AstrHori 120mm f/2.8 2x Macro

The AstrHori 120mm f/2.8 2x Macro is a manual-focus prime for extreme close-up work, released in 2024 and still in production. It comes in Sony E, Canon RF, Canon EF, Leica L and Nikon Z versions, so pick the one made for your camera. The Sony E version covers full frame.

It suits photographers who work deliberately on flowers, insects, product shots and copied artwork. The 120mm focal length lets you fill the frame with a small subject from farther away, so you disturb less and light more easily.

The trade-off is pace. Autofocus and image stabilization are both absent, so allow extra time for each shot.

At 2 lb 0.8 oz (930 g), 3.03 in (77 mm) across and 6.5 in (165 mm) long, this is a big, heavy prime. A screw-in filter must match the 72mm thread on the front. Our specification score for physical is 64/100.

The headline number is 2x magnification, twice life size and well beyond the 1:1 that marks true macro. Framed at 2x, a compound eye or a leaf vein spans the frame with visible texture. Insects, water droplets and stamp-sized details take on scale a life-size lens cannot match.

The 120mm focal length leaves more room between lens and subject than a short macro. Skittish insects stay calmer, and lights or reflectors fit around your set more easily. Depth of field at high magnification is razor thin, so aperture choice becomes your main control over what stays sharp.

The f/2.8 maximum helps in shaded woodland and separates a subject from a busy background when you work below maximum magnification. Beyond close-ups, 120mm at f/2.8 also serves as a short telephoto for tight portraits. Thirteen aperture blades keep the opening round as you stop down, so out-of-focus highlights stay smooth.

Closest focus sits at 1 ft (30 cm). Our specification score for optics is 70/100.

Two absences shape daily use. There is no image stabilization, so a tripod, a focus rail or flash does the steadying work. A support holds the camera but cannot stop a moving subject. At 2x, camera movement is magnified along with the subject, so lock the camera down before refining focus.

There is no autofocus either. The manual focusing ring rewards slow, careful turns, and magnified view or focus peaking, where your camera offers them, helps confirm focus. The Sony E version has no weather sealing, so shelter it from rain and grit when working low in damp grass. That version also skips a fluorine coating, so clean smudges from the front element promptly and gently.

Four of the 14 elements are low-dispersion glass, a type that helps reduce chromatic aberration. That aberration shows as coloured fringes along high-contrast edges, such as dew on a backlit stem or the rim of a wing. Our specification score for construction is 38/100.