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Customer Reviews for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
High-performance, outstanding image quality 1:1 macro
Longer working distance than most macro lenses (1.57ft. to infinity)
3 UD glass elements and floating construction correct chromatic aberrations
Advanced USM for high-speed, quiet AF
Average Customer Rating:
(11 Reviews) 11
Rating Snapshot (11 reviews)
5 stars
8
4 stars
2
3 stars
1
2 stars
0
1 star
0
10 out of 11(91%)reviewers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Review 1 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: jt
Location: Herndon, VA
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Mostly used for: Family & Friends
Canon Enthusiast: more than 20 years
Product replacement: No
Love it
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:November 6, 2012
Pros: Superior build quality, Super-sharp images
Cons: Slow auto-focus
I bought this lens to focus on macro photography. I am not a professional photographer but I wanted my pictures look great. I saw one of the reviews saying it doesn't have this and that, its all written in specs and wonder why it was purchased. Any ways, I got great shots of flowers and butterflies. When I compared my shots with the professional photos, some of them are on par with them :-) (not bragging, it is true).
Yes! it is heavy on CC and to hold as well, but I learned to use it without tripod for portraits. I don't think I would use any other lens for portraits except this. Once; I removed the tripod ring and had hard time to fix it. Then I realized I had to align the red dot same way as aligning red dot when changing the lens.
Only the bad part is - all the compliments go to the lens than to the photographer, that makes me feel jealous :-)
Yes! it is heavy on CC and to hold as well, but I learned to use it without tripod for portraits. I don't think I would use any other lens for portraits except this. Once; I removed the tripod ring and had hard time to fix it. Then I realized I had to align the red dot same way as aligning red dot when changing the lens.
Only the bad part is - all the compliments go to the lens than to the photographer, that makes me feel jealous :-)
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: pjcd
Location: Long Island New York
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Canon Enthusiast: 11 to 20 years
Product replacement: No
Great Lens
Overall Rating
Date:April 24, 2012
Very pleased with this lens, sharp images, easy to use. The lens is a bit heavy and is more suited for use with a tripod, slow to focus, but that isn't an issue for me. Over all very happy with lens.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Review 3 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: DN
Location: Raleigh, NC
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Canon Enthusiast: 6 to 10 years
Product replacement: Yes
EF 180 Macro
Overall Rating
Features
3
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
3
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:March 14, 2012
Pros: great photos, beafy
Cons: heavy, not a price point lens
Heavy and the auto focus does not work well with macro in low light-USE THE MANUAL FOCUS! This lens takes beautiful pictures and will get a lot of use. The macro photos are really something else with this lens and it doubles as a telephoto lens. Either way, the photos are incredible. It is a little pricey, but the quality makes it worthwhile. If you want IS and to take hand held shots get another lens. A monopod comes in handy, if fact, you may consider a tripod that has a removable monopod. Once again, fantastic photos!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: jpcgpdx
Location: Portland, OR
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Canon Enthusiast: 1 to 5 years
Product replacement: No
Best macro lens ever
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:November 6, 2011
Stunning clarity and detail. I can't say it enough - the detail is simply staggering. Super sharp! It will exceed your expectations. Bokeh is mind bendingly creamy. Simply put, the finest macro lens I have ever had the chance to work with and almost the best lens I have ever worked with (and I've shot everything from 35mm to 4x5). Do yourself a favor and invest in this lens. Prepare to be blown away!
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: PhotographyByNC
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Used this product for: 1 to 3 months
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: Yes
Did Somebody Say Bokeh?
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
4
out of
5
Price/Value
3
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
4
out of
5
Date:October 7, 2010
Pros: build quality, image quality, bokeh quality
Cons: quite slow to focus, a bit pricey, does come with 72c adapter for the macro flashes
I still hold firm that amongst all of the other L lenses and sharp primes I've owned, this is the sharpest lens I've ever used. The image quality is incredible and the background blur this lens gives pictures is second to none. Sure the focusing is a bit slow, but if you use the focus limiter it becomes bearable rather quickly. Even then, don't expect to pan on anything as it generally won't keep up. That said, if your subject is small and you are unable to get too close, this lens is PERFECT for the job.
