What about MPE-65 + 1.4xTC (7x life size)?

[Leorooster]

Remember that in this thread (http://75.126.234.18/forum/showthread.php?t=351236)I complained about 5x life size was not enough? Here is a shot of the same (species not individual ;) ) adult lace bug with MP-E65 and 1.4xTC (at 5x, so a total of approximately 7x life size). IQ looks okay to me. What do you think?

[click to enlarge]
http://www.pbase.com/leorooster/image/82802543/medium.jpg (http://www.pbase.com/leorooster/image/82802543/original.jpg)

PS - I cloned out maybe 50+ dust specks already and I still see a few here ....... sorry ;)

[LordV]

Looks pretty good to me. Think you'd have to try taking the same shot with and without the TC and crop the lower mag shot to the same FOV as the higher mag shot and compare to see if it's worth it. I did this with my sigma 105 and a full set of tubes
+ or - a 1.4Xtc and decided the cropped shot without the TC was better.
I have just for fun used my 1.4X TC and a +20 dioptre with the MPE-65 to give 10:1 but you almost need a microscope type set up to use it :)

Amazing looking bug btw

Brian V.

[Leorooster]

Looks pretty good to me. Think you'd have to try taking the same shot with and without the TC and crop the lower mag shot to the same FOV as the higher mag shot and compare to see if it's worth it. I did this with my sigma 105 and a full set of tubes
+ or - a 1.4Xtc and decided the cropped shot without the TC was better.
I have just for fun used my 1.4X TC and a +20 dioptre with the MPE-65 to give 10:1 but you almost need a microscope type set up to use it :)

Amazing looking bug btw

Brian V.

Thanks for the feedback Brian. I like the idea of cropping and comparing to determine the IQ difference. I will try it when I have more time ;) I know what you mean about 10:1. I tryied putting a 2xTC on with the MPE65 and found that it's extremely difficult to use. Not to mention that the viewfinder is REALLY DARK :) Thanks!

[John_B]

Leorooster,
Yea I can vouch for using the 2xTC and MP-E at 5x being really dark but 10x can be very interesting (but most times for me too darn difficult) :)

[dreamline]

Again, an example of why I love macro. An excellent capture showing us what we miss with out eyes.

It could almost be a speaker in the front...

[racketman]

when your mK3 arrives you can focus with live view LCD as long as its tripod mounted and subject stationary. IQ looks excellent to me - those wings are amazing, they must be incredibly strong.

[Froggr]

Looks like a soldier to me with it's helmet and gasmask :) Amazing shot, I wanna see more, keep it up.

[Leorooster]

Leorooster,
Yea I can vouch for using the 2xTC and MP-E at 5x being really dark but 10x can be very interesting (but most times for me too darn difficult) :)
John, It is indeed very difficult to use with moving critters :) Thanks ! :)


Again, an example of why I love macro. An excellent capture showing us what we miss with out eyes.

It could almost be a speaker in the front...
Sometimes I just don't believe my eyes when I review the pics that I took on my monitor. It's amazing how beautiful these tiny critters are ;) Thanks!


when your mK3 arrives you can focus with live view LCD as long as its tripod mounted and subject stationary. IQ looks excellent to me - those wings are amazing, they must be incredibly strong.
Hi RM - I'm glad that you find it easier to focus with the mk3. Unfortunately, I don't know when mine is going to come ;) Keep my fingers crossed. :)


Looks like a soldier to me with it's helmet and gasmask :) Amazing shot, I wanna see more, keep it up.
Thanks! It is indeed a very strange looking BUG :)

[Cactuspic]

Hi Adrian,

Good shot of a very interesting insect.

The image quality is fine. When I shoot at very high magnifications, I bring a bright flashlight to make focusing easier.

As an alternative to the teleconverter, you can connect extension tubes. When fully extended, the actual focal length of the mpe is somewhere around 40 mm. One set of Kenco tubes gives 68 mm of extension. I have attached 2 sets of tubes tubes with good result. I estimate that two sets of tubes will add approximately an additional magnification of 3x giving you a total magnification of about 8x. I think the image quality might be a bit better using the tubes, but the additional length makes the rig somewhat more cumbersome.

Irwin