Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro Telephoto Lens

by Geoff 12 Sep 0 Comments

Canon EF 100mm 2.8 Macro USM Lens

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro telephoto Lens, this is a cheaper lens than the L-series 100mm Macro.

The 100mm f/2.8 macro lens focusses over the full range from infinity down to life size, 1:1 reproduction ratio.

A high performance ring type Ultrasonic Motor will provide very fast and silent AF operation throughout its focus range. Being a Macro lens the lens also allows for manual focusing, permitting the close up photographer to instantly override the AF if required.

The 100mm macro lens gives a little more working distance from the subject which is helpful when photographing subjects such as insects. In my view the longer the focal length of the lens the better the lens is for shy subjects.

There is quite a range of lenses for Macro photography as follows and the choice may be difficult. The shorter lenses will excel for subjects such as flowers and still life.

The following summarises the current Canon Macro lens range:

EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro – Compact Macro Normal Autofocus Lens and Canon Life-Size Converter EF
MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro – Manual Focus Lens with 5 times magnification. Suitable for super large magnifications.
EF 100mm f/2.8 USM – Macro Telephoto Lens
EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM – Telephoto Macro Lens. L series professional lens.
EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM – Autofocus long telephoto lens for subjects such as insects.

If you are using flash for your macro lighting, which is very useful, then you may like to consider a longer focal length macro lens, as it will give more working distance to arrange the lighting around the subject. Lighting is very important for macro photography as it is for all photography.

With macro lenses do not forget that they are also very suitable for general photography as well as macro work. They are also very suitable for portraits.

There are many image samples from this lens on the Flickr site.