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Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM Lens

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Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM lens

Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM lens

Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM lens

Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM lens

MTF-charts

Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM MTF Chart

Optical design

Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM optical design

Format: 35mm SLR

Type: Prime lens

Focusing: Auto Focus (AF)

Lens mounts: Canon EF, EF-S

First year of production: 1991

Optical design: 8 elements in 6 groups

Features: Ultra-Sonic Motor
User reviews (2)

Photos (0)

Tests (0)

Owners (8)

Views (8957)

Average price: $462

Specifications:

Focal lengthMax. apertureMin. apertureBladesMin. Focus (m.)Filter Ø (mm.)Weight (gr/oz)Length (mm/in)
100mmf/2.0f/2280.958460/16,273.5/2,9

Additional information:

The Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM  is a fast very compact moderate telephoto for Canon EOS film and digital cameras.

It was designed for film cameras long ago, but  shows very good results on digital cameras.

It is one of  few Canon lenses which,  on the one hand,  have an affordable price and, on the other,  don't differ in image quality from  expensive L-series lenses.

The maximum aperture ratio of 2 alongside with the focal length of 100 mm makes it possible to shoot with shallow depth of field.

An 8-blade aperture provides rather beautiful blurring of out of focus areas (bokeh). However, circles of confusion have noticeable 8-angle shapes.

With a lens speed this fast, the lens allows you to take high-quality pictures in bad lighting conditions without a tripod or a flash.

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.0 USM is already rather sharp even at f/ 2.0. And it is very sharp from f/4.0 onward.

Vignetting is considerable at f/ 2.0, moderate at f/2.8 and almost invisible at f/4.0 and f/5.6. At further aperture settings vignetting does not manifest itself. I wouldn't say it is as bad for open apertures, because vignetting is usually an advantage for portraiture.

Focusing is internal. The front lens does not rotate. Manual adjustment of sharpness is possible at any time by turning the focus ring.

The color  rendering is natural with slightly increased saturation. The lens delivers average contrast, which is useful for portrait photography.

The built-in ultra-sonic motor makes focusing rather fast and silent.  It perfectly focuses in low-level-light conditions.

The lens is not well resistant to back and side light.  It is recommended to use it with a hood.

The Canon EF  100 mm f/2 USM is well fit for shooting portraits, weddings, fragments of nature and architecture, as well as for those types of photography requiring shallow depth of field .

Compatible hood: ET-65III, ET-67


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Posted by: Sergei Borodin   Date of publication: 01.09.2010


Mechanical quality4.506
Optical quality4.437
Usability4.506
Pricing / Value4.437
Bokeh4.676
Overall lens rating
4.51

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Owner reviews: Canon EF 100 mm f/ 2 USM

purelightglow 21.11.2017 21:56:41
Period of use: 1 year

Strengths:

small with quality optical preformance and has a subtle and smooth bokeh compared to other lenses


Weaknesses:

older coating on my version if there are newer lens coatings on any of these. handles sun flare excellently


Comments:

older coating on my version is actually prefered often. I paid 150$ cdn in 2016. I use a paper coffee cup collar for a hood which is great as they're free and collapsable in the gear bag