 "Excellent Lens for just about anything macro." | 2009-09-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1UG1CX7UQ1LJE |
Pros:
Excellent lens for anything macro, I have had the lens for over a week and it has been excellent, the detail is astonishing and the auto-focus is great. It does not however have IS but for this lens you want to have your shutter speed at a minimum of 1/100 so the capture is always great and i don't own a tripod yet. this lens is the BEST macro lens for the price, and the best you can get without paying another 400 for the luxury lens. although it does not say
it DOES HAVE 1 to 1 zoom.
F/2.8 is amazing.
Cons: I bought it at 630 so the price went down in the short time that I've owned it and thats a bit depressing.
The auto focus can be a bit screwy with moving targets and your better off using manual focus for some things but, for me that adds part of the experiance.
Overall excellent for everything even portraits come out excellent. Nature is an obvious thing to use it for but if you get this lens USE IT FOR PORTRAITS TOO!!! |
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| "Huh? This Isn't an L-Series Lens??" | 2009-09-07 |
| - Reviewed By paulied |
I'm a stickler for sharp lenses and rich contrast. My 70-200mm/2.8 is VERY sharp as is my 16-35mm at 20mm. On my 5D Mark II I've diligently dialed in those lenses with the backfocus adjustment... I'm that picky. Regarding this 100mm Macro, it's from another planet. The images are so striking I'm blown away everytime I open Photoshop. I've read tons of reviews stating the same thing, and they are RIGHT. BTW, this lens needed no backfocus microadjustment on my 5D2. Funny, I had to sell my 17-40mm and get the 16-35mm because the 17-40mm couldn't keep up with the 21mp sensor. This 100mm Macro laughs at it. In fact, the 200mm/2.8 is supposed to be as sharp as this 100mm, and if that's the case, I'm getting the 200mm/2.8 and the 70-200mm goes up on Amazon for sale used. I'm starting to realize just how much better prime lenses really are.
Lastly, 100mm on a full frame body is an excellent all around lens! I've barely taken it off since getting it, GREAT focal length.
'Nuff said... get this lens and be blown away. |
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| "Excellent lens." | 2009-09-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A12PPFSAXFVA8L |
The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens is an extremely good lens. I spent weeks researching which single lens I should first purchase for my (now extinct) 10D, and this lens won out on three points: sharpness, f/2.8 and 1:1 macro capability. The only thing it's missing is zoom... and that I can do with my feet.
I have since added a Canon 28-135 to my (small) collection of lenses. The 100 mm macro is not the lens I usually use, except when I am doing studio work of small things... which means that whenever I am working in my studio it's on my camera except for portraiture.
That's not to say it isn't good for portraits; on the contrary, it's great for portraits. I just have too little room to work with indoors for it to be very useful as a portrait lens.
This lens, however, was touted as being "as sharp as L glass", and "one of, if not the, the sharpest non-L lenses Canon makes". I have not yet started purchasing L glass, but I can attest that this lens will make even critical pixel peepers like myself quite happy.
I use two methods for getting exceptional focus. First, I hit the shutter button to achieve focus five separate times. This achieves and fine tunes focus. Second, when I am doing macro work, I always focus manually.
No rails or ring lights here; I'm not a macro photography expert. But I have never failed to appreciate the sharpness this lens offers in all usages.
Another nice thing about it is the small 58 mm filter size. Much easier on the wallet than 72mm, 77mm, 86mm, etc.
I love this lens. The only drawbacks I can find with it are:
1. It is a prime. You have to move it or use rails to get a different "zoom".
2. It is sharper than is advisable for doing portrait photography. You'll have to manually "soften" some images to minimize skin blemishes if you don't want to airbrush.
3. Distance from subject in macro mode is only a handful of inches... not enough for doing macro work of most animate living things.
Otherwise, I always come back to this lens for when I need razor sharp images.
By the way, I find that reviews are not as useful unless I know the experience level of the photographer and their camera type. I am using a Canon 5D Mark 2, which is 21.1 mp. This allows me to be supremely aware of flaws to the optics. This lens keeps up with the full frame 21 mp sensor just fine. I am also what I would call a semi-pro photographer who is on the early end of "medium" level of skill/experience compared to the top pros. I have been studying photography, on my own and in college, since 2000. Hope that helps. |
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 "Most Fun for the Dollar" | 2009-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: AK1EZMEQ66HOO |
| I have to say that this lens is maybe the most fun lens in my bag. It's tack sharp, with good color and contrast. I use this quite often with the Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite for Canon Digital SLR Cameras and results are flawless. I've also used it for on-the-spot portraits and with a great f2.8 max aperture the bokeh was beautiful. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is Canon's continued refusal to provide a lens hood with their non-L lenses. I bought the Canon ET67 Lens Hood for Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens separately which was pretty pricy, but makes a big enough difference in sunny conditions to be a "must have" item. |
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| "Amazing multi-purpose lens" | 2009-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2ET3RVR0V19NI |
| I have had this lens for over a year, and It is the best I have ever used, it's very fast and 100mm allows you to use it for many things, not just for macro. It works great for high DOF portraits and headshots, I also use it for product shots and of course, for macro close-ups. It excells in every field. Totally worth the money. |
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| "Good Lens" | 2009-07-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3X6VSSO7OSRK |
I got this for use in both a Canon 40D and a Canon Rebel XS.
Great pictures, great lens that I highly recommend. Even if you don't know what you're doing, it's hard not to get really great quality photos with this!
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Expedited Available
