Over the weekend we made some shots, where a macro lens would have been appropriate. We used our "fantastic plastic" 50mm f1.8 Canon lens. This lens has a fantastic value for the $109 (CAD) we paid for it. Nevertheless, it has one real disadvantage, at least the piece we got: it is not sharp when wide open. This can be clearly seen on uncropped pictures and becomes annoying if you want to crop the picture to show details.