Lens Addiction It's a real thing. It's practically Freudian: Who has the biggest one? Boys and their pee-pee measuring eh? Yes, the 100mm is an impressive spectacle isn't it? Having a higher focal range usually means you've got to have bigger glass. I digress, majorly. Why did I buy this specimen?

Macro; Depth of Field; Build Quality; Stabilisers

Price; Focal Range; Focusing

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM macro may be a comparatively old lens by now but it's still capable of playing in the top league - easily. It provides sharp images straight from f/2.8 and it's downright excellent between f/4 and f/8.

The picture below illustrates the lens's angle of view on full frame and APS-C DSLRs (taken from our standard vantage point):

Superb optical quality, Fast, silent, and accurate autofocus; full time manual focus, Highly effective image stabilization (for longer subject distances, at least, Solid build, including dust and water sealing

Hybrid Image Stabilization still not particularly effective at macro distances; Precise manual focus at 'portrait' distances slightly tricky; Very expensive compared to non-stabilized alternatives

Back in July 2009, Canon announced a new ‘hybrid' image stabilisation system designed for macro photography. Able to compensate for both the standard angular movement and the small shifts in the angle at which the lens is pointed during hand-held shooting.

This is my first 'L' lens and was not disappointed. The lens is brilliant with quick auto focus (although I tend to use manual focus a lot of the time) and super sharp images. Wish I could afford to upgrade all my lenses to 'L's'. Highly recommended.

It's rare to find a macro lens that doesn't perform admirably during a lens test and so I wasn't surprised that the EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM performed almost flawlessly. It's a well-built lens with weather sealing to boot.

Image-stabilised, full-frame macro lens offering exceptional image quality.

Stunning MTF performance

Nothing of significance

Love macro shooting? This is the perfect lens if you want to go pro.

Canon's first macro lens with image stabilisation. Here we see whether it's one 'L' of a lens.

Build Quality; USM focusing; New Image Stabilisation system; High resolution; Useful Focus limiter switch

Supplied lens hood is a little deep for use at close distances; Focus breathing can make composition tricky

Canon's L-series lenses are designed to the highest professional standards and have a reputation for optical quality. Not surprisingly, this means they're more expensive, and at a whisker over £1000 this Canon 100mm macro lens costs £400 more than the standard non-L-series 100mm macro and £650 more...