Canon EF 100mm f/2.0 USM 35mm Primes
Canon EF 100mm f/2.0 USM 35mm Primes
[Jul 02, 2002]
tuomob
Expert
Strength:
- Ultrasonic motor gives speed to focusing - Silent - You can fix the focus manually even without turning the manual focus on
Weakness:
- There is no This lens is absolutely great! I couldn't imagine any other indoor lens that would be as useful and as cheap. 660 euros for this lens is almost nothing. F-stop is even 2.0, so using it with digital SLR is also good option. (For instance, with Canon EOS D-60 it makes 160 mm & f/2.0.) Customer Service Never tried. Similar Products Used: Canon EF 28-80 mm f/4.0-5.6 |
[Jun 02, 2002]
Sassan Sanei
Intermediate
Strength:
Very sharp images, beautiful background blur, f/2 is very fast.
Weakness:
Dust and lint get in between the front elements quite easily. This is one of my favorite lenses. The pictures are amazingly clear and sharp. I expect most people would buy this lens as a portrait lens, but I use it primarily outdoors to move in on a landscape detail. Works great even with strongly backlit scenes. Tough call between this one and the 85/1.8 but ultimately I chose the greater reach over the half-stop speed. Customer Service Had it cleaned by Sun Camera Service in Woodbridge (Toronto). They were recommended by Canon Canada and have been very professional on this and 2 other occasions as well. Similar Products Used: 20/2.8, 28/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 50/1.8 |
[May 30, 2002]
Marco Romanelli
Expert
Strength:
Very sharp from f/2 to f/11. Fast and silent autofocus.
Weakness:
Quite "worm". M.O.D. could be shorter. Wonderful lens for a really cheap price. Optic and mechanic are excellent. One of the greatest lens I've ever try. Similar Products Used: Leica 90/2,8 Canon 100/2,8 macro Pentax 85/1,4 |
[Apr 25, 2002]
aaronlam
Expert
Strength:
Sharp Fast Beautiful images amazing contrast bokeh
Weakness:
none I LOVE THIS LENS! It is so fast and quiet and blurs the background so beautifully. It has solid construction and is the best portrait lens I have ever used. I don''t understand why this lens isn''t an L series but that is okay to keep price down. This lens is a hidden jewel!!! I gave up my 70-200 f2.8 b/c I could let this one go. Customer Service none Similar Products Used: 70-200 f2.8 70-200 f4 80-200 f2.8 135 L |
[Feb 14, 2002]
tzorpedo
Expert
Strength:
Outstanding image quality, weight, focusing system (fast, silent and accurate). I like the focal lenght
Weakness:
Construction: quite cheap. My unit was bought second hand with some dust in inner elements (not noticed effects in image quality). Focus ring gives the impression of rotating totally free from any gear but FTM/manual focusing works, it also has some kind of longitudinal play (if you shake it a bit, it sounds click, clack...), it was not that way when I purchase it and I take a lot of care of my equipment. Minimum focusing distance (too long). Quite expensive if brand new. Reasonably but not cheap if second hand (if you find it... it is not so popular) I do not use to make systematic lens test, so my review is based on overall results and they are extremely pleasant. Sharp, on par to the outstanding EF200/2.8L (100/2 gives less contrast, quite noticiably in B&W). Color rendition also matches 200/2.8L standards: extremely natural, beautiful or saturated when using different films. Low geometrical distortion (very good for architectural details, but only in big & open indoor places or outdoors because its focal length). No advice on flare control, sorry. I did not noticed so much degradation in performance wide open. Who should by this lens? Difficult to say. In my case, I found that achieving that image quality for a portrait and "people" lens was impossible with a zoom (too much money), so it was the cheapest way. The fact is that EF100/2 + EF200/2.8L (both second hand) is now a expensiver kit than a EF70-200/4L (brand new, it did not exist when I built my kit) but you get more light on your film and less attention to your white "cannon". Still, the kit is about a half the price, lighter and more elegant than the "legendary", hughe, heavy and (my god!) untouchable in price 70-200/2.8L in Spain. Customer Service Not needed Similar Products Used: EF 200/2.8L Mk I (quite longer, but a quality reference in tele-lenses, IMHO) EF 75-300 4-5.6 (absolutely piece of crap in every sense, results are equal to the cheapest disposable cameras, a cheat f |
[Jan 09, 2002]
Smallman
Expert
Strength:
Excellent sharpness and contrast at all apertures even wide open, no detectable distortion, beautiful smooth bokeh, compact, reasonably priced, very fast, accurate focussing using AF or manual. Takes 58 mm filters.Feels well built. Has full time manual focus even when in AF mode, an excellent feature.
