Canon EF 100mm F2.8L USM Macro

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens which I got from B&H, reached me last week. I wanted to review this lens with both my Canon EOS 5D Mark II and newly released Canon EOS 7D. I thank my friend Parshwanath for lending me his new Canon EOS 7D to conduct this review.

Till recently Nikon was only one with a very nice 100mm f/2.8 macro lens which had their VR image stabilization, Nikon 105mm f/2.8G AF-S VR. It’s taken Canon a while to answer that lens, but the new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens appears to be a very worthy reply. It is quite surprising that Canon released a new macro lens with the same focal length as its very popular consumer-grade Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro but sporting an L badge and an all-new Hybrid Image Stabilization system.

Very Nice Contrast

It is the first lens Canon’s new Hybrid IS Technology, which adds shift compensation to the standard angular camera shake compensation. Anyone who has tried to shoot hand held close-ups knows how hard it is to compose when you can’t hold the camera still. The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is supposed to make it easier to compose those shots without a tripod.

The new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro features the same 1:1 magnification capabilities as the non-L version but offers all the advantages of an L lens such as weather-sealing, superior build quality, faster auto-focus, ultra-low dispersion elements, and circular aperture blades for softer out-of-focus edges.

Carpenter Bee

Here is the Canon’s official specifications for the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Lens:

• Focal Length & Maximum Aperture – 100mm 1:2.8
• Lens Construction – 15 elements in 12 groups
• Diagonal Angle of View – 23.4°
• Focus Adjustment – Inner focusing system with USM. Full-time manual focus available.
• Closest Focusing Distance – 0.99 ft./0.3m (maximum close-up magnification: 1x)
• Filter Size – 67mm
• Max. Diameter x Length, Weight – 3.1 x 4.8 in./77.7 x 123mm, 22.0 oz./625g

Feel
Being an L-grade lens, the construction is rock solid. Focus ring feels firm and smooth with virtually no lens barrel wobble. The lens is roughly the same length as the non-L version but is actually narrower in diameter than the non-L. Switches are located in right places and feels well balanced when shooting, very tactile yet not too heavy and bulky.

Focusing is Quick and accurate

The EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro has a very sleek design where the lens tapers gradually from the lens opening towards the lens mount. Unlike the older EF 100mm goes from narrow-to-wide then tapers off to a narrow barrel near the mount area. The lens hood is very deep feels very protective.

Focus
The EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro’s focusing is completely internal, meaning the lens does not change in length throughout its focusing range. The USM motor powers the lens is quiet, quick and accurate. The AF performance is much faster and more accurate on a pro-grade AF system like the new EOS 7D as compared to the standard Canon AF system like 5D Mark II. it is dream to use this lens on 7D as the autofocus is lightening fast and accurate.

Autofocus is Superfast on EOS 7D

Canon has provided an AF range limiter that allow you to choose between close macro focusing (0.3m-0.5m only), normal macro focusing (0.5m to infinity), or full AF range (0.3m to infinity). Selecting the appropriate focus limiter will speed up AF considerably as it tells the lens and camera to ignore elements outside the selected AF range and adjusts the distance the AF mechanism has to travel.

Sharpness
Prime lenses are often sharp as tack, but macro lenses take it a step further. With large magnifications and importance of capturing minute details, a macro lens has to be ultra-sharp, and this is where the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM excels.

Argiope Spider

If macro shots will require a small aperture, so wide-open performance is not that big of an issue for true macro photography, however, many photographers use a macro lens as a general-subject lens as well as a dedicated portrait lens, in which wide-open performance is a big factor. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro is very sharp even at f/2.8 and is insanely sharp at f/4 onwards. At 100mm, you might have to stop down to f/3.5 or f/4 when shooting portraits anyway to get enough depth-of-field, so rest assured that you will get tack sharp photos all the time with this lens.

Nice And Sharp

Lens Aberration
This lens as well as the older non-L controlled vignetting sufficiently. Vignetting was still easily visible on EOS 7D when used wide open but disappeard at around f/4 or higher. Chromatic aberration is next to none at any aperture opening. There’s a very, very slight magenta edge Chromatic aberration at f/2.8, but it’s hardly visible in real-world usage, all Chromatic aberration virtually disappears at f/3.5 onwards. Flare is very well controlled as well, especially with the deep lens hood attached.

Sunset

Magnification
The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro has a maximum of 1:1 life-size reproduction magnification and this is achieved at a minimum focusing distance of 30cm. The details captured at 1:1 magnification is fantastic and you can obtain larger magnification with appropriate extension tubes. Even though Canon Tele Convertors don’t work on this lens (you can try to use Canon TCs along with an extension tube) 3rd party Tele Convertors do work nicely. I have Tamron 1.4x TC which worked well on this lens.

