I am considering getting the canon 100mm macro 2.8 and was wondering if any one had any thoughts. Do you have it and use it? Do you love it or does it just hang out in your camera bag? Id love to see some pics as well. thanks-jade

Hi Jade,

on my laptop, so no pics at hand.

I really like this lens - very nice portrait lens, very sharp. I always pull it out for the ring shots! Of course it has many other uses. I think you will be happy if you get it.

Hugh

I have one and can't get it to work how I expect it to....it was highly recommended but I remember a couple people saying "you needed to know how to use a macro"...I've been meaning to ask what this meant because obviously I'm not doing it right

I'd love to hear what people say and any tips on using it would be great.

Actually, I believe this was the 100mm.

Hugh

I got this lens last month and I'm in love with it. It's incredibly sharp straight out of camera and has glorious bokeh. I basically justified getting it for ring shots, but I honestly love macro work and it's something I do a lot of, so I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it as well. That said, it's pretty versatile - we've gotten use out of it as a portrait lens too. When it's in the right focal plane it focuses pretty fast, however it does search a bit and gets confused easily when it's trying to decide if you are focusing up close or far away. So in that respect, it takes a little patience to use. It hasn't been an issue so far with me, but I haven't had the opportunity to use it on a fast moving subject yet, so take that in consideration.

If you have a portrait lens in a similar range and don't do a lot of macros, you can probably get by with a close-up filter or extention tubes. I have some kenko tubes as well. You can get amazingly close, but they are much more tedious to work with. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, get the 100mm. If you only do 3 macro shots a month, you can probably get by w/o it.

buy buy buy!!

I use it at every wedding for my details shots. - I love it! I find it sets me apart a bit because every other tog in my area doesn't really do detail shots - at least not as close as I get. example: (pretty much a signature shot now - rings in flowers)



I also use it when I want really sharp photos - eg: corporate headshots / stock photos or the like. Pair it with quality light and you have the sharpest combo you can really get for your camera.

when I went fullframe It was one of the first things I traded up to from my 60mm ef-s which was my first lense for me 30D.

Jonathan

I LOVE my 100 2.8. I use it for what you would expect-macro shots, details, etc. But, mostly I use it for portraits. I threw in a corp. headshot, because like jdear said, it's AWESOME for headshots.

Okay this is what I thought! I think I will really love it. your images really helped push for the lens. Thanks so much. I look forward to getting it!!

here are a few of my ring shots...i really like this lens but it can be hard to auto focus on those tiny rings sometimes. super sharp though...and i like it for portraits as well.

These shots look great and totally not what I'm getting w/ mine...do you need to do something different w/ a macro than you would another lens?

I always think it's too slow of a focuser for babes but your images look great...I'm going to try it today.

are you talking to me mariah? yeah...these look good but there are always about 5 that don't turn out...and i have to struggle to get it to focus where i want it to. i don't shoot any different with this lens than any of my others...but maybe there is a better way to use it. i'd love to know if there is.

Yep...any of you that posted, they're all awesome I always have trouble w/ the focus and it seems like the 2.8 is a much smaller depth on this one than on my 85 non-macro...is that just me?

The closer you focus, the shallower the DOF gets - f2.8 is too wide for close ring shots. The best way to use this lens for tight macro work (ring shots, small details) is to use a tripod and a cable release (yes, I do take that stuff to weddings). You'll be able to work at f5.6 or f8 and get reasonable DOF. I don't hesitate to use the lens wide open, it's plenty sharp and for portraits that's perfect, but for macro you need to stop down. And manual focus too. It has the best focus ring of any lens I have, and that's because macro work really requires manual focus to hit exactly what you want.

Bill is spot on... the closer you are, the trickier it gets.. for the shots I posted above...
f/4.5 at about 2-3 feet away
f/2.8 at about 1.5 feet away
f/3.5 at about 4 feet away

when I'm doing true macro work (flowers, food... etc.) I always use a tripod and cable release and usually have to manual focus. If you auto focus really close up wide open, the lens will just keep going in and out trying to focus.

Here's an example... this was shot very close... inches away.. at f4.5 6.0sec. No way it would have been sharp without a tripod. And it was also manually focused at this close range.


For babies, I find it works really well at about a 2-3 foot range. It's great for letting me get really close and interact.

Cool...thanks tips guys! I never use a tripod and I think I'm too close...I'll back off and use my pod more..thanks!!!

Sweet Ring SHots! I may have to check this lens out. I use the 70-200 2.8 but can't get this close. Like it a lot. Great work!

exactly...me too! thanks. i can't imagine lugging a tripod at a wedding though...i would trip over it or knowing me knock something like the cake over.that red raspberry sure looks lucious!thanks kevin...you should look into this lens...makes the ring shots much easier!

We're ordering ours this week! Oh I'm so excited!

Just looking at this thread is getting me all inspired, I want to pull my 100mm out right now and play. Some wonderful shots here everyone!

I just ordered mine. I'm gonna be in so much trouble...

How is this lens on cameras that are not full frame?

i shoot crop camera...canon 40d

For macro handheld, manually focus and slowly and gently rock back and forth, pressing the shutter when in focus.

I want to see more non-ring shots using this lens please! Great stuff guys. : )

With the new lens, from yesterday...