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Christobel
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Registered: Sep 26, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Aug 31, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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A macro lens with IS, very hand-holdable, sharp, superlative IQ, creamy bokeh, gorgeous colors, great portrait lens
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Cons:
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Matched with the 5DII, this lens is quite extraordinary. I almost passed on this lens because my 100 macro was such an excellent performer; but this lens is simply superb. The images pop all by themselves, sometimes with little or no post-processing even required. As a nature photographer, this lens has by far exceeded my expectations. I give it my highest recommendation.
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 Aug 31, 2010
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Ulan
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Registered: May 14, 2008
Location: Belgium
Posts: 98
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Review Date: Aug 6, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp, excellent IS, fast and accurate AF, reasonably built
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Cons:
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no collar for tripod
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I agree with most of the previous posts about the high quality of this lens. This is an excellent lens that enables to shoot macro handheld thanks to its exceptional IS and its reactive AF in AI Servo. Good contrast, very sharp.
A jewel.
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Aug 6, 2010
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Sir_Loin
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Registered: Jun 13, 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 553
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Review Date: Aug 4, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Stunning Sharpness, Well Built, Effective IS, Nice Bokeh For f2.8, Good Colour, Fast Autofocus.
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Cons:
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Errr, Ummm, Oooh, well if I have to be picky, the cost of the tripod ring is ridiculous at £120!!
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I bought this lens not long after it was launched and paid pretty much full RRP, but I just had to have it! Was it worth it? Oh yes!
The very first images I captured on my 5D MkII blew me away with the quality it produces. Bitingly sharp with lovely colour rendition and pleasant bokeh. I actually sold my 135mm f2 L to fund the purchase and I don't regret it for a minute. As good as the 135mm is, I just found it sitting in my bag a bit too much for my type of photography. When this lens came along, it was a bit of a no brainer for me. Here is a lens that is primarily a Macro, but can be used for normal short telephoto shooting as well, including portraits. But be careful! Your model may not appreciate it's ability to pick out ANY blemish he/she might have! As a macro, it still leaves me wide eyed in amazement at the detail it can pick up. The autofocus is very quick even across the full range, but lightning quick when you set the limiter to the distance range you're shooting. Another nice touch is the lens hood has the same texture as the lens body which looks good and also isn't prone to the marks the old lens hoods suffer from. This lens has had more use in the last 9 months than my 135mm had in 5 years. Highly recommended if your looking for a pretty much do-it-all medium telephoto. Better still, it's priced around £700 now so what are you waiting for?
If I had to find any negatives about it then I suppose the cost of the Tripod Ring D for it is ridiculously expensive at £120! But that's not even the lens I'm griping about, it's Canon and it's high pricing of accessories.
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Aug 4, 2010
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coxy84
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Registered: Jul 24, 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 24, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp as a tack, fast and accurate AF, extremely useful IS, nice light weight thanks to engineered plastic construction.
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Cons:
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Long hood, good and bad at the same time.
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Shooting weddings I bought this for ring shots simply because I didn't want to have to set up a tripod which is an annoyance when your in a hurry.
Only downside is the long hood whilst great for cutting flare etc. can block a lot of light when your all up in your subject face. On the other hand the hood can give you something sturdy to rest on when shooting which further diminishes the need for a tripod.
Excellent IS which makes this lens completely hand-holdable at MFD with what would normally be dangerously slow shutter speeds.
Brilliant lens, can't recommend it enough.
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Jul 24, 2010
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Ralph Conway
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Registered: Jul 31, 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 3618
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Review Date: Jul 1, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharpness, AF-speed, weight
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Cons:
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nothing
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Excellent. The only con I have to say against this lens is that my dealer gave me the new 70-200 2.8 L IS USM II for a test, too. Right, the 100 prime is better in resolution in the corners in 100mm. And I do not do macros. The 70-200 II is a monster in size and weight. But it´s superb, too. And I already started a special training lifting that thing. And a financing plan next to it ...
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Jul 1, 2010
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Netgarden
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Registered: Jan 6, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2545
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Review Date: Jun 21, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $840.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, image stabilized, beautiful colors, focuses faster than my Tamron 90mm Macro. Top quality, great investment.
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Cons:
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non so far.
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This canon 100 f2.8 IS macro lens I hesitated to purchase because I already have the Tamron 90mm macro, which was pretty good for the price.
The Tamron hunted often, and I wanted to have an image stabilized lens, and basically upgrade my macro gear. The price of this new L lens is reasonable and the lens performs so well, I realized it was an excellent investment, not only holding it's value in resale, but one of the sharpest lenses I own. I love it! I can't think of one reason why anyone would regret this purchase. A great value, and considering canons lenses have gone up in price these last two years, I have a feeling this macro will not only become the standard top macro glass, but the value will hold or even surpass what it sells for right now, even used.
