That means you could fill the frame with an object just 26mm wide.
And that isn’t its only interesting feature.
Half way along the barrel is an intriguing “SA”, or Spherical Aberration, control ring.
The SA (Spherical Aberration) adjustment is unlocked via a switch on the underside of the lens.
This is one lens where it’s actually a good idea to read the manual!
Only the most ambitious, bokeh-loving macro fan would want to shoot wide open at these distances.
This isn’t necessarily a fault with the stabilization, but an issue with handheld macro photography.
The SA (Spherical Aberration) adjustment is unlocked via a switch on the underside of the lens.
However, on occasion it got a bit lost switching to ultra-close subjects.
In fact, manual focus works especially well here.
This is a nice lens to use, if rather long.
Here’s one of my test subjects, a very old “butterfly wing” picture just over 2-inches across.
It typically costs around $1,099 in the US and 1,369 in the UK.
Should I buy the Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM?
Youre committed to Canon-branded RF lensesTheres a lot to be said for sticking to Canon lenses.
This is a magnified section close to the Canon RF 100’s 1.4x maximum. At this magnification, even at an aperture of f/8, its hard to keep all the strata of this object in focus.
These were taken using a tripod, the 12-second timer on the camera, and electronic shutter mode.
This was taken at f/2.8, so the depth of field is extremely shallow – but this can suit many subjects.
At f/16, much more of this narcissus is sharp; but if you want objects with depth to be properly sharp from front to back, you’ll need to resort to focus stacking. Small apertures alone won’t do it.
The engraving on this old cigarette case, and all the tiny blemishes and scratches around it, are resolved extremely crisply – although the lens was so close to the case at this point that I had to shoot at a slight angle to avoid shadows and reflections from the lens in the polished metal.
This lens is weather-sealed and has a fluorine-coated front element, so you won’t have to worry too much about wet outdoor conditions.
If you shoot wide open at f/2.8 then you can achieve good subject separation and background blur – although, with this subject we could have got just as close with one of Canon’s regular “macro” primes.
The Dual Nano ISM autofocus kept up pretty well with our canine subject, and the combination of a long focal length and f/2.8 aperture produced good background blur and separation.