Depth of Field at Different Aperatures

The aperture displayed by the camera assumes an infinity focus distance; however, the effective aperture becomes darker at closer focus distances. The following chart details the amount of light loss incurred at the specified subject magnification.

Bokeh

Grass inflorescence

The nine, rounded aperture blades of the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro produces wonderful bokeh (out-of-focus pattern) qualities. The OOF areas exhibit smooth, creamy transition from sharp to blurry areas of the image. The background blur is better than what the MTF chart would indicate. In my very subjective opinion the quality of the blur may not be in the same league as the 85L or 135L, but it looks good, and is better than my L zooms. It has a great bokeh due to the combination of DOF (low f stop) and aperture blade design and for f2.8 lens it is doing a god job.

Color and Contrast
As expected of any L lens, the colors are punchy and just a tad warm while high contrast is maintained even if the light source is within the frame.

Grass inflorescence in Fading light

Hybrid IS
Much excitement came out with the announcement of the Hybrid Image Stabilization (HIS) system. There are lot of instances where a tripod isn’t feasible to deploy, either there is no physical space available to use a tripod or when you’re chasing an active macro subject (such as insects, for example) and having an effective image stabilization system could spell the difference between a sharp image and a blurry one caused by camera shake.

Carpenter Bee

The HIS system on this lens can stabilize 4 stops easily in good lighting, while for macro shooting, effective stabilization tops out at 2 stops before things start to get blurry.

Conclusion
Since the cost of this L-lens is twice that of non L is EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro twice as good as older EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens? Optically, I’d have to say no as the consumer-line EF 100mm f/2.8 USM can definitely stand on its own. The new EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM is a very sharp lens, as proven by its published MTF charts compared to the older non-L variant, and in macro photography, test chart readings vs real-life images do correlate better than other lenses. The auto-focus is also quieter and the manual focusing mechanism is just about perfect for hand-held manual focusing.

Works as a great Portrait lens

The auto focus is much faster than I expected. I had always found macro lenses were slow. Unless you are going from minimum focus distance to 8+ feet away you just need to make good use of the focus range switch.

The image stabilization is amazing! I have tried this lens in dark situations (e.g. concert, night shots). F2.8 + IS of 4 f stops for longer distances is a great combination.

I can think of very few negative aspects for this lens. Cost being one of them. Tripod collar is not supplied along with lens and costs quite a heavily and it is newer D type one. It looks exactly like the tripod collar from Canon EF 400mm F/5.6 which unfortunately does not fit this lens. I also need to get a new 67mm adapter for my Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash to use it on this lens. Other than these minor hitches the lens is perfect upgrade.

Overall it is a very capable lens with nice features and worthy upgrade to my equally capable non-L macro lens. Although I will be using the 100L primarily as a macro lens it will make a great short telephoto walk around/event/street prime lens.

Canon EF 100mm F2.8L USM Macro

I just received Canon EF 100mm F2.8L USM Macro Lens from B&H. The lens looks and feels solid, heaveir than Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro. The EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM is the first Image Stabilized macro lens in Canon EOS range. The new Hybrid IS system features up to 4-stop correction, compensating for the effects of camera shake, during normal shooting. Low friction ceramic balls support the moving elements, which allows for the amazingly smooth movement – needed when compensating for camera shake during macro shooting. Hybrid IS corrects shift movement – problematic when shooting up close -as well as angular movement providing photographers with the benefit of up to 2 stops at 1.0x magnification. As part of the L-series the lens features dust and water resistant seals.

I will post a detailed personal review of this extraordinary lens in a day or two.

Camponotus Ant Tending Aphids

I found this Camponotus Ant (thanks Alex for pointing out the correct ID for the ant) on hibiscus branch which was tending aphids.

I used Rayflash ring flash adapter attached to Canon Speedlite 580EX II which gave a far smoother light for the ant. The effect was far better than Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash.

Some ants “farm” aphids, protecting them on the plants they eat, eating the honeydew that the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a “mutualistic relationship”. These “dairying ants” “milk” the aphids by stroking them with their antennae. Therefore, sometimes aphids are called “ant cows”.

Some farming ant species gather and store the aphid eggs in their nests over the winter. In the spring, the ants carry the newly-hatched aphids back to the plants. Some species of ants manage large “herds” of aphids that feed on roots of plants in the ant colony. Queens that are leaving to start a new colony take an aphid egg to found a new herd of underground aphids in the new colony. These farming ants protect the aphids by fighting off aphid predators.