No regrets, top quality, nice contrast qualities and sharpness, a notch above my Tamron macro, worth the upgrade.
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Jun 21, 2010
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Pixel Perfect
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Registered: Aug 15, 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 18040
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Review Date: Jun 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $850.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Tack sharp at all apertures, beautiful bokeh, colour and contrast, fabulous IS, fast accurate AF.
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Cons:
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It's not f/2! Would have liked to see less plastic in the build.
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As the owner of a superb Sigma 150 f/2.8 Macro, I was in two minds whether to get this lens. However, with the purchase of the 7D, I was finding the 150 a bit long and without IS, I was needing higher ISO's and/or larger apertures to keep shutter speeds reasonable. After seeing the price drop below $900 I decided it was now or never. It only took a few shots to realise this is a truly excellent lens worthy of the L label.
The lens is tack sharp even wide open, and produces a lovely smooth bokeh with nice oof highlights. It came as no surprise to see the rich colour and nice contrast as well.
For macro work I find the IS very useful (it does work). I use flash a lot and with the Sigma, I often have the background underexposed since I'd needed a faster shutter speed to avoid shake. With IS and the shorter FL, I can now use a slower shutter speed and let more ambient light into the scene and use less flash for a more natural look.
The 100L also makes a fabulous normal 100mm lens for general shooting and I have it wide open most of the time. And unusually for a macro lens, the AF is very fast and I'm sure would have no trouble in AI servo for action events. The only slight let down is that it's not f/2 like my sensational 135L. There is a noticeable difference between f/2 and f/2.8 on my 135L and sometimes I find f/2.8 not giving enough subject-background separation. Overall though f/2.8 is a nice compromise as an f/2 version would have been far more expensive. However, it's for this reason I'm not selling the 135L.
I would highly recommend this lens to anyone not only doing macro but as fast general purpose lens, which is ideally suited to portrait.
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Jun 18, 2010
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wrankin
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Registered: Nov 8, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 39
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Review Date: Jun 17, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,008.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Extremely sharp, great color and contrast.
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Cons:
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Tripod collar is not included. Canon wants close to $200 for it.
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This lens is extremely sharp, produces very nice bokeh, contrast, color and overall we are extremely happy with the results.
My wife and I mostly use this lens on a tripod. We did experience some blur at times, even photographing indoors, using mirror lock-up and IS turned off. We purchased the tripod collar that was almost $200 and that solved the problem.
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Jun 17, 2010
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GAPR
Offline
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Registered: Dec 3, 2004
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 4, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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The ability to get a quick Macro shot without having to set up a tripod.
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Cons:
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Lens hood design is a bit too long.
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Read Stargazer78 comment a few posts below. I echo his sentiments exactly about this lens.
I would like to add that it cannot be overemphasized the practicality of this lens to not have to put it on a tripod in a situation where you need to do photograph quickly. It simply yields stunning results in a handheld situation.
And that is what this lens is designed for. If you are looking for a portrait lens does it work? Yes of course it does, but you can get some other lenses cheaper for this case. But again, the lens is designed to yield sharp photos with excellent color rendition and contrast for handheld macro work.
It is worth every penny of it's price for what it is designed to do.
I sold my older non IS version and have kept this.
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Jun 4, 2010
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karinvogt
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Registered: Jun 4, 2009
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 11, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Fabulous lens, very sharp, great colors, easy to use in manual focus
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Cons:
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price
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I own this lens for just a short time now but I fell in love with it from the moment I used it the first time :-) My gosh, it's fast and easy to use when shooting in manual focus and the colors are so lovely.
Today I took some pictures from drops in my kitchen, just have a look if you like:
http://www.pbase.com/karinvogt/evenementen
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May 11, 2010
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terminator
Offline
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Registered: Jan 28, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 272
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Review Date: Apr 21, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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IS!!! nice bokeh at f/2.8, and of course SHARP! better hood, lightweight.
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Cons:
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when pointing down, there's strange loud noise when AF stops
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Upgraded from 100mm non-IS USM and 180L, I have to say that this is a long over-due lens from Canon. IS is worth every penny over the non-IS version. When I look through the viewfinder, WOW, the subject is simply static (no wind of course)!
Every macro lens is great on sharpness, and this lens is no exception. As a plus, bokeh is stunning at f/2.8. And the new hood is much better than the old hoods - more resistant to scratches. I appreciate the fact that it is pretty lightweight compared to many other L glasses.
My copy sometimes has a strange loud noise when AF stops working and lens is pointing down. Not sure whether this is an issue.
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Apr 21, 2010
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Dan Pick
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Registered: Nov 30, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 28
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Review Date: Apr 21, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $883.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super sharp. Smooth as butter. Quiet and fast.
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Cons:
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Didn't come with air conditioning.
