Looking to buy this lens, what do you all think?  Any experiences?

As well, I'm looking to buy it from BHPhotovideo.com.  Now, has anyone had any experiences with them.  Reason being this:  I'm going to have them ship my product to my grandmother's house in Florida who is coming back to Canada next month.  Two reasons for this:  I'm looking for a way to avoid shipping long distances and any surprise duties at the border (since my grandmother will have been there a long period of time, she can bring back a lot of stuff duty-free).  To the point, if I have problems with them, how good are they with customer service since I'm in Canada.  I will be purchasing the USA warranty.

Thanks again,

Joseph

Thank you, I will give them a call on Monday and hopefully put in my order.

I have dealt with B&H for over 15 years.  They are an extremely reputable company.  They used to have the best deals on photo equipment, but with the advent of the internet you can find things cheaper elsewhere.  But cheaper is not necessarily always better.

I recently purchased a Canon EOS 30D from them last fall.  I got the camera and took about a half-dozen shots and the camera threw an Err 99.  I turned off the camera and I tried everything recommended (take out the battery for a long period of time, etc), but the camera would never turn back on.  As with eendicott, they emailed me a pre-paid UPS shipping label to return the camera.  I was extremely surprised that they would pay for shipping on a returned product.  They took the camera back and shipped me a new one within a week.  That is great customer service.

I'm not sure how they would handle your situation, since you are shipping the product to Florida, but might be returning the product from Canada.  You might want to just give them a call and ask them about shipping to Canada.  I'm sure that they do it all the time.

bought a ton of stuff from B&H and have had good experience.  Have shipped to norway in the past and no problems.  Shipped to Canada earlier and it went well.  Had to return a lens hood that i didn't need after i had purchased it (i didn't know one came with the lens i bought).  I didn't get a ups shipping label but i did get my money back for the lens hood.

Quick question:  I'm getting the 430EX flash too.  Is this important to have with the macro?  I mean, it would probably make holding the camera in odd situations easier than using a tripod?

Not sure about this because I haven't had much macro experience.

Thanks

I found this lens a bit short for macro work, which goes a far way in explaining why Canon's pro series macro lens is 180mm. You should be aware that most of the focusing range is taken up in the < 1m range, which may limit its ability as a general purpose lens.

I think that you will find that you'll need to use a flash and a tripod when doing macro work. A flash will allow you to light only the subject, making it really "pop" from the background - especially essential for outdoor work.

I used this lens with a Canon MR-14 lens-mounted ring flash without any problems. The (more expensive) MR-24 flash is a superior item - if I was still shooting macro I would definitely have that flash. I sold both the lens and flash when I decided to no longer shoot macro - I found it just too finicky. Using a single on-camera flash will not work well - you have to get in fairly close with this lens (as I said, I found it a bit short), and a hotshoe-mounted flash will cast a shadow over your subject. You'll also need special lighting for shooting macro in-studio - something that would allow you to fine tune the light while staying behind the camera would be ideal, as would having a product photography table.

Like many here, I've purchased much from B&H. Lowest prices, best selection, good service - you can't go wrong with that company.