It was common at one time to suggest that the cornicles were the source of the honeydew, and this was even included in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and the 2008 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia. In fact, honeydew secretions are produced from the anus of the aphid, while cornicles mostly produce defensive chemicals such as waxes.

Aphids, also known as plant lice or greenflies, are small plant-eating insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions. The damage they do to plants has made them enemies of farmers and gardeners the world over, but from a purely zoological standpoint they are a very successful group of organisms.

Yellow Chested Carpenter Bee

The newly acquired Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM lens has proved great while taking fast flying insects like these carpenter bees. They don’t stop at any flower, zooming from one to another Rattleweed plants (Crotalaria retusa). Carpenter bees are known to rob nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollas. Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers (except those in the subgenus Proxylocopa, which nest in the ground).

Carpenter bees are traditionally considered solitary bees, though some species have simple social nests in which mothers and daughters may cohabit. However, even solitary species tend to be gregarious, and often several will nest near each other. It has been occasionally reported that when females cohabit, there may be a division of labor between them, where one female may spend most of her time as a guard within the nest, motionless and near the entrance, while another female spends most of her time foraging for provisions.
Carpenter Bee nest in a tree trunk

Carpenter bees make nests by tunneling into wood, vibrating their bodies as they rasp their mandibles against the wood, each nest having a single entrance which may have many adjacent tunnels. The entrance often is a perfectly circular hole on the underside of a beam or tree limb. Carpenter bees do not eat wood. They discard the bits of wood, or re-use particles to build partitions between cells. The tunnel functions as a nursery for brood and the pollen/nectar upon which the brood subsists. The provision masses of some species are among the most complex in shape of any group of bees; whereas most bees fill their brood cells with a soupy mass, and others form simple spheroidal pollen masses, Xylocopa form elongate and carefully sculpted masses that have several projections which keep the bulk of the mass from coming into contact with the cell walls, sometimes resembling an irregular caltrop. The eggs are very large relative to the size of the female, and are some of the largest eggs among all insects.

Metallic Black Carpenter Bee

I spotted two variety of Carpenter bees, one which was having yellow chest which is quite often confused with bumble bees. Most carpenter bees have a shiny abdomen, while in bumblebees the abdomen is completely clothed with dense hairOther was a classic blue eyed black metallic carpenter bee. These bees belong to Xylocopa Genus. I was not able to determine the exact species.

Fire Breathing Tiger

After using Shiva’s Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM, I was very impressed with the result. I wanted to buy this lens. Right at that time I saw the sale of this lens at JJ Mehta Forum and went to get it. It reached me on 26th September 2009. I thank Siaon for selling me such a beautiful lens.

Same evening there was immersion of Sharada Idol taken in procession was going on as part of Dasara Festival. and It was best time to check out my newly possessed lens. Here is the shot taken in existing light of the tiger dance (hulivesha) artist breathing fire.

Tiger Dance is a unique form of folk dance in Dakshina Kannada that fascinates the young and the old alike. Since tiger is considered as the favored carrier of Goddess Sharada (the deity in whose honor Dasara is celebrated), this dance is performed during the Dasara celebration. It is also performed during other festivals like Krishna Janmasthami & Ganesh Chathurthi. There are over 150 troupes who perform this famed folk dance.

Fatal Attraction

I was trying to test Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM which was courteously provided by Shivashankar with my Canon EF 1.4x II Extender when I spotted these mating Common Grass Yellows(Eurema hecabe) on a Peacock Flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) plant. On closer inspection there was this dark brown spider stuck on the head of the male. I wanted to capture the whole sequence so I quickly changed to my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro with Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash and captured the whole sequence. I have posted 4 most interesting shots from this sequence.

Fatal Attraction

This Adanson’s House Jumper (Hasarius adansoni) had caught hold of the male by the head while in the act of mating. It had killed it and is now proceeding towards the female which was still stuck to the mate.

Fatal Attraction

It was a precarious perch for the spider as it had to manage the dead body of one and struggling butterfly on the other. The female was desperately trying to escape from the clutches of the spider but was unable to do. Spider manage to twist and turn the body of the dead male and lurched forward to reach for the female.

Fatal Attraction

After nearly 15 minutes of struggle the female managed to tire out the spider and gain the upright position. With bit more struggle she was able to release herself from the mate and fly away free and alive. It was such an awesome sight that I was amazed how she managed to do that.