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The most fun lens I own. Unbelievably sharp right out of the box--no need for micro-adjustment. Excellent color, too. Of my four IS lens, this one is the most effective.
I was simply blown away by the image quality--I'll even give it the nod over my much loved 70-200 f4L IS. If you can justify the expense, run--don't walk--and get one. BTW, I bought mine during the Canon spring sale, so that is why it's a little cheaper than normal.
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Apr 21, 2010
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chingbaby
Offline
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Registered: Sep 15, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 785
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Review Date: Apr 19, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $920.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Bokeh, sharpness, IS, focus speed is decent for a macro.
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Cons:
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Plastic, plastic, plastic, including the filter threads, need an adapter ring to add the MR-14EX ringlight.
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Optics and handling are great. However, every other 100mm macro from Canon has had the groove to mount the MR-14EX and other Canon macro flashes built in. This one does not. Normally, the adapter rings for the ringlights are $15. This one is $40. Why? Other than the fact that Canon knows you will need it.
Which brings us to the second point: plastic. I understand that there are people who favor plastic, and people who favor metal. However, the adapter ring is metal, and the filter threads on the lens are plastic. That means you are screwing a metal thread into a plastic thread. And the plastic is on the lens. The metal ring is sharp enough to cut the plastic if you cross-thread it. So your overpriced $40 adapter ring (or any other filter with a metal ring) will take out the threads on your $900+ lens. BOO CANON!!! Think harder next time.
Which is too bad, because the optics combined with the IS and the bokeh are a stunning combination. Too bad I have a nagging lack of confidence in the build quality of the lens detracting from an otherwise great lens. I rate it an "almost great" as a result.
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Apr 19, 2010
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Phil UKNet
Offline
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Registered: Oct 20, 2007
Location: Thailand
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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A flexible lens that can used in true macro mode or as a medium telephoto. Consistent, reliable autofocus and effective IS. Very sharp with pleasing colours, contrast and bokeh. Fairly compact and light.
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Cons:
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Good for telephoto use, but not stunning. For portraits my 85mm f/1.8 performs just as well, if not slightly better.
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I should still have my original Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens but although it worked well for macro shots, the autofocusing was completely unreliable when used for telephoto work. It frustrated me so much that I sold it.
I am very pleased to be able to report that its successor has inherited none of the autofocusing problems that I personally experienced with the original lens.
This is still a new lens to me but early impressions are very positive. In macro mode (with or without extension tubes) it is very sharp. I am looking forward to doing lots more close-up work.
Used as a telephoto lens for portraits, the autofocus works flawlessly with good colour, contrast and bokeh. The new IS system is very effective but no better than my EF 70-200 f/4L IS.
What's not so good? I'm not absolutely convinced about the new hybrid IS system. This new IS system has supposedly been designed especially for macro work but I always find I need a tripod for macro, so turn off the IS. Maybe I will find a use for this some time in the future?
For portraits the lens gives very good results but actually no better than my humble Canon EF 85mm f/1.8, which was a lot cheaper.
In summary, if you plan to do an equivalent amount of macro and telephoto it's a useful lens. If you think you will mainly do telephoto work, then there are cheaper lenses that will probably perform just as well.
Some sample images and more thoughts at the following link (more images to come soon):
http://phil.uk.net/photography/canon_100F28LIS.html
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Apr 18, 2010
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pkupcik
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jul 27, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 266
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Review Date: Apr 6, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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IS, weather sealing, light weight, quick AF, beautiful colors and sharpness
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Cons:
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Lens hood is rather long
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This is an excellent macro lens especially for its IS feature. I just took the lens to a botanical garden, took few hundred shots and not one had any motion blur. I'm able to take shots all the way down to 1/8sec - simply amazing as with macro at close distance things can get shaky very quickly. The focus ring throw is relatively short, but manual focus works very well. The colors and sharpness are excellent. Overall this is a very very good lens that is very easy to work with and get great results. I would not hesitate to recommend it to new buyers. I have experience with 60mm EF-S macro and the non-IS 100mm EF macro, and while they are optically great as well, the IS feature alone makes the 100L well worth the extra money.
Here is a recent post of mine with sample shots from Atlanta Botanical Garden:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/885412
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Apr 6, 2010
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calvin2
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jan 1, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1336
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Review Date: Apr 4, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $884.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Feel in hand, sharp wide open at 2.8, weather sealing, IS, good focus speed
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Cons:
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A bit pricey
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The 2.8L IS USM is a definitely step up from the 2.8 USM it replaces. Wide-open it really shines. Bokeh is definitely improved.
The IS is every effective even for macro shots (albeit more like 1-1.5 stops for macro use).
This lens is plastic, but it doesn't feel like the non-L plastic lenses. It feels better built and well sorted out.
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Apr 4, 2010
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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93
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132469
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Apr 28, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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96% of reviewers
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$960.27
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.33
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8.69
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9.6
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