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One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Started Sep 13, 2015 | User reviews
PhotoRotterdam New Member • Posts: 7
One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

It might be an old design, but it is perfect lens. I guess when a new lens will be designed today, it will be created with a 'sharper' look and have a different microcontrast and even more separation of fore- and background. And they would surely add image stabilization, the only thing missing.

This one creates buttery smooth images, though it is a razor sharp lens with hardly any distortion. Its quality of bokeh would probably please a lot of people.

If you are looking for this focal length, don't forget to look at this one. For its price it is really hard to beat.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.0 USM
Telephoto prime lens • Canon EF • 2518A003
PhotoRotterdam's score
4.0
Average community score
4.6
Alexsfo Senior Member • Posts: 2,362
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Wouldn't 85mm f1.8 be a better choice? More versatile FL for indoor and outdoor on FF. Most reports show it is slightly sharper than 100mm but otherwise nearly identical. 100mm f/2 has only 5% larger apperture size so not gonna be noticeable in real world use.

 Alexsfo's gear list:Alexsfo's gear list
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Canon EOS M6 II Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Canon EF 35mm F2 IS USM Canon EF 24-70mm F4L IS USM +4 more
halfwaythere Contributing Member • Posts: 893
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

If you get similarly good copies the 100mm is the sharper lens. I agree that the 85mm is a more versatile focal length while the 100mm compresses the background more. It all comes down to personal preference.

RogerZoul
RogerZoul Veteran Member • Posts: 3,243
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Since you game it only 4 stars out of 5, it is clearly not your perfect lens.

 RogerZoul's gear list:RogerZoul's gear list
Canon EOS R5 Canon EF 500mm f/4.0L IS II USM Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS STM Macro Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM Canon RF 800mm F11 IS STM +31 more
Alexsfo Senior Member • Posts: 2,362
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

If you get similarly good copies the 100mm is the sharper lens. I agree that the 85mm is a more versatile focal length while the 100mm compresses the background more. It all comes down to personal preference.

In this review, 4 copies of 100mm f/2 were evaluated and consistently were found to be noticeably less sharp than 85mm, it's one of the reasons I decided to get 85mm instead of 100:
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/85_100_135/

 Alexsfo's gear list:Alexsfo's gear list
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Canon EOS M6 II Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Canon EF 35mm F2 IS USM Canon EF 24-70mm F4L IS USM +4 more
MayaTlab0 Senior Member • Posts: 2,985
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Alexsfo wrote:

If you get similarly good copies the 100mm is the sharper lens. I agree that the 85mm is a more versatile focal length while the 100mm compresses the background more. It all comes down to personal preference.

In this review, 4 copies of 100mm f/2 were evaluated and consistently were found to be noticeably less sharp than 85mm, it's one of the reasons I decided to get 85mm instead of 100:
http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/85_100_135/

This is Lensrentals' measurements from 10 copies of each, averaged, here showing sample variation :

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/MTF.aspx?Lens=106&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=118&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0&CT=VAR

Given that both of these lenses are among the worst Canon lenses in terms of sample variation, it's perfectly normal that opinions diverge on which one is sharper than the other. On average though the 85 should be a little bit sharper (despite Canon's MTF figures), but a good copy of the 100mm can be much better than a poor copy of the 85mm.

Both of these lenses are badly in need of a refresh anyway :D.

OP PhotoRotterdam New Member • Posts: 7
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

RogerZoul wrote:

Since you game it only 4 stars out of 5, it is clearly not your perfect lens.

It is the perfect lens in terms of what it produces in images. I'm missing image stabilization in the lens though. Hence 4 out of 5.

There is of course the 100mm f2.8 macro with IS, but that lens produces another look to the images.

Anthony Perera Forum Member • Posts: 65
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Can this lens be used for macro (flowers, bugs, eyes, etc)? i know there is a 100mm F/2.8 macro lens, but I don't want to lose the f/2 light.

 Anthony Perera's gear list:Anthony Perera's gear list
Canon EOS 6D Canon EF 100mm f/2.0 USM Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Canon EF 35mm F2 IS USM Canon Pixma Pro-100
diness Veteran Member • Posts: 3,758
Re: One of those lenses they probably won't be designed today, but would surely be missed

Anthony Perera wrote:

Can this lens be used for macro (flowers, bugs, eyes, etc)? i know there is a 100mm F/2.8 macro lens, but I don't want to lose the f/2 light.

Nope, not really.  The closest you can focus with a 100mm f2 is 35".  Compare that with around 12" for the 100mm macro.  I always felt that I couldn't get close at all with the 100mm f2.  Honestly though, if you are taking macro pictures, f2 is going to be WAY too thin of DOF.  You will want to stop down the f2.8 even and the IS will be a huge help.

 diness's gear list:diness's gear list
Canon EOS R Canon EF 135mm F2L USM Canon RF 35mm F1.8 IS STM Macro Canon RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM
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