CANON EF 100mm f/2.8 MACRO USM

£400/$600 The big brother of Canon’s 60mm lens, this one is a better buy and fits full-frame cameras too

This lens looks very much like an upscaled version of the Canon 60mm lens, with a similar layout and a gold ring denoting a ringtype ultrasonic autofocus system. Physically, it’s more than 50 per cent longer than the 60mm lens and nearly twice as heavy, but that’s only to be expected considering the greater focal length.

A bonus of the longer focal length for full 1.0x macro shooting is that, despite the longer physical length, the distance between the front of the lens and the subject is 15cm compared with 9cm for the 60mm lens, giving you more breathing space. Internal focusing maximizes the distance, with no encroaching at shorter focus settings.

Further similarities include an optical path that’s based on 12 elements in eight groups, and the application of Canon’s Super Spectra coatings. However, the 100mm adds a UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) element. The autofocus range limiter switch is no use for close-up shooting, as it only locks out the short end. The hood is sold separately (ET-67, £30/$35) and so is a tripod mounting collar.

Performance

Sharpness and contrast are impressive throughout the aperture range, noticeably improving on the Canon 60mm lens at wide and narrow apertures. The 100mm also maintains better sharpness into the extreme corners of the frame. Colour fringing is slightly better controlled and, while there’s marginally more barrel distortion, it’s still negligible.