Weakness:
None really but my lens had thre small bits of dust or lint in the interior, suggesting Canon could improve air filtration at the assembly site. Other lenses from other makers also show this problem. This is a very fine general purpose short tele lens.It is excellent for portraiture giving very crisp, sharp results, and also very good for urban and country landscape in which role it delivers excellent image definition. Customer Service Not needed for this lens but generally good from Canon Australia. Similar Products Used: EF 100-200 mm, 28-135 mm, EF Macro 100 mm. |
[Dec 19, 2001]
jason4774
Intermediate
Strength:
fast, silent focus near perfect by f4 decent close focusing for portraits. Allows you to keep enough distance from the subject to allow them breathing space, with just enough compression to flatten proportion, but still enough closeness for the subject to appear "intimate" on the print. Good low light candid lens, when loaded with fast film (I like Portra 800. Still aching to try Fuji''''s new NPZ 800) The distance the lens allows, compared even to my 50mm 1.4, makes it very useful to get great shots without steeping on my friends feet to get it. More expensive than the 85mm 1.8, but cheaper than any other 100 2.0 on the market ($800 for Nikon''''s, about $1400 for Contax. I''''ll take the Canon here)
Weakness:
Noticibly softer when used wide open (or, maybe the thing is just really d*** good closed down a bit. Still remains fully usable wide open, though) Open to dust (and moisture, most likely) should include a lens hood, with a front element as big as that (but, seems to handle flare pretty well, from what I''''ve seen) Focus ring, like most Canon consumer USM lenses, is not as smooth as I like. (I really wish Canon made manual focus versions of their lenses, for guys like me, who prefer manual focusing) Seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place, next to the 85 1.8 (1/2 stop faster, 100 bucks cheaper) and the 100 2.8 macro (probably sharper) Still, I prefer 100 to 85 generally, and the extra stop over the macro makes it more useful to me, but not to many others. After using this lens for a while, I''''ve just decided to leave it on my camera body for good. I really like this lens. It does have it''''s faults, though (though, nothing too horrible) -The lens is noticably soft wide open. Still sharp enough for me to get the eyes of a subject to stand out, but it wasn''''t until I closed down the lens to f4, that I realized how sharp this lens really was. -It isn''''t very well sealed against dust. Mine already has a couple of specks in it. Again, nothing major, but not a lens you want to spend long hours with near the ocean, or in a desert, I''''d imagine. -the front element is enormous, which means alot of light is coming into the lens at all times, improving the chances for flare. I''''ve only noticed this to be a problem while facing the lens toward a direct light source, and the dedicated lens hood does a good job keeping out excess light. Too bad it doesn''''t come with the lens, though. That said, here''''s what I like... -With properly exposed prints, the color balance is wonderful, and the ''''bokeh'''' is soft and non-distracting. -The lens focuses close enough to get a tight head shot of a subject -Closed down to f2.8, the sharpness and contrast improve noticably, and by f4, everything from color, to sharpness, to contrast, seems to gel together perfectly. I really like this lens. It''''s not perfect, but for it''''s uses as a portrait lens, it does the job, and does it admirably well. Load your camera with Royal Gold 100, or NPH 400 (at 320), shoot at f4, and you''''ll end up with some very lovely photographs. Customer Service good when I had to use it Similar Products Used: canon ef50 1.4 canon ef 200 2.8l mk II contax g 90mm sonnar contax 50 1.4 planar contax 135 sonnar |
[Dec 18, 2001]
eos4me
Professional
Strength:
optical performance "L" class level much like the EF 85 1.8USM, fast AF performance, build quality, price
Weakness:
there are too many choices for portrait lenses from Canon The EF 100 2USM is an excellent high quality lens. Well made, has optical performance very similar to the EF 85 1.8USM which is to say excellent! They are really the same in terms of optical performance, the differences being factors controlled more by focal length. Also while the EF 100 2USM and EF 85 1.8USM I have owned and used were very close, the EF 85 1.8USM may have a slight edge optically. This may just be a variation in lenses and my 85 1.8USM may just be a really good one but I have used several different EF 100 2USM lenses and my EF 85 1.8USM is usually ever so slightly better. Customer Service CPS is the BEST, consumer repairs are done by the same people but are lower priority than CPS members Similar Products Used: Canon EF 50 1L, EF 50 1.4USM, EF 85 1.2L, EF 85 1.8USM, EF 135 2L |
[Aug 16, 2000]
Michael Morgan
Intermediate
Strength:
Terrific sharpness. Blinding fast autofocus because of ring USM motor. Well built.
Weakness:
Absolutely none. This is an absolutely breathtaking piece of glass. Autofocus will leave you open mouthed. Customer Service Not needed any so far. Similar Products Used: 85/1.8 USM |
[Jul 24, 2000]
Ken Tanaka
Intermediate
Strength:
One of the sharpest lens I have ever used. This lens should have a red ring! Unbelievable.... it is a must if you shoot portraits
Weakness:
none. its perfect awesome portait lens Similar Products Used: 85 1.8 |