| Customer Reviews Collected from usa.canon.com |
Canon - EF100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM Lens for EOS DSLR Cameras - Black
Average Customer Rating:
4.8
Rating breakdown 141 reviews
5 Stars
127
4 Stars
8
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Star
4
95%of customers recommend this product.
(
121 out of
128)
Customer Reviews for Canon - EF100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM Lens for EOS DSLR Cameras - Black
Customer Rating
5
Super sharp lens.
on April 7, 2023
Posted by: TomH
from Dallas USA
This Canon EF 100mm 2.8 L portrait lens is exceptionally sharp. Because of its wide focusing range in take a little time to lock focus but in not a problem. It is an excellent close up lens and a great portrait lens as well. It's fairly compact but does sport a super large lens hood that can be annoying. The new RF version is excellent as well but it is not compatible if you shoot say an R5 and 5D.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Best lens ever
on December 4, 2025
Posted by: Eze 2
from Texas
This lens makes perfect photos! I want another just in case mine happens to die I would be so upset. I wonder if they plan to discontinue??!! Please say it aint so
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Very Nice Lens
on October 20, 2009
Posted by: HD741
from Oklahoma
Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
I use this lens with a 5D Mark II, and also own the cannon 180mm L Macro.
I pre-ordered this lens, and started using it the day it arrived. I bought it with the hope the IS would help with hand held shots on very small subjects, such as butterflies and insects.
This is how it compares to the 180mm L, all these comparisons are based on shooting very small subjects as close as possible
Back ground blur, the 180mm is allot better, the 100mm does have a fair amount of bokeh but it’s not as good as you get with the 180mm
Auto focus is allot quicker on the 100mm. I was even able to use the auto focus for some shots that turned out with really good detail hand held.
To get real close, you end up focusing 3 to 4" away from the end of your lens hood on the 100mm. The 180mm has an advantage here in that you are probably twice that distance with your minimum focusing distance. You really have to get in a bugs face to get a close up with the 100mm.
Both lenses are extremely sharp. I have several grasshopper and dragonfly pictures from the 100mm that I cropped and printed on 13 x 19 and even cropped they had excellent detail.
The IS isn't a substitute for a tripod. But it did seem to help.
An added bonus to this lens is that it is a very good telephoto lens as well, very sharp and if you’re not going from extreme close up to long range the auto focus is fast. I have been leaving this on the camera as a walk around lens.
To sum up, if I am using my tripod I am going to use the 180mm it will give better results. If I am trying to catch up to a butterfly that won't sit still very long. I am going to stalk it with the 100mm.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Exceptional Lens
on November 4, 2009
Posted by: Jman
from Columbus, OH
Extremely sharp lens with very fast AF and outstanding IS. The build quality is solid, despite the plastic barrel, built to very tight tolerances. To the reviewer below who doesn't think Ls should be plastic: I hope you realize that there are a LOT of plastic Ls, including the 135L, 50L, 35L, 24L II, 17-40L and a few more. Anyway, bokeh is very nice, with beautiful color and contrast, with no loss of contrast wide open. Extreme corners on full frame are slightly soft wide open (though more than usable) and quite sharp by f/4. Center 90% of frame is absolutely tack sharp straight from f/2.8. Perhaps the highest resolving lens I have ever used, including the 85L, 135L and several other macro lenses.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Fast auto-focus, exceptional is
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
One of the best?
on October 7, 2016
Posted by: BigDave
from Dallas, TX, United States
For those seeking a lens to help them capture images of objects as small as a dime, this is the lens for you! Here are a few bullet points:
-It can focus on an object less than a foot away.
-Objects as small as a Quarter (dollar) will fill the frame.
-Very shallow depth of field even at small apertures (ex. f/22). We are talking fractions of a millimeter.
-Very sharp images.
-The lens is versatile as well able to stand in as a portrait lens in a pinch.
-The Image Stabilizer will function properly when used vertically on a copy stand. The images are sharper when the IS is turned on. I have done tests. Make sure you read the manual and set it appropriately.
-Objects as small as a Quarter (dollar) will fill the frame.
-Very shallow depth of field even at small apertures (ex. f/22). We are talking fractions of a millimeter.
-Very sharp images.
-The lens is versatile as well able to stand in as a portrait lens in a pinch.
-The Image Stabilizer will function properly when used vertically on a copy stand. The images are sharper when the IS is turned on. I have done tests. Make sure you read the manual and set it appropriately.
