The amount of detail this lens picks up is absolutely amazing. And, if the 1:1 sensor is this good on the 100mm 2.8, I cannot fathom what the 65mm 5x macro lens can do. It's also great for portraits, producing beautiful creamy skin tones with nice background blur.

After years of holding off, I finally bought this lens and I am not disappointed. The amount of detail you can see at 1:1 (life size) focus is incredible. Even at longer distances the amount if detail this lens can resolve is impressive.

I have been using this lens as an upgrade of my older 100mm, and what an upgrade. I am a dentist specialized in cosmetic dentistry, I use the lens along with the macrolite or with studio strobes. The details of the ceramics and enamels are just amazing.

This is the best lens I've used for taking portraits, particularly in black and white. There is a soft creaminess that is difficult to describe but the smoothness is incredibly pleasing. I feel like there is a very even graduation in skin tones that is difficult to replicate with other lenses.

I bought this lens about 3 years ago. It is, simply put, an amazing lens. I love the image stabilisation for hand-held macro shots, and it is extremely good at head & shoulders/heads only portraits.

I liked the non-L version of this lens quite a bit, & got some wonderful photos with it. I was very hesitant to upgrade to the L IS version because I had read that there wasn't much to be gained by upgrading. I finally bit the bullet, sold my other lens, & ordered this one.

It's rare to find a macro lens that doesn't perform admirably during a lens test and so I wasn't surprised that the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM performed almost flawlessly. It's a well-built lens with weather sealing to boot.

This is a superb lens not only for macro work but for general use. It gives you a good working distance with macro objects, and is equally suitable for more distant subjects. Quality holds at all f Stops. When used with my unforgiving Canon DFSr pictures are crystal clear and sharp.

Excellent lens good working distance from macro objects; suitable for all purpose use as well

none really; you may want to use manual focus in some situations for extreme close-ups

The classic definition of macro photography is that the image projected onto the digital sensor (or film plane) should be the same size as the subject. With a 1:1 ratio, a DSLR with a full-frame chip should be able to produce life-size magnification and focus on an area as small as 24x36mm.

Canon's newest "L" series lens is its first mid-telephoto macro lens to include Canon's sophisticated Image Stabilization. With the highest quality optics available, combined with near-silent Ultrasonic focusing and life-size close-up capabilities without an adapter, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM...