Alan: This is an extraordinary lens for regular to macro work. Unbelievable detail, nearly no flare, just about as good as a lens can be. I own the Canon 180 mm macro, and in comparison, this lens: * Is much sharper * Has much less flare * Only goes to 1:2 magnification (you need an extension tube to go to 1:1) * Is manual focus only * Does not tag the exif metadata in your image with the subject distance (so you cannot figure out the magnification later if you failed to write it down when you took the image) It is much less automated than modern Canon lenses, and its optics are as as good as you can imagine. It is very robustly built. It is up there in my "all time favorite lenses".