens manufacturers have produced macro lenses with 2x magnification, and there are quite a few of them. Some brands, like Laowa, have even released multiple 2x macro lenses. Below are a few that we’ve reviewed on this site.

Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X APO
A premium lens with almost the same focal length, this one is larger and heavier, but can be used as a standard lens on fullframe cameras.
Buy new: Laowa store, Amazon (anywhere) for $499 (Affiliate links)

TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2X
A 100mm macro, very good sharpness and build quality, can be used as short telephoto lens on fullframe cameras.
Buy new: TTArtisan Store $319, Amazon (anywhere) $339 for $ (Affiliate links)
Buy used: ebay.com, ebay.de (Affiliate links)

TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2x TS
The same as above but with tilt/shift functionality
Buy new: Amazon (anywhere) for $419 (Affiliate links)

Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5x Ultra Macro
This is an ultra macro lens that have a magnification of between 2.5 to 5X. It cannot focus on other than macro distances though.
Buy new: Laowa Store, Amazon (anywhere) for $399 (Affiliate links)

Laowa FFii 90mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2x
A high quality macro lens that can also be used as a short telephoto on fullframe lenses.
Buy new: Laowa Store, Amazon (anywhere) for $449 (Affiliate links)

Laowa 85mm 5.6 2:1 Macro
This is a super light and compact lens with 2X magnification, but with a maximum aperture of f/5.6. A very handy and portable macro lens
Buy new: Laowa Store, amazon (anywhere) for $449 (Affiliate links)

More Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

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Martin M.H. lives outside Stockholm, Sweden. He is a M.Sc. in Computer Technology but he has been a passionate photographer for over 45 years. He started his photographic adventures when he was thirteen with an Agfamatic pocket camera, which he soon replaced with a Canon rangefinder camera that his mom gave him in his teenages. After that he has been using Canon SLR, Nikon SLR manual focus and Autofocus, Sony mirrorless crop sensor, Nikon DSLR and Nikon Mirrorless. He has photographed any genre he could throughout the years and you can see all kind of images in his portfolio. During the later years though it has been mostly landscape, nature, travel and some street/documentary photography.

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