21 of 22 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: suvra
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
Overall Rating
Features
3
out of
5
Performance
4
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
4
out of
5
Date:September 12, 2010
Pros: sharp, excellent macro function, good color reproduction
Cons: auto focus is not good, heavy
i use this lens for macro photography, excellent lens for macro photography, specially when need to shoot from a distance. as it is a classical macro lens, needs tripod for macro shooting, manual focusing is also required.
i bought new 100mm IS macro lens for hand held macro photography, but that can not replace 180mm macro.
i bought new 100mm IS macro lens for hand held macro photography, but that can not replace 180mm macro.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: Anonymous
Location: Madison, WI
Used this product for: 6 to 12 months
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: No
Excellent for what it was designed for
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
4
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
4
out of
5
Date:October 14, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, excellent macro
Cons: heavy, needs tripod mounting
This is a great macro lens, and can even be used as a telephoto in some cases. The build quality is well within what I expect from L series lenses. This IS NOT a AF lens. The MF is great but extremely precise (if not some times picky). The 3.5 is a decent plane but at macro is finer than even some 1.2 lenses. Telephoto can be used if tripod mounted and the 3.5 gives good depth of field at distance. A great macro (and occasionally telephoto) lens.
30 of 33 people found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: rogerthephotographer
Location: Sainte-Sophie, Québec, Canada
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: Yes
A Macro For Serious Photographers
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:October 11, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality
Cons: Slow auto-focus
I've been using this lens for over a year now, as a replacement for the 100mm macro, because I wanted more precise images and a greater reach. It does that beautifully. The results are outstanding but one must never forget that this is a rather long lens. You will need a tripod for best results. It's sometimes difficult to find the subject (say an insect) because the angle is small (it goes with the focal length after all).
The lens will sometimes search annoyingly for focus, but when it focuses, it's dead on, even with the 1.4x multiplier that I use often for greater reach.
BTW, it's also a beautiful telephoto, more precise than any L-glass zoom I've used.
25 of 26 people found this review helpful.
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Review 9 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: eimages
Location: Portland, OR
Used this product for: more than 1 year
Expertise Level: Professional or Expert
Product replacement: No
Best macro ever
Overall Rating
Features
4
out of
5
Performance
5
out of
5
Price/Value
4
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:September 17, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, creamy bokeh
Exceptional lens. Image quality is spectacular. Bokeh is amazing. I am consistenly blown away by the results this gives. One of the finest SLR lenses I have used in 25+ years. Worth its weight in gold.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Review 10 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: Wane
Location: Omaha
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
First Macro Lense
Overall Rating
Features
5
out of
5
Performance
4
out of
5
Price/Value
5
out of
5
Quality
5
out of
5
Satisfaction
5
out of
5
Date:July 5, 2009
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, Fast auto-focus
This is my first Macro lense, and I want to add a positive review. This is not a lense for point and shooters. This lense is for anyone who wants flexibility with a macro lense. I researched all the macro lenses Canon offered and a few other brands. Once I tried this lense I was hooked. You are not going to totally microscopic but you can zoom in on a target from a distance without disturbing them and receive outstanding results.. It is important to at least use a monopod but a tripod works better and with a shutter release or the shutter timer. I have used it for hand held for distance shots and the results were amazaing for a macro. With good light conditions it is a great hand held. The colors are sharper than any of my other L lenses. You can get action to a point but this lense is not designed for that. Overall I am very impressed and pleased with this lense. I only wish the butterflys would keep still a little longer. Anyone who wants macro with some flexibiltiy should be well pleased with this lense. Your exposures are going to be the sharpest ever!
38 of 39 people found this review helpful.
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Review 11 for EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Nickname: weasel wirefly
Used this product for: Less than 1 month
Expertise Level: Advanced Amateur
Product replacement: No
disappointing
Overall Rating
Features
2
out of
5
Performance
3
out of
5
Price/Value
2
out of
5
Quality
3
out of
5
Satisfaction
2
out of
5
Date:May 27, 2009
Cons: Semi-sharp images, Slow auto-focus, no is, mf is not all that great
for having spent this much money i would think that an image stabilizer should be a built in feature. by not having one shooting without a tripod is not recommended.
it also autofocuses painfully slow and the manual focus is soso at best. for Macro MF is generally the recommended approach. however this lens does lend itself to a bit further away shots than macro only
i am not sure why it was adorned with the red band. certainly in my opinion not deserving.
would not recommend it over the 100mm that is for very certain.
it also autofocuses painfully slow and the manual focus is soso at best. for Macro MF is generally the recommended approach. however this lens does lend itself to a bit further away shots than macro only
i am not sure why it was adorned with the red band. certainly in my opinion not deserving.
would not recommend it over the 100mm that is for very certain.
63 of 126 people found this review helpful.
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