Yes, the above is true. So far, I only have two or three shots where they show up, because it depends on the aperture set, distance between subject and background, and lighting. Besides this, the lens is a joy to use, and with a 2X converter it still produces amazingly sharp macro results, with careful technique. Anyway, the above issue IMO is a serious design flaw on Canon's part. Backround blurr at the wide open side is inspiring and I believe it to be as sharp as the 100mm macro.
Build quality is very good and manual focus is pretty smooth.
You can't miss the wide focus ring which is a bonus. Rob was not able to reliably AF at all, even at normal distances of 10-12 feet. It seems likely that Canon has perhaps listened to earlier criticisms of this lens, and that they may have somehow tweaked subsequent production runs. I suppose it's also possible that the EOS 1V HS might be better designed to drive the AF of this lens. All Rights Reserved.