Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Name: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Brand: Canon
Rating: 9.2 (15 reviews)

Lens Reviews / Canon Lenses i Lab tested

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Lens Review
Specifications
Description

100mm	$1,299 average price

Lab Test Results

Canon 20d
Canon 5d

Blur
Chromatic Aberration
Vignetting
Geometric Distortion

Blur
Chromatic Aberration
Vignetting
Geometric Distortion

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SLRgear Review
November 2, 2009
by Andrew Alexander

An update to its previous 100mm f/2.8 macro, the Canon EF 100mm ƒ/2.8L Macro IS USM is one of three standard Canon full-frame macro lenses: the 50mm ƒ/2.5, 100mm ƒ/2.8, and 180mm ƒ/3.5. Two other macro options exist, the exotic MP-E 65mm ƒ/2.8, and the APS-C compatible EF-S 60mm ƒ/2.8.

It can be said that the 100mm ƒ/2.8L Macro IS USM is more than just an update, but rather, a distinctly lens inspired by its predecessor. As an L-class lens, the lens enjoys a tough new weather-sealed body: a little longer and a bit heavier, but not by much. Of course the big story here is the addition of image stabilization, and it's a brand new version of image stabilization to boot. Canon's new ''Hybrid'' image stabilization is said to ''effectively compensate for both angular and shift camera shake during close-up shooting.'' The system is said to be of particular benefit to macro shooting, making it optimal for this lens.

The EF 100mm ƒ/2.8L Macro IS USM was designed to cover the 35mm sensor, making it compatible with both APS-C subframe and full-frame digital camera bodies. When mounted to the former, the effective field of view is 160mm.

The lens takes 67mm filters and ships with the new ET-73 circular lens hood. The lens is available now for approximately $1,050.

Sharpness
Mounted on the Canon 20D, the lens is very sharp, even wide open at ƒ/2.8. At this aperture setting almost the entire frame is shows just over one blur unit, though there is some corner shading at the bottom of the frame approaching 2 blur units. Stopping down only improves these results, reaching absolute tack-sharpness at ƒ/5.6. The lens continues to be sharp all the way to ƒ/16, where diffraction limiting has set in, though even here we note sharpness results of 1.5 blur units across the frame. At ƒ/22 it's a bit more obvious - 2.5 blur units across the frame - and fully stopped down at ƒ/32, things are quite soft, 4 blur units across the frame.

On the full-frame 5D, performance is equally good, though we see a bit more of the corners of the lens that aren't exposed on the sub-frame sensor of the 20D. Wide open at ƒ/2.8, we still see the sharp sweet spot, but the area of sharpness isn't as generous, covering only about the central third of the frame at 1.5 blur units. Corner sharpness at ƒ/2.8 is around 2 blur units, still quite good. Stopping down to ƒ/4 improves these results, and again by ƒ/5.6, it's as good as the lens can deliver, but not quite tack-sharp across the frame. The central area of the frame is sharp, easily 1 blur unit, but the corners don't fall below 1.5 blur units. This is me being extremely picky - 1.5 blur units is still extremely sharp.

Diffraction limiting sets in at ƒ/11, where we not approximately 1.5 blur units across the frame, and performance degrades only very slightly from there. It's about the same at ƒ/16, not showing any real loss of sharpness until ƒ/22, where results are just over 2 blur units. Again, fully-stopped down we note some softness - just shy over 3 blur units across the frame.

In summary, excellent results for sharpness, provided you stick to between ƒ/5.6 and ƒ/11 for maximum performance. Even ƒ/16 and ƒ/22 are very good, but I'd avoid ƒ/32.

Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration is well-controlled with this lens, at every aperture setting, on either the 20D or the 5D. Interestingly, there is a bit more CA present in the 20D, though it's only most noteable in the extreme corners and at small apertures. If you're peeping very closely, you'll see a slight increase in CA at the smaller end of the aperture spectrum (ƒ/32) but it's only very slight.

Shading (''Vignetting'')
Corner shading is minimal on the 20D, the only noteworthy result found with the lens set to ƒ/2.8. In this case, the corners are a quarter-stop darker than the center; or, not very much.

On the 5D, it's a little different. At ƒ/2.8, the corners are almost a full stop darker than the center. Light falloff improves as the lens is stopped down; a half-stop at ƒ/4, and less than a quarter-stop at ƒ/5.6 and smaller.

Distortion
On either the 20D or the 5D, distortion is negligible, at less than +/- 0.1% distortion in the corners.

Autofocus Operation
With Canon's USM specification, the lens autofocuses quickly and quietly, taking about 1.25 seconds to focus from infinity to closest-focus. Short focus throws seem to happen a bit more quickly. Autofocus results can be overridden by simply turning the focus ring, and the front element doesn't rotate while focusing.

Macro
Offering a full 1:1 (100%) macro reproduction is the chief function of this lens. With a minimum close-focusing distance of 30cm (around one foot), there's much less risk of shadowing the subject with the camera or your body, and if bugs are your game, you're a bit less likely to scare them off.

