Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

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You will not go wrong with this lens. The image quality is outstanding. The focus speed is super. Just remember to slide the focus switch to the proper setting based on the type of subjects you are shooting. For both portrait and macro, this lens is super sharp. On my 7D Mark II, I only had to stand roughly 20-25 feet from the subject for full body portrait shots. That is not bad considering it is on a 1.6x crop camera. Low light shooting is outstanding. When it comes to macro, I prefer to use manual focus under live view to give me precise control. Really easy to do and less strain on your back. What amazed me is that with image stabilizer on or off, while on tripod, the image quality was identical and sharp. No need to turn off image stabilizer. The image stabilizer is a little noisy but hey, when your camera is on and you move it around, you at least know it is working. I highly recommend this lens. Last thing, for those that believe or not believe in filters, here is a tip: get one! I got so close to an object that I didnt realize I was pushing up against it. A quality filter will possibly protect your glass from accidental scratching if it was a metal object you were filming. I highly recommend a good filter since this lens is sharp. [...] makes excellent filters and can be bought on amazon or their website. Yes, they make some of the best filters for at the best prices. I own, a 50mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, and a 10-18mm lens. The 100mm macro is my all time favorite! I added some photos but the web compressed them down so you dont get the full hi res version. It is amazing when zooming on the original photos. As for the build quality, I dont see what the deal is about the enhanced plastic encasing. It does feel solid as any other L lens and even seems to weigh as much or slightly less than my 24-70mm L lens.

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The canon EF 100mm f2.8L IS USM Macro lens is a bit of a monster to be honest. Like most other Canon L series lenses, this lens comes in a little bit heavier than standard EF or EF-S lenses. This is due in part to the excellent build quality (and weather sealing) and also in part to the inclusion of Image stabilization. Like many others, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to determine whether I should get this lens with image stabilization or whether to get the roughly $300 cheaper albeit non L series 100mm Macro lens. Generally the quality of the glass in a L series lens is higher than a standard EF series lens, so that would be a plus. The other big consideration was whether I wanted image stabilization. Now that Ive had this lens for about a year I can say with full confidence that spending the extra for IS and the L series is definitely worth it. Controls on this lens are fairly standard across canons series of lenses, you have a range selector switch, AF/MF switch and an image stabilization On/Off switch. Since this is a prime, there obviously isnt a zoom ring, just a focusing ring, which is nice and wide and has a very smooth motion to it. The Canon 100mm Macro lens is really a multi purpose lens. Although its main use is for macro photography, you can very readily use this as a portrait lens on a full frame body (on a crop sensor this will be a 160mm lens which is a bit long for portrait photography) with excellent results. For the most part when shooting macro, you would want to shoot on a tripod with rail system and good lighting however since owning this lens Ive found the amount of times that Ive been out wandering around and happened across something that I wanted to shoot and didnt have my tripod with me to be a lot more than I expected. This is where the image stabilization on this lens comes into play. Ive found that with the IS you get around a 2 stop advantage. It also makes taking macro shots by hand actually possible. Macro focusing is an art into itself. This lens allows you to stop all the way down to 2.8, with a beautifully creamy bokeh but a very narrow depth of field (for example, if shooting an insect, you may get the insects head in focus but the body will be out of focus) or go up the scale to allow more of your shot to be in focus. Of course, increasing your f-stop also means increasing your exposure time. Increasing your exposure time means the more likely there will be camera shake whilst taking the picture and as mentioned this is where the image stabilization kicks in for around 2 stops advantage. To get really close shots you can pair this lens with extension tubes. Extension tubes dont have any glass in them and simply create more of a distance from the back of your lens to the actual camera sensor. This effectively "zooms" you in further. Image quality from this lens is phenomenal. Very sharp images with wonderfully creamy boken produced by its 15 elements. This lens creates the best bokeh I have seen form a lens, including the lenses I own that stop down to f1.4. If you are looking for possibly one of the best macro lenses on the market. you wont be disappointed with this lens. If you are looking for a great portrait lens, you wont be disappointed with this lens and if you are looking for a macro lens that you can use without the need of a tripod, then this is definitely lens you want. Overall the Canon EF 100mm f2.8L IS USM Macro lens is a winner. Im so glad I paid the extra for the L series and image stabilization. Totally worth it.

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0:00 0:00 This video is not intended for all audiences. What date were you born? January February March April May June July August September October November December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 Submit Adobe Flash Player is required to watch this video. Install Flash Player The product lens of all lenses. I rented this baby solely in creating a 15 second commercial for another photography product and am so glad I spent the money renting it… It has served me well with both photography and videography. I love that the detail, crispness and shallow depth of field allows for optimal results as seen in the video I’ve attached with this review. Heres the thing though, it kind of sounds like there is a loose part in the lens and that its bouncing around when you shake the lens... but that is to be expected... so dont worry if you hear that and immediately worry. If you’re looking for an excellent Macro Lens used for getting second-to-none shots for products, I would suggest this 100mm Macro Lens.

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This is a macro lens and for that purpose it is great! Also takes good portraits and pet pictures. Has excellent background blur and bokeh. Its lightweight due to the plastic body, which is very strong surprisingly, but then again this is a L lens. Takes a while to focus is moderate to low light but all other macros I have played with do this. Would recommend!