Pill Millipede

This Pill millipede was found when I went to Charmadi Ghats recently. it was crossing the State Highway 64. I picked it up and curled into a nice ball. I left it on the other side and proceeded towards Mudigere in Chikmagalur District. It belongs to genus Arthrosphaera under Sphaerotheriidae family od order Sphaerotheriida.

Pill millipedes make up two orders of millipedes, often grouped together into a single superorder, Oniscomorpha. Pill millipedes are short compared to other millipedes, with only eleven to thirteen body segments, and are capable of rolling into a ball when disturbed. Evolutionary importance of Pill millipedes is that even though the northern and southern hemispherical pill millipedes evolved separately, both developed capability of rolling into a ball when disturbed. This is an example of parallel evolution, rather than homology.

The Order Glomerida is found in the Northern Hemisphere and includes species such as Glomeris marginata, the common European pill millipede. They have from twelve body segments, and lack the defensive repugnatorial glands found on many other millipedes.

The Order Sphaerotheriida is a Gondwana-distribution taxon, with around 100 species in southern Africa, Madagascar, Australasia and south-east Asia. They have thirteen body segments, and possess repugnatorial glands releasing nasty chemicals like rest of the millipede family.

Male Common Mormon Butterfly

Here is a male Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) butterfly which was resting at night on Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia) leaf. I was not able to focus the butterfly at all as it was very dark. I used a 8 LED torch held in my left hand to focus and shoot with Canon EOS 5D mark II using Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro with Canon MT-24EX macro twin light flash from right hand. As the butterfly was perched high on the tree this was a great acrobatic task.

The Common Mormon Papilio polytes is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia. This butterfly is known for the mimicry displayed by the numerous forms of its females which mimic inedible Red-bodied Swallowtails, such as the Common Rose and the Crimson Rose. The male are monomorphic dark-coloured swallow-tailed butterfly. The upper fore wing has a series of white spots decreasing in size towards the apex. The upper hind wing has a complete discal band of elongated white spots. It may or may not have marginal red crescents. The males are smaller in size than the females.

The female of the Common Mormon is polymorphic. In South Asia, it has three forms or morphs.
Female form romulus is similar to the male, differing in that it always has strongly marked red crescents. It is the least common of the three forms. It is normally abundant where the Common Rose or Crimson Rose do not occur, such as in Himachal Pradesh around Shimla; although a few specimens of form romulus have also been caught alongside.

Form stichius of the Common Mormon mimics the Common Rose very closely. This is the commonest form wherever the Common Rose flies.

Form romulus mimics the Crimson Rose and is common over its range. It is not such a close mimic as the previous form being duller than its model, the Crimson Rose. It is easy to differentiate the mimics from models by the colour of their body – the models are red-bodied and the mimics are black-bodied.

Common Mormon in Sepia

Here is the same mormon shot converted to Sepia tone in Adobe lightroom.

Black and Yellow Flat Millepede

Even though this is a very common millipede in our garden I was not able to identify scientifically. This resembles morphologically the Apheloria genus found in America, but I doubt it belongs to that.

They do not bite humans. Generally found in leaf litter , millipedes tend to avoid light and may discharge a foul odor by secreting 2-Nitroethenylbenzenes to discourage predators. Pachydesmus crassicutis is known to produce hydrogen Cyanide gas to repel predators.

Millipedes, are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment (except for the first segment behind the head which does not have any appendages at all, and the next few which only have one pair of legs). Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical bodies, although some are flattened dorso-ventrally, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a ball, like a pillbug.

Millipedes are detritivores and slow moving. Most millipedes eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter, moisturising the food with secretions and then scraping it in with the jaws. However they can also be a minor garden pest, especially in greenhouses where they can cause severe damage to emergent seedlings. Signs of millipede damage include the stripping of the outer layers of a young plant stem and irregular damage to leaves and plant apices.

This class contains around 10,000 species. There are 13 orders and 115 families.

The giant African millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas) is the largest species of millipede.

Canon EF 100 f/2.8L Hybrid IS Macro

Hot on the heels of Canon’s announcement of its Hybrid IS technology comes the first lens to sport this feature and, to no great surprise, it’s a 100mm F2.8 macro. The Hybrid IS system is claimed to provide up to 2 stops stabilization at 1.0x magnification, and up to 4 stops at longer shooting distances. This, Canon’s third-generation EF 100mm F2.8 macro lens, is also the first to gain the flagship ‘L’ designation and comes with such goodies as ultra-low dispersion glass elements, a nine blade circular aperture and weathersealing. The Canon EF 100mm F2.8L IS USM macro will supplement, rather than supplant the existing 100mm F2.8 USM macro. I plan to buy as soon as it is available in India.
Check out this article from DPreview or from canon site for more details.