-build quality -sharpness -no other lens does wath this one does

-you need the ringlite or the twin lite flash

When you like macro this lens is your dream. A first look and feel of the lens gives you the pleasuere thet the lens is extremely well build, metal body and it's perfectly finished of. It 's a totaly different way to work with the lens then normal lenses -first of all, it's pretty dark and becomes realy dark when using 3x magnification or higher -then, when using it at 1x or 2x magnification you can work it very easy but on 3x or higher you realy need to be at the extact distance from you subject to get it sharp and with exact I mean less then a mm, at 5x magnification you only have a DOF of 0.25mm and this with f16 (use the lens only on f16). Now about colors, well i can't tell you if the lens reproduces realistic colors because it shows a totaly different world whitch you almost can't see with you eyes. about sharpness at 1x magnificationit's sharper then my canon 100mm f2.8 macro @1x magnification, and it even magnifies a little more then the 100mm " 1x magnification, my guess is that the 100mm isn't a real 1/1 @2 times magnification it's still very very sharp @3 times it becomes a bit soft @4 or 5 times magnification it's pretty soft, but I am talking about a full size look (using it on a 10D) when u use photoshop a little and then resize you will get crisp sharp and stunning pictures. Do you need a tripod ? NO When looking trough the lens at big time magnification it shakes wurse then a 400mm, but using a tripod makes your setup time to long and no insect will stay this long when you get close. So you need to use the lens handheld, it's a bit practicing but when you got the trick you will do just fine. want examples : go to my site www.freewallpapersite.com at category extreme macro , pictures will be there from 30/02/2004

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

-canon 100mm f2.8 macro

Magnification Ease of Use

You NEED the MT-24EX flash

Simply put, I am AMAZED at the results I'm getting from this lens. For some sample photos, visit http://www.frankphillips.com/macro and you'll see a lot of my work with this lens. The one caveat, though, is that to make this lens TRULY effective, you MUST have the ringlite (MR-14EX) or the twinlite (MT-24EX)flash...if you do, it makes using this lens effectively much, much easier. All you do is set your EOS to manual (I'm currently using a D60) settings, and the E-TTL of the flash will do the rest...you'll have total control over the light. Next, you rotate the focus ring on the lens to set the magnification you want...1X to 5X...then start moving in on your subject. When the subject is in focus...BANG!...you've got your shot. You could mess with bellows or extension tubes to do this a little cheaper, but not nearly as easy. Skip all that and try this lens.

Customer Service

Not used...

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 105mm Macro

-Macro lens with multiple option for 5x. -5x realy bring up the details.

-None that I have noticed.

This lenses is simply marvelous. It will give you a completly new perspective of photography. With this lenses you can get very small subject at all or really seriously zoom in for details you would never see before. First of all it is a completly diferent lenses for a completly diferent type of photography. It is a very dark lenses and the f2.8 won´t work this way, instead if you use it at x1 you will have to compensate to f5.6 and if you use x5 then you go to f16.8. The lens also have a very, very shalow deph of view that means unless you want to make something out of focus you better focus it on the same axis of the film. I don´t put all this as weakness but characteristics of a unique lenses. PS: sorry for my english, I am not soo good on that.

Customer Service

Did not used for that lens.

Similar Products Used:

EF 100-400 L IS with Extension Tube EF12 and 25 EF 50 f1.4 with Close-Ups Lenses 1x 2x and 4x