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This lens is probably the best of several wonderful Canon L-Series lenses I have. Great for portraits, macro, street, landscape, and many, many more applications. See, for example, my attached "bee" photo and "frog" photo with this lens -- both hand-held! Also, the "crayon" macro photo -- on tripod with a friends studio lighting. Every "photog" friend to whom Ive shown this lens is amazed. Even better buy now, at a price approximately $250 less than I paid two years ago.

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Very sharp lens. So far I cant find anything to complain about. I have discovered that lens extenders such as the Canon EF 25 II Extension Tube do not add much magnification. The attached photo are samples from this lens.

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In the past, Ive had the 70-200 f/2.8 VC by Tamron (amazing lens but hefty) but also have done product and some food photography that Ive been toying around with the idea of purchasing this lens some day. I took interest in doing headshot photography recently and read about Pete Hurley using this lens as his go to before switching to the Hasselblad so I knew I couldnt go wrong in that area. 70-200 was versatile and its a great all around portrait lens but Ive always wanted something lighter but also produced great results. Knowing the limitation in low light but having IS and seeing some spectacular images compared to the 100mm f/2.8 non-IS and other lens with similar focal length, I made the plunge and boy was I glad I did! My jaw dropped as I viewed some of the images taken today of my daughters. The details are insane and the AF was very accurate out of box (like most L lens Ive had). I browsed at some of the studio shots done with the 70-200 VC but this macro lens completely takes over in the detail department. Ive heard some say the 135L is sometimes too detailed for portraits and feel the same about this lens. Not that post processing cant smooth out the skin but it picks up every detail you can imagine. While Im not totally into macro at this point, I did shoot the dish I made (uploaded photo) to see how it would look for food photography. Everything just pops. The peppers and other spices I used just comes out so detailed and realistic. The details of the keyboard was so good I was honestly disgusted how dirty it looked! I can see why some would opt for the 180mm macro but this one produces enough details I dont feel that I would need anything longer at this point (unless youre trying to get details of bugs eyes, etc). Having a very short minimum focus distance at 100mm and being lightweight is a big bonus. I had no problem shooting in the regular sized living room. The IS works for normal shots but I can confirm also with macro shots the IS is so-so. But then again normally most dedicate macro shooters use tripod with rails and manual focus so it shouldnt be a huge issue. I did read about the slow focus and low light issues but as long as the object/subject was somewhat lit it focus without an issue. By no means its quick like the 85mm f/1.8 lens, it reminded me of the slow AF on the 85mm f/1.2 from the past. Again with adequate lighting this lens does fine at least on my 5D MKIII. When people talk about a lens being tack sharp, I dont think they have seen anything this sharp. While they say 135L is sharper, I didnt want to be backing up 3 either so theres the compromise there. Overall this lens has so many uses I couldnt pass it up at this point. Pros: - Very short minimum focus distance for 100mm - Ridiculously detailed images - 1:1 life size macro magnification - Well balanced weight with the Canon 5D MKIII - IS that works - Quiet motor Cons: - Hunts in low light - Slower to focus* - IS is not 4-stops in macro *This all depends on what youre trying to do. If you set the focus to cover ALL range on the sliding switch then it will hunt more so than if you had the switch to 0.5m-Infinity. So if your subject in the distance isnt tracking well for say shooting sports, limit the distance. If youre not shooting macro you dont need the lens to be trying to focus the entire distance. Same with shooting macro. Limit it to macro distance and should improve on the AF speed.

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Love the lens...looking forward to taking it out for a spin. I do have a couple minor complaints. Luckily, Canon does a good job of packaging its lenses. The amazon box was slightly dinged up. The lens seems to be working fine, but the lens hood was cracked...Im guessing from the moving around in the box...as there was next to no inner padding for Canon box to the Amazon box. For just over $800 youd think they would put a bit more padding. This is the photo of the box after I opened it. Might be the last lens I buy from Amazon.

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This is a great lens. I am not going to sit here and offer a detailed review because if you are into photography and love macro photography then you should already have done your homework. One thing I will say though... I have heard many people say that the image stabilizer does not work well in the full macro mode. I disagree. It works and works well for me. NOTE to Amazon: I received this lens in a box large enough to hold a large microwave and with no packing material, implying that the lens was tossed and bounced around. I returned the lens without even opening it. Thank you for sending a new one. Perhaps you need to check how sensitive equipment is packed. Sucks to receive something and then have to return it.

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Lets keep it simple... I own a large array of Canon L lenses (I am an amateur enthusiast), and there are two that consistently stand out for their optical quality - the 100mm macro and the 135mm mid-range. I love this lens. The build quality is excellent. I rarely use a tripod, and I consistently get shots that are tack-sharp. At dusk or twilight, a tripod is needed. This lens is so sharp, it will show all details. I say that, because I have found that is an excellent portrait lens. Shoot soft when doing that. I also use it primarily via manual focus, and there are no issues - very sensitive, very precise. On a tripod with micro-adjuster, it delivers top notch results. I can say nothing negative about this lens other than the price.

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