Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Review by L. Lim : Great lens, needs more accessories for fantastic macros

This is a review for beginners by some one who's still learning. If you're an experienced photographer, just consider the 5 stars and read other reviews.

The quality of this lens is great. As many reviewers have pointed out, the image quality is sharp and the colors excellent. This should come as no surprise, macro lenses are usually some of the best lenses made. And of course it focuses all the way to infinity as well, so that you can use it as a "general purpose" lens.

Depending on what you use the camera for, this is probably not a carry around lens. The 100mm focal length (equivalent to 160mm on APS-C sensor cameras such as 20D) makes it difficult to use it - I find myself having to move back and reposition myself very often, and may result in a missed opportunity.

A few other accessories will come in really useful to get consistently good macro photos.

- A stable tripod
- A remote release cable
- External flash
- Books about photography, if you don't have them already

I have the first, just bought the second, and thinking about the third. Amphoto has some very good books on photography. I find "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson to be very well written and easy to read.

A remote cord will prevent camera shake when pressing the shutter. I've tried using timer mode to compensate for the lack of a remote cable release. The problem with that is that when the timer goes off, the breeze that died down may have picked up again, and my carefully framed flower is now halfway out of the photo, and is blurry as well. I never realized how windy it is in my backyard until I tried taking macro photos of plants.

Why a tripod? To achieve maximum depth of field (more areas in sharp focus), you need a small aperture. A small aperture means a slower shutter speed to get a correct exposure. Boosting the ISO too far will result in noise. That means that unless there is a blinding amount of light (this is where the flash comes in) you're unlikely to be able to hold the camera still enough to prevent blurring. The only thing worse about a macro photo with only a small area in sharp focus is a blurred macro photo. And remember, stable is the key word. A cheap shaky tripod may not be much better than no tripod.

Speaking of light, try not to take outdoor macro photos (or any outdoor photos) under strong direct sunlight if you can avoid it. You'll find the color washed out compared to an overcast day, or early morning / evening. Or you can use a light diffuser, but that's yet another accessory to carry around.

As an alternative to a remote release, you can use a laptop, USB cable and software. It is rather more difficult to carry around, and you can get a 3rd party remote release for around 1/3 the price of the Canon original.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Review by Juan Jose Gutierrez "www.jjmiphoto.com" : Very good piece of glass...

Ive had this lens for quite a while and used it in several EOS cameras without one single complaint. I was excited when Canon rolled out the Digital Rebel, since it would allow me to use this fine lens in a digital setting. The results are quite good, with fast focusing and excellent image definition. Using it with the Rebel requires some work in Photoshop (unsharp mask) to obtain superlative results. Overall it is one of the finest macros (if not the finest) that I have ever used.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Review by Corey S. Williams : Beautiful

This lens is great. I will never buy an imitation. Canon is the way to go... The key to using this lens is light. Be aware, If you are planning on taking pictures of tulips in the bright sun, fine. But if you plan to take pictures indoors, I suggest going to for a 50mm or getting the flash ring. And don't consider a tube without it. You lose so much light that your depth is cut down to about