Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
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(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First (5 out of 5)An excellent lens for the budding nature photographer
Prospective buyers of a macro lens for a Canon EOS system can't make a better first choice than this 100mm Macro. The extra length over a 50mm macro gives much better working distance (space between lens and subject) in the field, and EOS-compatible lenses by other manufacturers match poorly with accessories and are nowhere near as sharp.
Compared with the earlier Micro motor 100mm Macro that Canon made (which I also own), the USM lens focuses *very* fast. The USM lens also can accept a tripod collar (by use of a small plastic adapter)--I recommend you buy the collar with the lens, as adjusting to a vertical composition with a tripod means repositioning everything. The front element is not recessed in the USM model, which makes lens cleaning easier. And build quality is improved--the earlier model was prone to its switches breaking (could fix it yourself with the ordered part, but really annoying) and eventually the Micro motor gearing gave out (no trouble so far with the USM ring motor). The USM model will work with Canon's 2x teleconverter by interposing a 12mm extension tube, allowing 2x magnification with lots of working distance.
I will quibble with another reviewer--Canon does make sharper lenses (notably their 90mm tilt-shift lens, which is a better choice for studio product photography), and sharpness compared with the earlier model is virtually the same. But this is still one of the sharpest lenses you can buy, and ergonomically a huge improvement over its predecessor.
If you are building up a set of lenses for outdoor/nature photography and you do occasional macrophotography, this might be the first or second lens to buy. If you work significantly at magnifications greater than 1:1, consider the Canon 65mm 1x-5x Macro zoom (which I can push to a decent 10x with the teleconverter).
(5 out of 5)An extremely versatile lens.
This is the lens I leave on my camera for general purpose use. At non-macro focus distances, it is a very fast lens in a convenient short-telephoto length. The images are sharp out to the corners. This is one of those great Canon lenses that probably deserves an L-series rating but is available without the red stripe and exorbitant cost.
Tested in an astrophotography context (point sources on black backgrounds - excellent for revealing aberration and coma), I have found that this lens is reasonably sharp at f/4 and completely sharp by f/5.6. For daylight terrestrial photography, the tiny aberrations caused by the wide-open f/2.8 aperture are hardy noticeable and by f/4 the images are exquisitely sharp.
There is a lot of glass in this lens - it is heavy. I highly recommend buying the tripod collar as it allows you to attach the camera and lens to a tripod or ballhead with much better balance.
Also, if you plan on using the macro functionality, keep in mind that the effective f-stop of the lens goes way up when you're focusing at very close range. At 15cm from the front surface, it performs as though it were an f/9. You'll either want a lot of light or a very steady subject and a good tripod (another reason to buy the hideously overpriced tripod collar).
(5 out of 5)Sharp, versatile and a bargain
The 100 f/2.8 macro is very sharp, even for general shooting, so it works great for portraits, too. When I'm not using a zoom, this is my walkaround lens for people, relatively tight scenes and even indoor sports. Think of it as a great lens that also shoots macro than the other way around. Hard to beat that versatility at the price.
But it comes into its own at close distances. If you've never had a macro lens, you'll run around shooting everything in sight because everything looks new from a macro perspective.
Canon has several macro lenses. I prefer the 100 mm over shorter lenses because I don't have to get quite as close to that bee or wasp. The 180 mm gives you even more distance from your subject, more background blur and amazing sharpness. But it's much more expensive and in most cases you'll need a tripod, and I shoot a lot of improptu macros as I'm hiking.
For extreme closeups with larger-than-life images, there's the MP-E 65. It goes up to 5X, compared to the 100mm's 1X, but you lose autofocus with this lens. In fact, you set your magnification and then move the camera until the object is in focus! As you get beyond about 2X, the viewfinder gets fairly dark. If you're doing still life macro work, it's amazing. I'll probably get one someday for shooting my mineral colletion.
One thing to keep in mind with any macro is that because of the close distances, you're often in lower light conditions. Althought it's fairly pricey, I'm using the MT-24 EX, which lets you adjust the direction of the twin flashes. The MR-14EX ring light is a couple hundred dollars cheaper but will produce a slightly flatter image. And you can always use one of the standard flashes, though the closeness of your subject may cause some odd shadows.
(4 out of 5)sharp as a tack in 100mm or macro
I wanted to get a macro lens and everyone told me this was the one to get... I'm so glad I did. With the smaller sensor on my 30D, the 100mm is more like 150mm or so, so it's a nice , wide-open telephoto/portrait lens as well. I've uploaded a few photos I've taken w/ this lens to show what it's capable of in macro and telephoto. I thought the 17mm-85mm IS USM lens that came e/ my camera was sharp - but compared to this lens, the kit lens might as well be from a DIY pinhole camera.
My less than perfect rating is that there is no image stabilization available for the macro lenses. When I'm trying to hone in on bees pollenating a flower, there is a lot of shake. I can't practically use a tripod when the insects are bouncing from bud to bud, so I have to take 100 shots to get one that's not shake blur - and I miss some really cool shots.
In addition to the lack of image stabilization, I am frustrated w/ the sometimes unpredictable focusing that will happen as the lens is trying to decide whether it should be focusing at telephoto or macro. I wish there was a switch on the lens to make it macro only or telephoto only, so it wouldn't be bouncing from one focal length to the other all the time.
I've taken far more successful telephoto shots than macro. The telephoto focal length is a bit long (for those of us who cannot afford a full-frame sensor camera) for most casual photography. I recently used this lens to shoot some promo shots of some massage therapists in a small eatery. I practically had to set up in the restaurant's bathroom to get the photos I wanted, but opted for this lens because it's much faster (2.8) and I wanted to use natural light over flash.
The lens is long and heavy for its range. With the addition of the battery pack grip, this lens added on is very weighty, so I may not take it w/ me in my kit bag on every shoot. Once I add another short fixed focal length lens and a moderate telephoto to my kit, my guess is that this lens will be pulled out for only special occasions.
It's tack-sharp, but it can be frustrating at times.
(5 out of 5)My best lens.
This lens without a doubt deserves the "L" label that Canon only puts on their 'best' lenses. Not only are the pictures *incredibly* sharp, but the focusing is fast (includes a USM motor with overridable manual focus), quiet, and the lens is constructed like a tank. It's my favorite lens and I highly recommend it.