Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro

I wouldn't give this lens a five star rating. A 7/10, It is a great lens, beautiful bokeh. I do like the option of switching your focusing lenghts. This comes in very handy when you are up close to your subject. Macro makes noise when focusing with AF extremely slow, you sometimes need to MF to get this lens to focus out after working closup with it. I have own other brands of macros and this one isn't good when using AF, manual seems to be the only way it really performs. As far as the new hybrid IS...well I am not impressed. I bought it hoping to be able to freehand shots like I do with my Sony macro, but sadly only about 20% of the images are clear. Handheld you get ghosting. I shoot with a 5DMKII. I think the other Canon macros maybe a better buy for the dollar based on what friends have told me. Is this lens worth the dollars...not really. Canon neeeds to step-up on the IS technology. Tripod is a must with IS off for this lens to get high ratings. But I do suppose if you are a guy with larger hands, you could benefit from this lens, as you may have the ability to hold it as steady to keep ghosting down. Wish I had rent one first before buying. When reading reviews on the web remember they are usually paid by Canon to review their product.

Canon's most fun per dollar lens.

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens is an excellent macro lens - and may be Canon's most fun per dollar lens. Its a medium-small lens and is rather light in weight. This is a very comfortable-to-carry-and-use lens. Build quality is decent but not as solid as Canon's L Series lenses.Utilizing USM (Ultrasonic Motor), the Canon 100 Macro internally focuses very fast, quietly and very accurately. Though it takes a little time to go from 1:1 macro to infinity, it focuses very fast at normal focusing distances. When focusing at 1x subject distances, it is very nice to have a lens that does not extend. FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing is enabled and the front element does not rotate. A focus limiter switch enables full or restricted focus distances. The MF ring is nicely sized, well-damped and smooth. Most macro lenses are sharp, and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens does not disappoint in this area. This lens is sharp wide open and even sharper stopped down slightly with corners showing the most improvement. Being a true 1:1 macro lens, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens will deliver a subject to your sensor at the same size it is in real life. 1x magnification is achieved at the MFD (Minimum Focus Distance) of 1' (.3m)and a reasonable minimum working distance (MWD) of 6" (150mm). If you are looking for a great macro lens, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens is a very good choice. It offers excellent optical performance and middle of the road focal length, working distance and size/weight. Price makes this lens a great value. The 100mm focal length along with great bokeh (foreground/background blur quality) makes this a great portrait lens as well.

The Only Macro you'll ever need

This was my first macro lens, f/2.8 is a large aperture which allows fast shutter speed at a lower ISO. 100mm is perfect for macro shots, but also suitable for portraits which is great. Very sharp lens! Its equiped with a USM motor, which is useless. It hunts all around to search for a focus point, your better off using the manual focus. You can use creative filters to add the extra touch to your photos as well, it is a 58mm diameter lens. Its very well built, it should be a L seriers lens but only without the red tape around the lens. It has a special Felt like L series lens have, it is dust and moisture resistant. Its a lifesize lens 1:1 ratio but can be changed to 1:# and so on. The closer you get to your subject, the DOF (Depth of field) gets very narrow. A lens hood is recommended, ET-67. This will block glare when it hits your lens and also it protects it. The lens does not rotate when you focus, its has internal focus mechanism, so you can use the Cir-Pol filter if desired without disturbing the focus. Over all this is a wonderful lens, if you want a little more working distance and have extra cash, the 180mm f/3.5 L series is out there but for 2x the price. Happy Shooting

Sharp >Fantastic macro & Portraiture Lens >Best of EF

The 100mm EF 2.8 is by far my favorite lens for portraiture and macro photography.
I have had spectacular results even without tripod...1:1 is fantastic....The ability to focus within a foot of the subject is also nice.... Though not the $1000+ "L" series , for the price ($400), The photo quality in my opinion is unrivaled by any other EF series lens (that I have used) released to date. This model is relatively fast and responsive...Takes a little time getting used to the focusing....Will hunt to focus occasionally...I have found that it helps to adjust toward the expected range and then focus by shutter button..Though not necessary , having a lens hood will also help with stray light (especially in bright sunlight)..I would recommend this lens to anyone for portraiture and macro work..(although the 50mm has been great for portraits too).. The 100mm is a little on the heavy side , but has a very solid quality build and much lighter than many of the older 35mm film models.....I am currently using this on the CANON 7D 18MP and have not been disappointed....As much as I would prefer "L" series glass , for anyone on a budget , this lens is sure to please....Hope this will help you to make an informative choice.....

Probably the best macro lens for the EOS system!

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens has an outstanding reputation - deservedly so - as one of the sharpest lenses in the whole EOS lineup, rivaling many of the more expensive L-series lenses. I bought it mostly with aquarium photography in mind, and had been used to a 100mm macro lens on a film camera (full frame). I am using the EF 100mm macro on a Rebel XT; that is an APS-C format camera with a 1.6x crop factor, which means that the lens acts like a 160mm lens on a film body. For me the extra reach comes in very handy.

The main reason I chose the EF 100mm macro over the EFs 60mm macro was that I already had the cheap but outstanding EF 50mm 1.8. Since macro lenses are also useful for non-macro applications, I figured 60mm would be very close to 50mm, and I preferred to have another focal length covered by a prime lens.

Other than the Canon 60mm, the main competition for the EF 100mm macro are Tamron's legendary 90mm macro, and a whole lineup of excellent macro lenses from Sigma, covering various focal length. Solid performers as all of these lenses might be, the Canon is simply outstanding, and in my opinion considering 3rd party alternatives would only make sense if they were significantly cheaper. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case.

In summary, I would wholeheartedly recommend the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens to anybody who is looking for a macro lens for the EOS system. If you can find one with the original lens shade included, this is a big plus, since a new Canon lens shade costs about $40!