This article was updated in May 2024 with contributions from Stacey Hill and Jaymes Dempsey.
For the longest time, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro lens was on my “want” list. Oddly, when I finally did buy it, I didn’t use it all that frequently, and it sat in the cupboard, just gathering dust, for a couple of years.
But that didn’t last. These days, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro is my absolute favorite lens. It’s my go-to model for doing still life, food, and, of course, macro photography.
Below, I share my practical, hands-on review of the Canon 100mm Macro. I don’t spend time on specifications and studio tests; instead, I focus on what the lens is like to work with in the field. I explain why I think it’s so special, I discuss how I personally use it, and I share a lot of example photos (all taken with the lens). I also delve into its pros and cons. That way, if you’re thinking of purchasing the 100mm f/2.8L Macro but you’re not quite sure whether it’s worth the (somewhat steep) price, you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
Let’s get started!
What’s so great about the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro?
Sharpness, image quality, color, and versatility – the Canon 100mm Macro has it all!
When I use this lens, I know that it’ll pick up absolutely every detail, assuming I use a sufficiently fast shutter speed and I nail the focus exactly. In other words, when this lens is sharp, it’s crystal clear.
Unfortunately, due to the combined weight of the lens (625 g) on my Canon 7D Mark II, I find it difficult to handhold and get crisp shots. So I use the 100mm f/2.8L Macro on a tripod to maintain stability and to guarantee the focus is bang on.
This lens has a richness to the colors that I appreciate – it gives the best color reproduction of any of my lenses. Also when I shoot at its widest maximum aperture of f/2.8, the soft background blur is wonderfully creamy!
Finally, the Canon 100mm f/2.8L is designed as a macro lens (and it offers a 1:1 magnification ratio). Given the macro focus, its versatility is impressive. I use the lens for an array of genres: macro photography, food photography, flower photography, and still-life photography. I don’t do a lot of portrait shooting, myself, but it’s also a favorite lens for portrait photographers due to the telephoto focal length, beautiful background bokeh, wide maximum aperture, and incredible sharpness.
This lens is quiet, it’s fast, and it’s a lovely lens to use. Once I mastered the art of precise focusing with a really tiny depth of field and was able to consistently get sharp shots, the quality of the images impressed me more and more.
How I use my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L lens
In this section, I focus on my personal use of the 100mm Macro lens, and I do my best to explain how I work with it to get nice photos.
1. Food photography
Working with natural light in my home studio sometimes means the light is not always abundant. And even when the light is bright, I often need to filter it quite heavily so I don’t blow out the highlights on parts of the food I’m photographing (such as whipped cream or icing). I’ve found that working in slightly less-than-ideal light conditions is where this lens really comes into its own.
The 100mm f/2.8L’s maximum aperture captures a lot of light, and I’m able to maintain a reasonable shutter speed even in these low-light conditions. While I do sometimes bump up the ISO a small amount, it’s not enough to affect the quality of the image.
Additionally, given this lens’s incredible optics combined with the excellent magnification capabilities, I can capture the finest small details, which really add character to food shots taken with this lens. Water droplets on fruit or the tiny hairs on a raspberry become things of wonder, brought into view by this lens’s impressive clarity!
2. Flower photography
Earlier in this article, I mentioned how, after purchasing the Canon 100mm Macro, I didn’t use it right away. Well, flower photography is what finally forced me to get my Canon 100mm lens out of storage and onto my camera! I had become interested in still-life photography, and I was basing my compositions around flowers as main subjects.
As it turned out, this lens is spectacular for photographing flowers. Since you can focus so close, flowers offer many opportunities to be creative with this lens. You can shoot the whole flower, move in to shoot just a few petals, or highlight ultra-tiny details.
The 100mm Macro’s lovely color and soft background bokeh are perfect for flower photography, and I enjoy using the lens with a wide maximum aperture. It is a lot of fun to experiment with areas of selective focus and use the shallow depth of field in unexpected ways.
3. Macro photography
There is a whole world of things too small for our eyes to see naturally that suddenly become revealed when we shoot with a macro lens. It is fascinating to uncover tiny details in everyday objects, and that’s yet another area where the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro performs beautifully.
Creating abstracts using textures or just exploring the details on small items is possible with this 100mm Macro lens. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when you can get up close and personal.
The toughest part of using macro lenses at high magnifications is the technical side of things; even with narrower apertures, you’ll have an ultra-thin depth of field, and at such high magnifications, you’ll also struggle with blur to camera shake.
I don’t like to handhold this lens for those exact reasons. When I use this lens, my camera is mounted on my tripod – and I know that I can get sharp focus with a very narrow depth of field on a small subject.
4. Other genres
I am not a portrait photographer, but I do have cats, and they are fun to shoot with this lens as it picks up so much detail.
Again, I personally struggle to successfully handhold my DSLR with this lens and get sharp images, so I don’t shoot with it off my tripod very often. But you don’t have to use this lens at high magnifications, and when you take several steps back for a wider perspective, handholding the 100mm Macro is a lot easier.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro specifications
This is a practical review, so I don’t want to focus on technical specifications. However, here’s a quick list of specs to keep in mind:
- EF mount for Canon full-frame DSLRs
- 100mm focal length
- f/2.8 maximum aperture
- Weight: 625 g
- 1:1 maximum magnification ratio
- 0.99 ft/300mm closest focusing distance
- Image stabilization for handheld shooting
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro review: final words
After using this lens extensively, here’s my breakdown of pros and cons:
Pros
- Extremely sharp
- Ultra-shallow depth of field
- Bokeh is smooth
- Beautiful color reproduction
- Decent image stabilization
- Compatible with Canon full-frame and APS-C DSLRs; can be used with Canon RF-mount cameras via an adapter
- 1:1 maximum magnification
- Comes with a lens hood and carry bag
Cons
- Heavy and can be difficult to handhold
- Expensive
- 300mm minimum focus distance means you have to get reasonably close to your subject for a life-size reproduction
I love the Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro, and for me, the pros of shooting with this lens far outweigh the cons. Yes, it can be difficult to handhold effectively, especially at high magnifications, but that’s where a tripod saves the day.
For photographers looking to get high-quality photos of small subjects – whether that’s food items, flowers, jewelry, tiny products, or something else – this lens is a great choice. And since the optics are so incredible and the bokeh is so creamy, you can also use it for more conventional subjects, such as portraits and landscapes.
Now over to you:
Will you get the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
