Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Reviews
Very good lens for the price
By Slb85
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-07
I bought this lens and have been very happy with the images.
great lens but overpriced
By Alessandro
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-08-03
The lens produces great images in the right conditions, but for its price, an L macro lens should have a removable tripod collar included in the box.
Sharp Lens
By William
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-07-30
I recently received this lens and have used it once. It was very sharp when I found focus. Close up, the AF hunted a lot, but I find that to be true of every macro lens I have owned. I suspect I will find MF is best for macro shots.
A cool lens
By Kyle
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-07-23
This is my first ever macro lens and it does the job very well. The auto focus seems to have some issues with focus breathing or just not acquiring focus well. I know most will just turn that off and use it with manual focus, but the autofocus capabilities of the R cameras and RF lenses is a big draw for using this whole system. The spherical aberration control is fun to play with, but when titled all the way to the left it can leave images looking too fuzzy. I've mostly left it in neutral unless photographing objects sitting still.
Great lens when it gets focus
By Jacy
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-07-16
Very sharp, very lightweight, low distortion, nice stabilization, cool SA options.
Use it with an R5.
I've had some trouble with this lens endlessly hunting for Focus on low contrast subjects somewhat dim light. My 200mm f/2.8 ll has no trouble on the same subject, nor does my 50mm macro, my 24-240 or 24-70.
In good light it works great though. Really nice macro range. Tried it on a video of a painter, trying to capture the brush on the canvas, it had trouble auto focusing and I ended up using manual Focus.
Good thing the SA wheel has a lock on it cause a couple times I slightly bumped it and that really caused auto focus to go crazy. So now it is always locked.
Worth $1000.00 glad I have it.
Focus-by-wire ruins the experience
By Matthew
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2023-07-10
For the bulk of my day-to-day macro work, I typically use the Laowa 100m 2:1 macro adapted to my R7 for stills of insects and other invertebrates. However, the Laowa lacks any image stabilization. I looked to the RF 100mm to fill this void, specifically for video use. I knew it would take me time to get used to a new lens, since they all have their own idiosyncrasies. However the responsiveness of the manual focus on the RF 100mm is something hard to adjust to. The focus settings in the camera offer only 2 settings, rotation speed & rotation angle, both of which I have qualms with. Rotation angle is the logical approach, but it requires an exorbitant amount of throw to even get from 1:1 to 1:4, let alone the full range. Having a multiplier setting per rotation angle to reduce throw would be a solid remedy, and I don't see why it can't be done with firmware. Rotation speed is too jumpy and becomes a headache to track moving subjects with video, especially insects turn slowly and it barely focuses at all, go a tad faster and it jumps beyond where you intend it. Insect photography is very unforgiving.. you have a small window of time with certain subjects, and the longer it takes fumbling around with the focus, the more likely you will miss your shot. There's no room for these hurdles, the more shots I miss because of focusing delay, the more it stay in the bag, it's that simple. Autofocus is usually where most lenses face scrutiny, but in the world of macrophotography, manual focus is crucial. Sure, it's cool that you can change the focus direction and rotation acceleration with focus-by-wire, but it's not a good sacrifice for janky responsiveness and the input lag along with this design. It's hair-pulling, and I don't recommend it, especially to a professional or hardcore enthusiasts. Implementing settings variables in the RF bodies to make these features work better/customizable could be a viable reprieve, but until then I'm sticking with the Laowa (for stills at least). Another downside is that I must view the screen/EVF to see the magnification, rather than simply looking at the increments on the lens barrel and turning to the desired number. I instinctively know what magnification I need per subject and quickly glance and adjust on the fly while keeping my eye on the subject before attempting a photo.. can't do that with the RF 100. I'll also echo the negative sentiment toward the SA control; it's pointless, undesirable, and a waste of engineering. It also ruined some of my early photos before realizing this was even a feature.
The lens has some pros though, the image stabilization is great and makes videos far less shaky, especially at higher magnifications. It offers .4x more magnification than most 100mm macros on the market, that's a plus. It's quite sharp too, maybe a hair less sharp than the Laowa at ~f/13, but still quite good. Despite manual focus being an issue, it's very smooth. It's also quite light, which is useful for taking photos with one hand, and posing the subject with the other. Focus breathing is a tad less than the Laowa as well.
great macro lens
By Scott
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-04
Upgraded from my Canon EF 100mm macro to this RF lens for use on the Canon R5. It works great, and nice not to need the EF/RF converter anymore. The additional magnification on this RF lens compared to the EF is great most of the time, especially when inconvenient to get as close to a flower as I would like.
Great lens
By Robert
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-08-14
I use this mainly for product photography, but I have also used it for portraits. I previously owned the EF version and loved that lens too. This iteration did not disappoint. The spherical aberration control ring is not a make-or-break for me. Its effects are subtle, and not why I purchased this lens.
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