Build Quality and Handling
The makeover of the 100mm f/2.8 USM included an upgrade to L-class styling, in the form of the svelte matte-black textured finish, complete with the telltale red band outside of the front element. Of course it's not all on the surface: weather seals, ultra-low dispersion glass elements and image stabilization are the big changes. Overall, there has been only slight changes to the physical size of the lens, weighing in at 625 grams (around 22 oz) - only 25 grams heavier than the previous version. Similarly to the previous model a fair deal of real estate has been allocated to the focus ring and a distance scale, though the distance scale has been repositioned on the far side of the focusing ring. An additional diaphragm blade has been added to make up a total of nine, and as is the current trend to improve bokeh results, the blades are rounded. The body mount of the lens is metal, and the 67mm filter threads are plastic.

The distance scale is windowed and recessed, offering distance information in feet and meters, as well as the magnification rating offered at a given range. Beside the distance scale is a switch to enable or disable autofocus. No depth-of-field scale is offered, and neither is there an infrared index. Finally, there is a focus range limiter which improves focusing speed by physically limiting the range the lens can focus through: the approach to the focus limiter has also changed in this model. Canon has added a third position to the focus limiter switch. The first setting is labelled ''full'', and doesn't limit the focus at all. The second limits the range to 0.5m-infinity; the third limits the focusing to just the macro range, or 0.3-0.5m. A new switch has been added to enable or disable image stabilization.

The focusing ring on the lens is considerable, a rubber ring 1 1/8'' wide with a texture of segmented raised ribs. The ring offers excellent manual focus control, with just the right amount of tension, but a smooth turning operation. The lens will focus slightly past infinity. There are soft stops on the infinity and close-focus ends to let you know you've reached the end of that particular focusing direction. The internal focusing operation means the lens doesn't extend while focusing, and the front element doesn't turn either.

The E-73 lens hood comes standard with this lens, a bayonet-mount circular lens hood that reverses and mounts on the lens for storage. The interior of the hood is flocked to reduce the effect of any stray light hitting the front element. The hood is long: three and a quarter inches, so when mounted, you're going to add a full three inches to the length of the lens. A tripod mounting ring will eventually be available for this lens, but at the time of writing, is not yet so. For even greater magnification, 12mm and 25mm extension tubes are available, however when these are used the lens will no longer focus at infinity. Canon also notes that teleconverters are not compatible with this lens.

Of course the big change for this lens is the addition of image stabilization. Not just any IS system, but a new variant developed especially for the macro lens: Hybrid image stabilization, minimizing camera movements in both panning and angular directions. We test image stabilization separately for lenses, but anecdotally, our tech Rob has mentioned that in his usage of the lens the effect is very noticeable when using the lens hand-held on a macro subject.

Alternatives

Canon EF 100mm ƒ/2.8L Macro USM ~$550
The previous version of the 100mm ƒ/2.8 macro is a very sharp lens, only very slightly less sharp than the IS version - you'd have to look very closely to see any difference. CA performance is comparable, even a little better on the 20D, and both have very little distortion to speak of. If you don't need image stabilization, you can save yourself a few hundred dollars.

Canon EF-S 60mm ƒ/2.8 Macro USM ~$450
For the APS-C camera uses in the Canon lineup, the EF-S 60mm offers an equivalent field of view of 96mm, or essentially similar to the EF 100mm. In our tests it's on par or even better than the 100mm, but by ƒ/5.6, both lenses are exquisitely sharp. CA and corner shading are only marginally less optimal with the 60mm, and distortion is essentially zero. If you never plan on going full-frame, the 60mm ƒ/2.8 macro is an excellent alternative.

Sigma 105mm ƒ/2.8 EX DG Macro ~$450
The Sigma 105mm macro offers very similar performance for a bit less price: results for sharpness are almost the same, and CA performance is even better than the Canon. There's also near-zero distortion and light falloff. If it matters to you, the Sigma stops down to ƒ/45, though it is very soft at that aperture. It's a bit lighter, and also takes 58mm filters. The lens doesn't offer USM-style focusing, so the focus experience will be a bit noisier.

Tamron 90mm ƒ/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 SP AF ~$430
The Tamron 90mm macro is also an excellent macro lens, offering extremely sharp results - we only note a slightly better sharpness result from the Canon at ƒ/2.8. After that, it's essentially equal between the two lenses, though the Tamron shows less corner shading on full-frame. The Tamron takes smaller 55mm filters and weighs a little less as well, though it doesn't offer USM-style focusing, so the focus experience will be a bit noisier.

Conclusion
Canon's really raised the bar with this lens: exceptionally sharp, even wide open at f/2.8, with strong results for resistance to chromatic aberration and distortion. Corner shading can be a tad high at f/2.8 when used on a full-frame body, but for macro work, I imagine most people will be using this lens in the stopped-down range to get as much depth-of-field as possible. The addition of image stabilization is overdue, but will nonetheless be welcomed by photographers who don't want to be weighed down by tripods.

Sample Photos

The VFA target should give you a good idea of sharpness in the center and corners, as well as some idea of the extent of barrel or pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration, while the Still Life subject may help in judging contrast and color. We shoot both images using the default JPEG settings and manual white balance of our test bodies, so the images should be quite consistent from lens to lens.

Still Life shot

VFA target

As appropriate, we shoot these with both full-frame and sub-frame bodies, at a range of focal lengths, and at both maximum aperture and ƒ/8. For the ''VFA'' target (the viewfinder accuracy target from Imaging Resource), we also provide sample crops from the center and upper-left corner of each shot, so you can quickly get a sense of relative sharpness, without having to download and inspect the full-res images. To avoid space limitations with the layout of our review pages, indexes to the test shots launch in separate windows.