I use this for outdoor portraits since it allows me to create nice background blur with my full frame camera. If using a crop body, I'd suggest the 85 or even a 50mm lens.

Nice bokeh (background blur), quiet and fast focus; No problems after one year

You have to use a fast shutter speed or a tripod; A 100 mm lens needs a steady hold

I bought this lens 4 months ago. Its really sharp wide open, has no noticeable Vignetting on my 50d. Its quick to focus and the bokeh is awesome. If you compare it to the 50mm f1.8 or 1.4 this lens is waay sharper wide open. Colours are really nice too.

I bought this one as a portrait lens capable of producing some kind of ′medium format look′, working with a very selective sharpness wide open. I wasn′t disappointed, this one is perfect for shooting people wide open and creating effects of totally blurred out-of-focus areas.

super sharp; fast; nice Bokeh

none

"nice works only, thanks!"

Released back in mid 1991, Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM along with its 85mm f/1.8 cousin is one of the most affordable medium telephoto lenses in Canon's modern arsenal. Priced at ~US$350 (as of October 2007), it remains within the reach of amateur photographers looking for a portrait type lens.

This compact medium telephoto lens sports a fast f/2 aperture, which will make this lens ideal for low light photography or creative use of shallow depth of field. It sports a silent ultrasonic focusing motor, internal focusing and costs around ￡380.

I bought this lens because I cannot afford a 70-200 f4IS and darn sure cannot afford the 2.8. I want the f4 non IS, but the 100 f2 was a good compromise. I really LOVE how this lens pops from 2.0-2.8. People think I photoshop my images in because they look almost 3 dimensional.

Bokeh and Length; The photos reaally seperate from the background

CA in bright light (Can be fixed in Post Processing

This lens rocks: It is fast, sharp even at f/2.0 and focuses quietly. I do not see any distortion on pictures taken with this lens. Contrast is also very good, while light fall-off is barely noticeable. The bokeh produced by this gem is a joy to see.

Image quality; size; price

It is not weather sealed so some dust may get into the lens

The optical construction is made of 8 elements in 6 groups without any special elements (which aren't really common in this lens class anyway). The lens features 8 aperture blades. The filter size is 58mm.

The Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM Lens - meet the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' twin sibling. Put these two lenses side by side and you will need to read the numbers to tell them apart. That is a good thing. The 100 f/2 shares the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Lens' solid build quality.