Shooting candid is easy with the EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM. Since it is also a fixed single focal length lens, some flexibility will be reduced as the 180mm angle-of-view will give you a tighter composition. If you need a wider view, you will have to walk back a few steps, unlike a zoom, where you can just alter the focal length without changing your distance. Below are some photos shot during a regional motorsports event held in Malaysia. A team crew pausing in-between Umbrella girls taking a break     On duty More glamour girls Shooting action and other sporting events is also possible with the EF 180mm macro lens as the Ring USM allows it to be used for ultra-fast and silent autofocusing. Irrespective of which EOS model you have, the EF 180mm Macro lens is able to track the moving subject effortlessly. However, capturing the said moving subject on film accurately will depend largely on your own skill, regardless of the EOS model used. These four photos below were shot with the EF 180mm Macro lens without any EF Extender attached. Since I was using the EOS-1N RS, when the Extender EF 2x was attached on the EF 180mm Macro lens, not only did I lose two stops of the maximum aperture (from f/3.5 to f/7.1), the AF feature was disabled as well. But I did get an increase in the focal length, from 180mm to 360mm. These four photos below were shot using the camera's RS mode with preset focusing distance - just follow the Porsche (panning) and wait for it to enter the focused zone and pressed the shutter button to record the action sequence. Since the direction of the car was parallel to the camera's film plane, the zone of focus could be maintained throughout the entire sequence. If you are wondering why Canon did not offer this lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 instead of f/3.5, the reason is simply this: since this is a telephoto lens that focuses all the way from infinity down to 1:1 life-size magnification, complete with Ring USM and tripod collar, who else will consider choosing the non-Macro EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM? Text and photos by Philip Chong. Copyright 2000 by Canon Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .