Canon EF 100mm f 2 8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
This telephoto macro lens is capable of focusing to life-size (1X) without attachments. Although it replaces the EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, it is a completely new design. It incorporates a ring-type USM giving quiet, high-speed autofocus. The full-time mechanical manual focus gives very smooth manual focusing. For the first time in a 1X focusing telephoto macro lens, inner focusing is used.The lens length remains constant and a long working distance of 149mm makes worrying about getting too close to the subject unnecessary. Also, during focusing the front ring does not rotate making use of front-mounting accessories like macro ring lites simple and effective. “Three-group floating” focusing construction uses three independently moving groups, which holds focusing-related changes of aberrations to a minimum giving excellent image quality all the way from infinity to life size.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars I use this for nature close-ups…
…but it’ll work for portraits. It’s as sharp as the more expensive a 24-70L lens and its color rendition is nearly as good. I’ve loaned it to budding photographers who have used kit lenses only and they can’t believe the image quality. Some of my best photos have come from this lens.
5 Stars Awsome Lens!!
One of my favorites. I tried the 50 and 100mm macros before buying the 100 and I couldn’t be happier. I take a lot of pics of flowers and bees and the extra reach of the 100mm allows me to get the good shot without scaring off the bees.
5 Stars What a great Lens!
Image from this lens is superior, deep and field come incredible and very sharp pictures. The macro allow you to take very small objects…almost every picture I take with this lens come out as high quality wallpaper.
It’s a little bulky but this is what you can expect considering the optics involved.
Highly recommended.
5 Stars My favorite lens!!!
First, I shoot with a Canon 40D and am an on-location photographer of families and children. I also love shooting nature and “things” – close ups of rust, the curve of a bench chair, dew on clematis, etc…
This lens is amazing for my purposes! At 2.8 I can follow playful toddlers around in a variety of lighting conditions and still get the shot. And for posed portraits, the bokeh is amazing, people have never looked so good! So overall, I prefer this lens to my 70-200 f4 L, even though I can’t zoom and have to move myself to compose shots. But the lower f-stop, the tack-sharp images, the ability to shoot macro, the weight (it seems lighter and less bulky than my 70-200), all tip the scale in the 100mm’s favor.
If you were considering the 70-200 f4 and decide to get the 100mm, you might want to consider picking up the “nifty fifty” 1.8 – another prime lens, and quite inexpensive too, but one of my FAVORITES, so versatile, I just love it. You can get wonderful dof effects by shooting things up close – the eyelashes of a child, an engagement ring perched on a newborn’s foot, the stamens of a lily….plus it lets you shoot group shots indoors with relative ease….
Anyway, back to the 100mm – a great investment, I use this lens all the time and it is fantastic.
4 Stars Great lens for the price!
I am an advanced amateur. I bought this Canon lens to round out my array of lenses for my Rebel XSi. I was interested in taking macro shots of bugs and other small objects, plus have the capability of a portrait lens. I haven’t had it for very long and I haven’t taken a lot of pictures yet, but it is impressive in its sharpness and accurate focusing. It focuses to .9 foot but you have to have a steady hand since it doesn’t have IS. Construction is solid (notice the weight) and all focusing is internal, so the barrel doesn’t move in and out. This is a great feature for macro images.
I recommend it highly but if I had the extra money I would go for the Canon 100mm macro lens with IS. That is the only reason I gave it a 4.0 rating.
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