I've always wanted a macro lens, but they are wildly expensive; even the cheap ones!  The Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM lens is unique and affordable by any standard.  It's small and lite and attaches easily to my favorite mirrorless M6 Mark II Canon camera.  It even has something NO other macro lens, or any other lens has; built-in lights!  They are not fog-lights....but they work. 

     As I experimented with the EF-M 28mm macro lens, it opened up a world unknown to even my eyes.  What still has us talking is the image of the Wyoming fossil fish that hangs near my main PC.  It comes with a story....just hang on. 

     Fifty years ago I saw this fossil fish in a small rock-shop where my Father did some amazing work with jade and opal.  The fossil that owned the shop had this tan rock with tissue-paper under a small, oval piece of tan-colored stone.  Under this slim slat of stone was an impression of a fossil fish; he'd tapped it and the fossil fish was magically revealed. 

     It was unlike any fossil fish I'd ever seen!  As a science-nerd it dazzled my mind.  Mr. Zim eventually cut and framed the fossil fish.  And to make a long story shorter, I ended up with this cherished piece of the ancient fossil record.  

     When I photographed it with my new macro lens and printed it, we were all astounded; our mouths were open and everything!  This little three-inch Wyoming fossil fish was now over fourteen inches long!  The detail in this photograph of a fossil fish reveals amazing things nobody had ever seen before....and countless thousands have seen this little stone fish; it was in the office of the little motel we owned and managed that was two hours from Yellowstone National Park.  With a magnifying-glass I noticed something in his collapsed fish-eye; his optic nerve was easily visible!  Unbelievable....you will see scales on an ancient fossil fish.  Blow-up the image and see a fossil fish like you will never see. Wyoming Fossil FishSmall 3-inch Wyoming fossil fish imaged with macro lens.       Early in April while wandering around the Wind River Canyon where we live, I spotted a very tiny yellow wildflower already in bloom.  They only flowered for a few days till it snowed on them; they were only an inch tall and the images where taken on my stomach with the EF-M 28mm macro lens.  I cannot find a reference or a name for them anywhere.  I've done so many searches....they are so very tiny. Tiny Yellow Wildflowers in the Wind River CanyonTiny yellow wildflower, as yet unnamed, imaged with a macro lens in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.       A month later we have millions of a small yellow wildflower that also cannot be named.  I'm not exaggerating when I say millions; they are only slightly larger than the aforementioned "tiny yellow wildflowers" so I call them "small yellow wildflowers" that I still don't have a name for.  Image is from the 28mm macro on my belly....again. Small Yellow Wildflowers in the Wind River CanyonSmall yellow Wyoming wildflowers imaged in the Wind River Canyon with a macro lens.      If you can find a name and a link to the identity of these two Wyoming yellow wildflowers, I will change their generic names to something a little more scientific.  

     As for this review of the cheap and amazing little Canon EF-M 28mm f/3.5 Macro IS STM lens, all I can say is it works very well; but Canon is stopping the "M" line I read, a bad business decision; nothing like great power that is affordable.  The macro lens from Canon I really wanted costs $1,500!  But I needed a new garage door........

Thank you for reading my Wind River Canyon Blog.

I live in the magical Wind River Canyon; my name is Michael John Balog.  Safely visit my Wind River Canyon wildlife website and you will see things I can guarantee you've never seen before in Wyoming.... HogbatsPhotography.com

Think.....

MjB