Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I got this lens a couple years ago and use it extensively. It is well constructed and easy to use with any Canon EOS body, though it must be focused manually. This is the only tool I know of that enables easy *field* photography above 2x magnification. I have stalked the tiniest insects and peered into the hearts of flowers with this astounding lens, and my images are crisp and clean every time. It comes with Tripod Ring B (same one as several other Canon lenses use, just in black), which greatly aids switching to a vertical format without having to reposition everything. Buy the MR-14EX ring flash with this, as it is impossible to see *anything* in normal daylight conditions at 5x. Its focus lamps frequently help in obtaining sharp pictures, though even they can't provide enough light to help you much when the lens is stopped down. A focus rail is also helpful--I use the Velbon macro slider since it moves in two directions, not just one. Tripod use is essential, as 5x magnification only covers an area about 5mm by 7mm, and a macro rail will greatly aid focusing. Since first penning this review, I have worked at using this lens with the 2x Canon teleconverter. This combination can be used, but one must be careful to not stop the lens down very far as diffraction effects quickly degrade image quality. Instead, compose the image with the lens wide open, and use adjacent f-stops to add just a touch more depth of field. With this setup, the object being photographed is too close for the Canon ring flash to illuminate, so you'll want a standard flash attached to an accessory cord to provide sufficient lighting. With the zoom racked out to 5x, one can achieve photos less than 2mm wide on an APS-C sensor, or somewhere between 15x and 20x. I recently photographed a cluster of spider mites this way. Over the last several years, focus stacking (digitally combining many photos to extend depth-of-field) has become practical. If you plan to do extensive work with high magnification subjects, it is worth investigating Zerene Systems and Helicon Focus for their software, and Cognisys for an automated focus rail. But this is expensive and specialized gear to most people. The biggest advantage to owning this lens is that I travel less to do photography--I spent several hours on my patio this winter photographing white flies, moss, spiders, and anything else that visited the potted plants there. Plunk down in a field and *stay there* a while, and you'll start to notice the small things around you. UPDATE: I posted a FREE HINTS CARD to the photomacrography.net forums, dated Jun 2, 2013 (user: scottburgess). The card shows the rough frame size and working distance for this lens at varying magnifications which can substantially aid the user in setting up shots. Instructions on use are included in the post.