Canon - EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Lens - Black

We bought this lens for marco photography and very happy about it. It allows making very close/detailed images. The only thing is that it doesn't have a stabilizer, so manual focusing when doing closeup requires still hands or tripod.

I received this lens for mother's day this year. I had been looking at it for quite some time and finally decided to make the plunge. Although a bit pricey, it is the most fabulous lens I have ever owned. The picture clarity is phenomenal at close up range. I am fond of taking photos of flowers, and they just jump at you. As you can tell in the attached photo, they are simply breathtaking. It doesn't take a professional photographer to get professional-quality photos with this lens. This was shot on automatic settings. I definitely recommend this lens. It is well worth the investment.

This lens produces excellent quality macro shots - very close and fast at 2.8. Solid build. Beautiful bokeh. I use this with my 7D and am getting fantastic results. Very sharp. The best part is that the cost is economical.

Just getting back into photography and is my first venture into the 'digital domain'. This lens certainly is worth the price of admission. Pictures are very sharp with great bokeh! All my lenses are Canon (EF 15-85mm, EF 70-200mm f/4 L & of course, this one) and am extremely pleased with all of them.

I love how close up you can get to the photos and is a very nice, sharp lens [:

I really love this lens! It did however take some getting use to. With this lens it took some time to figure out what camera settings worked best. Once I got that figured out I fell in love with this lens. This lens is a good len for taking photos in gyms with low lighting. I love taking basketball action shots, but have a lot of issues with low light. With this lens I am able to take good action shot in low light without using a flash. My only complaint is I wish it zoomed. You need to be close to the action to get the blurred back ground affect. If you get to close it will cut the player off. But to far away while it still takes good photos though the subject doesn't stand out as well. It would be nice to be able to zoom in so as to focus more on the subject. This lens has fast focus for fast action. This is a good lens for those of us that need a better lens without the extrem price. It is a little on the heavy side. That is not an issue for me, I look at that as meaning a good quility lens. Since switching to this lens I have people offering to pay me to take photos of thier athlete. You will not be disappointed with this lens.

I've been using this lens for almost 2 years for portrait and macro work. I would say that it is very comparible to the 70-200 f/2.8L IS at 100mm for portraits (sharpness, saturation, bokeh, etc). It's not "L" build quality, but it holds up nice and has a decent weight to it. If you're looking for L glass at this focal length, check out Canon's new 100mm f/2.8L IS (although it's a bit more pricy). Overall I am happy with the true macro capability (1:1). If you're looking to get into macro photography, or you're looking for a great portrait lens, give this one a try.

Although I have an EF 28-135mm IS USM for general usage lens, and a good quality 50mm 1.2 for portrait work. I needed a prime lens with some range, but with good DOF (depth of field) only found on short portrait lens'. The build of the lens case is standard quality, but with a metal bayonette that locks tight, similiar to higher priced L class lens. It's a solid and heavy piece of glass and it's quality is right up there with the L glass. I have a 135mm prime 2 L, a $1300 lens, but too long for a 1.6 crop factor camera as with my 40D. I was relieved to find the image quality of 100mm macro to be on par. If shooting on a Rebel or EOS 10-40D, having a battery grip will benefit as it's a forward heavy lens. The design is a few years old, and thus lacks IS (image stabilization), so a tripod, monopod will be required in dim lit churches with no-flash policies. Autofocus is slow when going from macro to distant, and considering the range, that's to be expected. However, once your close to the focal distance, AF is quick. In some cases you'll have to coax AF to work by manually focusing. A large, wide rubber bezzle makes manual focusing a breeze. In many cases I switched to full manual anyway, finding it a joy to use. With F2.8, and it's just enough to get a flashless, dim lit shot with very useable 800 ISO (on tripod/monopod) at 1/100 sec shutter. On and EOS 40d, 1.6 crop factor, the range requires about twenty feet to get a full torso portrait shot, perfect for standing back and not getting in the way of a ceremony, but getting beautiful background seperation. IS would be a welcomed featured on the next generation lens. But that's not a deal killer. Being a macro, and having high level DOF, I can't wait for my next product shoot in the studio. This lens will live on my camera until I need more range or a wide shot from the 28-135. The images simply pop, and I'd rather move back a little if need be to get that.