I use this lens and the MP-E 65 mm f/2.8 1-5x almost exclusively. If you are trying to decide between the two, keep in mind that the MP-E is designed to shoot subject matter as large as a US Dime (1x) and as small as a grain of rice (5x). The MP-E also needs to be no further than a few inches away from the subject matter in most cases.
Hope this helps answer some questions!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Everything you might expect, IS behaves well
on October 8, 2009
Posted by: Canon Enthusiast
from Orem, UT
I wasn't certain this lens would be a good value or choice for an APS-C camera. Having recently purchased a 7D, I felt the focal length might be too long, but didn’t want the EF-S 60mm macro, when I expect to purchase a body with a full-frame sensor in a couple years. For anyone considering a 100mm Macro, I'm 6x6" tall, and was able to squeeze in an 8x11” sheet of paper on the floor, while standing with my 20D.
I evaluated the EF 100mm Macro and this lens side-by-side. The older 100mm Macro has a great reputation. From the specifications, you'll see that the new lens is slightly longer, and weighs more. The build quality is excellent and consistent with an L lens. Optics are precise. Color and Bokeh are outstanding, as review samples attest.
Auto focus and manual focus are smooth and deliberate. As with other Macros, the focus is precise, but moves slower than a standard telephoto lens of the same focal length. It takes approximately 2.5 seconds to focus from infinity to .3m. It takes approximately 3.0 seconds to focus from .3m to infinity, as the mechanism delays .5 seconds when autofocus is initiated.
The focusing limiter selector switch functions well, eliminating the time to focus, if you know your subject will be between .3m to .5m, or .5m to infinity. The ranges offer a good compromise between focusing element travel and practical subject distances. .3m to .5m represents a 180 degree turn of the focusing ring, and .5m to infinity represents about a 150 degree turn of the focusing ring.
I purchased this lens over the older 100mm Macro for the image stabilization. The image stabilization allows the hand held use of the lens under brighter lighting conditions. The image stabilization certainly behaves differently from other L lenses at 100mm. Telephoto IS may allow you to pan, this lens does not. Better shots will be obtained with IS on while tracking a moving subject; however, IS on this lens is no substitute for a telephoto with panning IS ability. The new IS technology does seem better suited for macro shots than earlier IS techonlogy. The subject seems to "stick" on this lens, as compared with images that seem to "float" with other IS lenses.
IS compensates for movement quite well, but I will shoot low-light subjects on a tripod. With IS on and and shooting at 2.8, the depth of field is extremely shallow. Any movement toward or away from the subject will result in an out-of-focus image. My 1.6 sensor certainly exacerbates the problem. If you need to obtain a more adequate depth of field, you must shoot at 8.0 or above, which will require longer shutter times under low lighting.
Outdoors, this lens will provide unique opportunities in allowing one to complete hand-held shots of bright-lit subjects, especially if you have a full-frame sensor.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, fast focus for a macro lens
Cons: cost
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Outstanding
on July 29, 2016
Posted by: Foxlion
from Chicago, Illinois, Estados Unidos
Superb lens, all in it is outstanding.
High quality images, impressive contrast, fast and accurate auto focus.
Works as well as a macro as a multipurpose lens.
The construccion is solid, following the Canon modern trend in their last lenses, it is not plastic, it is much more strong than a simple plastic. I love this lens.
High quality images, impressive contrast, fast and accurate auto focus.
Works as well as a macro as a multipurpose lens.
The construccion is solid, following the Canon modern trend in their last lenses, it is not plastic, it is much more strong than a simple plastic. I love this lens.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
A major welcome
on November 3, 2009
Posted by: Snapping Turtle
from New Jersey
The EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM was the standard workhorse for me and it performed supreme. But IS was always a feature I pondered since camera shake is a huge enemy to close up work, making the use of a flash mandatory if your not under ideal lighting. Now that this lens has arrived, it provides a great improvement. Now I can manage close ups with shutter speeds as low as 1/50th of a second. It also improves upon my wedding work when photographing jewelry. With the previous lens, I tried not to use the flash due to the risk of spoiling the natural room lighting, but always found it necessary. Now with this lens, I can shoot comfortably without a flash and increase the f/stop accordingly to bring out the precious details.
Weather sealed construction is also welcomed. Close up often requires me to go out into the woods and near wetlands to capture the subjects. This lens seems more readily built for such work.
Also note that like its non IS cousin, this lens can double duty as a portrait lens due to its medium telephoto focal length and good aperture. I see this as my best fixed focal length portrait lens; second only to the impressive EF 85mm f/1.2L.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com