[Cactusdave]

I had the opportunity to try out a newly acquired secondhand Canon 7D and Canon 100mmm L IS macro yesterday on an obliging Orange-tip butterfly. The cold weather alternating with burst of warm sun meant it was keen to sunbathe when the sun came out and allowed a close approach almost up to 1:1. It was so obliging it decided to perch on my finger at one point and was glad to be transferred to the warm black rubber composition lid of a compost bin to warm up. I have been saving up for this camera and lens for a while now and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks to forum members for these. The camera handles well and the lens focuses fast and accurately on it. The lens is sharp and the image stabilisation works well, enabling me to take shots at 1/125 that would have been blurry with my Sigma 105mm macro.

The Orange-tip was so obliging I was able to get a number of poses, in fact it was so obliging I should really have run in and got my tripod and focusing rail for some outdoor stacking, but I was so excited by the new lens and camera I just kept shooting away. I couldn't resist this one, butterfly with fly. I also got a more usual folded wing pose with just a sliver of orange showing. The folded wing shows a lovely camouflage pattern. The other shots show a head and shoulders style crop, this butterfly has a fantastically luxuriant ruff of hairs, and an 'actual pixels' crop. The camera and lens stand up well to this severe test.

[RyanEustace]

Great photos, at 1/125th the sharpness is cracking :)

Do you use flash often with your 'field' macro work?, i have been trying macro without flash but with a sigma 180mm without IS it's pretty tricky, and 1/125th is out of the question meaning im getting less than desirable F stops to keep the shutter speed up. But at the same time i don't want to offload it yet, I've seen what it is capable of, but alot of the time it is paired up with a tripod or a flash and I'm non too pleased with the unatural light the flash emits.

I guess what im asking is an IS macro lens needed to hand hold macro photos like these?

Thanks
Ryan

[Cactusdave]

Believe it or not these were all taken with available light not flash. It was a day with abrupt changes of light. One minute I was at 1/1600 at F 8.0 which would have been fine without IS, next minute I was using 1/125 at 5.6 which wouldn't. The IS certainly helps a lot at slower shutter speed. Canon reckon it is worth 4 stops. That may be generous, but at closer range I certainly think it gives you at least a two stop or speed equivalent, advantage.

[RyanEustace]

Yeah one of the issues i have with flash is if the background isn't close enough to the focal plane then it blacks out and looks horrible. Also natural light is much 'softer' so it makes for a better photo, like in this case, i just wonder how practical it is to do macro photography without flash?, certainly IS would help but it would mean selling up and spending more, i guess i'll just have to drop the F16 standard i use with flash to a more realistic value.

[Cactusdave]

I have the Sigma 105mm macro and took a lot of pictures with that and the Canon 40D I was pleased with without IS. I do find however, that the IS on the 100mm F2.8 IS and the Canon 100-400 IS help me take pictures I just couldn't have made otherwise.

[Roy C]

Originally Posted by Cactusdave

Canon reckon it is worth 4 stops. That may be generous, but at closer range I certainly think it gives you at least a two stop or speed equivalent, advantage.

Some cracking shot there Dave
I have the same combo and always use it hand held in ambient light. With the 7D I use auto ISO and AV mode, this almost always returns a shutter speed of around 1/125 or 1/160 sec which I find just right with the IS system.

BTW Canon claims for the hybrid IS are "The stabilizer is supposed to give a 4 stop advantage at longer focus distances, dropping to 3 stops at 0.5x magnification and 2 stops at full 1x magnification". Although some folks reckon at 1:1 it is nearer 1.5 stops (don't know how they measure it though).

Previous to this lens I had the Canon 100 non IS version and I certainly get loads more keepers with the IS version.

[Cactusdave]

Thanks Roy. I certainly agree with the more keepers comment. I can take hand held shots with this combo that previously with the 105mm Sigma would definitely have been 'tripod only'. I still rate the Siggy though, it's a sharp lens and on a tripod you can get excellent results with it focusing manually, especially if you stack your images. This image was taken with the Sigma 105mm on a 40D and with tripod. This is 8 sequential images just step focused through the subject with the manual focus ring then stacked with Helicon Focus software.

[Roy C]

Very impressive Dave I must admit I have not got the patience for image stacking, although I might try it sometime.
I am a lazy and very occasional macro shooter (not got the lens out since last summer) always hand held, ambient light and AF, to this end the IS macro is the dog's doodahs for me.
Strange thing is with bird photography I am more than happy shooting hand held with a non IS lens but of course it is easier to get the right shutter speed with birds.

Attached are a few of my macro efforts last year (all hand held in ambient light). Nothing much to a true macro shooter I admit but good enough for me. I doubt I would have got these without the IS.

[Roy C]

BTW Dave the Orange-tip is one of my main targets this summer as I have never managed a decent shot of one so very envious of your super shots

[Cactusdave]

Thanks Roy. I think the weather conditions were just right to make the butterfly quite slow and anxious to open its wings and warm up when the sun came out. Normally I find this butterfly very difficult too. Your shots are all excellent. I'd be very happy with any of them. I love Scorpion flies, but it is a challenge to get a whole fly in focus without stacking. I have done a few attempts at hand held stacks. Just two or three shots, that's the most I can keep steady and aligned for. The beetle and fly are two shot efforts with the Sigma 105mm and Canon 40D. The scorpion fly is just a single image.

[Cactusdave]

For non-Canon users who want macro with image stabilisation, the Sigma 150mm F2.8 OS macro is a real alternative http://blog.warehouseexpress.com/sur...o-lens-review/ . This lens has a slightly longer focal length than the Canon and may better suit some situations where a close approach isn't possible. It is available for a range of cameras and has a good reputation for sharpness and OS function. It is a bit heavier than the Canon I believe. The Canon 100mm L IS is surprisingly light and balances OK even on the very light Canon 550D. Price wise the Sigma 150mm F2.8 OS macro pretty much overlaps with the Canon 100mm L IS, so it's no bargain, but a viable alternative.

[Mousehound]

I have a Canon 100 2.8 EF which I use on a 40D or a 60D. I have just got hold of a Tqamron 180 Macro and am getting used to it. The 180 is much better for getting the larger and easily spooked dragonflies. The AF is not a patch on the canon though. Sharpness and colour seem to be pretty close. The 160 is a slower lens but then you don't have such a problem of "hooding" the light when getting very close as you need to with the 100. All in all I think the 180 will be on the camera more than the 100. Check out the differences here.
http://stevekeeling.smugmug.com/

One album is for the Taron and there is another that is titled Macro that has 100mm canon as the lens.