 Beautiful lens! A must-have for anyone getting into macro photography
I am a novice photographer and researched this lens for well over a year before I finally got enough money together to purchase it. From what I have read and heard, this lens is great for people getting started in macro photography and I felt it was perfect for my needs. It may be a little pricey for people just starting out in photography, but it's WELL worth the cost. This lens pays for itself many times over in just a few weeks of use.
I don't have a problem with the auto focus. It's a little slow, but it works just fine for my needs and is very quiet. If I need to focus precisely, I will just switch to manual focus. My sharpest shots tend to be f/5.6 - f/8. The lens is a little heavy and takes some getting used to if you're not used to heavier, better quality optics. It probably just feels heavy to me compared to the tiny Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens which I bought right before this one and was using a lot. A tripod helps a LOT from my experience, especially in low-light situations where it is hard to stay still long enough.
This is definitely my favorite lens. A whole new world opens up to you when you're shooting with it. It's just amazing and I'm very happy I bought it. Highly recommended!!
Great Macro
I'm a hobbyist, and I'm currently using this lens with my 40D (1.6x crop sensor).
This is my first 1:1 macro lens and I've been having a ton of fun with it... getting insanely close details on ordinary things makes for extraordinary photos (it's hard to take a 'bad' photo with this lens, but it takes quite a bit of photographic knowledge to take 'great' photo with it). I've been using it to photograph nature, toys, food (some beautifully unflattering pictures), the moon (although small in the frame, the details are there), and portraits (I love the portraits it takes... not too flattering, but honest in a kind of brutal way). This lens is razor-sharp in the details so even for taking non-macro pictures, you'll get great results.
You'll need a flash to get the most out of this lens when shooting macro. I ran out and bought a flash after getting this lens (and gave myself another thing that'll take me months to learn the basics of). I'm still discovering how best to use all of my gear together, but it's a fun process.
Highly recommended.
Canon doesn't disappoint with this one...
Not much to say as this lens is on a par with all my other Canon lenses. Super sharp images, smooth and easy to use. Perfect for the job it's intended to do.
amazing for tiny objects and portraits!
Can't beat this lens for detail shots! I use it for close ups of wedding rings etc at weddings and it makes a killer portrait lens as well. One of the best purchases I have made for my lens bag.
Dreamy macro, versatile.
Although this lens is intended for macro photography, it's also a great lens for general purpose shots, or portrait shots. The lens produces beautiful sharp images and is a fast, accurate focuser. The lens is moderately heavy and bulky, so I wouldn't classify it as eminently carryable, and without image stabilization, you might suffer hand shake blur if you're not shooting at the wide end; at smaller apertures, using it with a tripod is highly recommended. But if you're buying it primarily to get into macro this shouldn't much matter as tripod shooting with macro is virtually a necessity, and completely expected.
The 100mm focal length is a nice compromise when you want to get close to small subjects (particularly insects) but are limited to how close you can get before scaring the subject off - as a comparison with the 180mm macro, you would want to factor in a consideration as to what you might like to shoot most of the time - big spiders that you'd rather stay well away from might be an application more suited to the 180mm, for instance, but if you are keen to shoot mostly flowers, the 180 might be more length than you really need.
In short, the 100mm macro is one of my "keeper" lenses, a real performer.
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