I'm not a big fan of a lens that only has one purpose but that is not this lens. Marco functionality is amazing and once you get your head around how it all works, it's easy to use. But this also works as a fantastic portrait lens. I find I reach for this focal length more often than the spectacular 45mm f1.8. My only reservation with this lens is that of all my lenses, this one is more likely to hunt for focus. Not a huge issue when doing macro as I usually use manual focus, but can get annoying in lower light standard photography situations.