This is an expensive high-quality lens that focusses continuously down to 1:1 (i.e., you can take a picture of something that is 24x36mm in size, the dimensions of the standard 35mm frame). The lens has an ultrasonic motor that allows manual focusing even in AF mode.

before i purchased this lens,i checked out the mtf graph on it ,it looked great,i then read all the reviews on this site about it,they were all positive reviews. so i bought it. this beautiful piece of glass way exceeded my expectations, this lens is razor sharp!!!its stunning.

extremely sharp!sharp!sharp! reproduces colors well, compatible with ef 1.4x & 2x extender; nice tripod collar, well built

none that i could find; some would say the slow autofocus,but as i said above ,who needs fast autofocus on a macro

The Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L USM Macro Lens is Canon's longest macro lens . This lens offers the longest 1:1 macro working distance of any Canon lens and produces a beautifully smooth out of focus background .

The optical design of the lens is made of 14 elements in 12 groups including three UD elements. Typical for all true macro lenses it features a floating system for better close-focus correction. The min. focus distance is 0.48m resulting in a max. object magnification of 1:1.

I bought one of these, over the 100mm IS, because of the extra distance from the subject and still be at true macro, 1:1. This allows more natural light on the subject, and stops you frightening the bugs, or if it's spiders, them from frightening me!

If you want good quality images, you must invest in good lenses. You won't go wrong with this lens. The results are worth the effort. I compose my shots to get the effect I want, so, I always focus manually before I auto focus. As a result, the slowness that some complain about doesn't bother me.

The EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro lens captures amazing colors, and is the sharpest lens I have used; I read all the reviews and researched this lens for months while I saved for it; Now that I have it and have used it I can say that this will soon be one of my favorite lenses.

The lens is large and a bit heavy but what do you expect

This is Canon's offering in the long, medium telephoto macro area of interchangeable lenses. Long because it is about as long as true Macro lenses go although it is still only a medium telephoto lens in the overall picture. We take a look here at how it performs.

Superb build quality; Good optical quality; Good contrast and colour with no distortion

A little heavy; Trapped tripod collar (when on camera; Price

Bought this recently and took real close ups of flowers, my macro pictures came out really good. I am very happy with the results. Its heavy and hard to focus, need to have lot patience to use this.

Picture quality

Heavy and hard to focus

This is the only macro I have ever used so cant compare to others. Iam very pleased with the lens. I shoot small creatures like bugs and frogs. The working distance is great as is the sharpness. I also use it as a long portrait tele on my 5D.

Sharp; built like a tank; great working distance

Little heavy; slow focusing

There are a lot of types of photography out there, and some of them require specialized equipment to

Typical "L" quality, focal length allows you a bit of distance from your subject

Price; no Image Stabilization; no weather sealing gasket