

- #CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE FULL#
- #CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE PRO#
- #CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE PROFESSIONAL#
- #CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE FREE#
When the center of the image looks like it's being sucked in, that’s pincushion distortion. It's typically a result of the challenges inherent in designing wide-angle lenses.

There are two primary types of distortion: When the center of the frame seems to bulge outward toward you, that’s barrel distortion. We penalize lenses for distortion when they bend or warp images, causing normally straight lines to curve. At f/16 it dwindles further to about 1,650 lines, and at the minimum aperture of f/32 you'll get less than 1,100 lines-far too soft for pro-level work.

By f/11, resolution drops to just 1,800 lines across the frame. Sharpness drops off once you move beyond f/8, as the diffraction limit kicks in.
#CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE FULL#
We quantify sharpness using line widths per picture height (LW/PH) at a contrast of MTF50.Įven at full wide, this lens is a legend. In testing a lens, we consider sharpness across the entire frame, from the center of your images out to the extreme corners, using an average that gives extra weight to center performance. SharpnessĪ lens's sharpness is its ability to render the finest details in photographs. It's not a perfect lens (there's no such thing), and there are specific issues macro shooters will need to look out for, but generally it's a very strong performance. It's very sharp corner to corner from f/2.8 through f/8, the bokeh looks superb in most situations, and distortion and chromatic aberration are virtually nonexistent. There are simply very few areas where the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM doesn't excel. A perfect lens would render the finest details accurately, wouldn’t distort straight lines or produce ugly fringing around high-contrast subjects, and would create smooth out-of-focus areas. When evaluating any lens, we focus on four key areas: sharpness, distortion, chromatic aberration, and bokeh. It's not as good, of course, but few lenses are. And even if you do love macro work, the cheaper non-L 100mm f/2.8 Macro is a serious bargain at a little more than half the price. If you don't care about macro work, you can get a fast prime like the EF 85mm f/1.8 for far less. If you don't care about macro work, you can get a fast prime like Canon's EF 85mm f/1.8 for far less. With a short telephoto focal length and admirable bokeh, it can easily function as a stand-in for classic portrait lenses like Canon’s 85mm primes. While it's a no-brainer for macro photography, we also found that the 100mm f/2.8L is an excellent portrait lens. Top-shelf build quality, excellent sharpness, and image stabilization make this a lens that's useful for more than just speciality shooting scenarios. But even that's selling this phenomenal piece of glass short.
#CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE PROFESSIONAL#
Conclusionįor macro work and professional product photography, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro is about as good as it gets. That's essential for handheld work, where every little movement becomes extra evident. This was the first of Canon’s macro lenses to utilize its IS system, and it provides up to two stops of stabilization at macro shooting range. Image stabilization is also useful for macro work.
#CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE FREE#
There's a similar setting for distant subjects, or you can choose to give the AF system free reign. When you're shooting insects, for instance, you can set the limiter to the 0.5-0.3m setting to keep it from trying to find bugs on the horizon. You know the long focus throw I just mentioned? Well, it takes the AF system a while to search through the entire throw, which can be a real problem if you're only using one end of the focus range. There are plenty of physical switches on the body of the lens for quick adjustments. its cheaper counterpart, allowing for handheld shooting with little worry of motion blur. Optical image stabilization, for instance, ups the 100mm f/2.8L's versatility vs.
#CANON MACRO 100MM FOCUS LINE PRO#
That said, you don't need to be a pro to appreciate what this lens has to offer. The rugged build quality common to all L-series lenses will help it stand up to hard work in the field, and the extra weight may actually improve handling. The L version of this lens is best suited to photographers who will use it in a professional capacity. If you're looking for a TL DR summary, it's this: This is the best macro lens for Canon DSLRs-especially if you like to shoot handheld. We put the 100mm f/2.8L through its paces in our lab to see if it’s worth the extra $300 over its non-L cousin. The 100mm focal length gets in good and close, and the lens’s 1:1 magnification means that objects will be just as large on the image sensor as they are in real life (the definition of a true “macro” lens). Both lenses are perfect for close-up photography.
