While the EF 135mm f/2L USM is my favorite Canon L Series lens, one thing it does not do is macro photography.
With a minimum focus distance of 3 feet, the EF 135mm lens can do a great job with a lot of flowers or other traditional macro subjects, but it really cannot do traditional macro work.
If you want a very high quality portrait lens that can also do macro work, the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM is the lens for you. Like the EF 135mm lens, this lens is an Image Stabilization lens which is helpful to minimize camera shake when you take those super close very precise macro shots. This is my favorite lens to make abstract macros of flowers with. If you are into shooting insects or flowers or a close up of the human eyeball or really anything macro you can imagine you will love this lens.
What I like most about this lens though is that it is not *just* a macro lens. It takes such nice portraits and is great to use for all other sorts of photography. This makes this lens suitable for use as a primary prime lens for just about every type of photography that can also produce stunning macro work.
Shooting food is one of my favorite subjects these days. I shot the photo of caviar in this post with this lens at Michael Minna’s excellent spot in the Bellagio hotel. Be sure to try the tasting menu there on your next visit to Vegas, it’s worth it!
I also own the earlier non-L series generation of this lens and I’ll say that I’m so much more impressed with the results I get out of the newer L series version.
As a reminder, my analysis of my Canon gear is being done in partnership with Canon and I am receiving compensation for this work with them. More on Canon macro lenses here.
Thomas Hawk Digital Connection