MP-E 65mm Help. What should I do?

[BlueTit]

I was in local camera shop to order 300 L F4 IS today, for collection tomorrow :lol: and I was either in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time, they offered me a MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x at a great price, 1 only. It was ordered for some guy who never came to collect it. They knew I would be interested as I bought lens caps for the Carl Zeiss 50mm 2.8 bellows macro that I posted about on this forum already.

I don't know what to do, I have the 100mm macro (only about a week) and it is great, but the Carl Zeiss has inroduced a whole new world with up to X5, so should I take the MP-E 65mm or stick with the bellows macro?

Anyone with experience of the MP-E, I would love to hear from you, I need to decide tonight, if I don't take it tomorrow when I collect the 300 F4 it gets returned to Canon. I can just about afford it, if I live of on the smell of the neighbours cooking for the next week, is it worth it???

I am also very interested what people photgraph at X5!

[Andy_T]

Take a look here (http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/mp-e-65)!

Best regards,
Andy

[gasrocks]

You already have the 100 macro. Get extension tubes, maybe a 250D, 500D close-up lens. You don't need the 65!!

[BlueTit]

Andythaler, thanx for those links, the initial one would leave me 50:50 but the subsequent ones are interesting and I had not found them.

Gasrocks, I know what you're saying but for the price of those tudes and 250D and 500D I could get the lens.

Another question comes to mind, does the 1.6 factor with the 20D have any impact on the magnification of the MP-E?

[sid]

Gasrocks, I know what you're saying but for the price of those tudes and 250D and 500D I could get the lens.

Somehow, it doesnt add up for me. The mpe-65 costs $829 (US warranty) from B&H:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=183199&is=USA

You can get Kenko extension tubes for $150 and the 500D for around $87 (for 58mm size, which is what you will need for the 100mm macro)

[BlueTit]

I don't think I can get Kenko here, but I could get them mail order, I supposse, the Canon equivalents are a lot dearer, the 500D is 179.99! I am being offered the MP-E at 500. Thats euro so a little more in $.

The normal selling price here is 1399, and you always get something off so say 1200. I am finding it very hard to resist 500. I am only getting it at that as I am buying the 300 F4 IS too. It cost the shop 800, but I have bought all my stuff from them over the last few months including a 580EX today so he is doing me a favour.

To be honest I have 90% made up my mind to get it, but the one nagging thought is regarding the apature, which apparently decreases as you turn up the magnification, which I imagine leaves very little light to the view finder for focusing. With the Carl Zeiss bellows unit I can focus easily at 2.8 and then manually adjust the aparture to increase the DoF and adjust until I get a good shot without been able to see anything in the viewfinder at F16 etc. If the MP-E automatically goes to F16 at X5, how will I focus, I would need artifical light to focus. I have the MT-24 macro flash for the shot but thats no good to focus by.

Off to google it a bit more, before I commit.

[J Rabin]

Blue. The review of the utility and function of the lens that I respect the most is Steve Hoffman's photography tech tips. In the right hands, with tripod, GOBS of light or a 24EX flash, there is no equal to this unique optic. Check out his user report. Jack

[sdommin]

Hey BlueTit -

If you're really into macro (and you can afford it), go for it! The 65 is a great lens. You can get much closer than just about any other lens. Yes, the viewfinder brightness does decrease as you extend the lens, but its not too noticeable (this will happen with any lens that extends itself to zoom in or out, you'll just notice it a bit more with close-ups). You hinted at another problem, and that is lighting. You'll probably need some kind of lighting system, because you get so close with the 65 that you tend to block out your light. Also, at those great magnifications, any movement of your subject will be exagerrated and hard to stop (not to mention your own camera movement).

To whet your appetite, here's a picture of my aunt (I mean ant)!

Canon 10D with 65mm macro & MT24-EX flash.
http://home.att.net/~sdommin/ant6688.jpg

[sid]

Blue:
Sorry, I didnt realize that you arent in the US. Looks like you are getting a good deal.

[BlueTit]

JRabin and Scott, I saw your posts before I left for work this morning and decided to buy, so thanx for the advice and the photo.

I also bought a copystand to make focussing easier. I tried a few shots this evening and the lens is amazing. And from one of the links you guys posted I saw you can use the Canon extenders, I tried both and it worked, got up to 9X, 10X was impossible because I had no angle to light, unfortunately I only got a few shots and I knocked the spring on the copystand and it twisted, then snapped, so that put an end to tests for tonight. I early lost my thumb in the process.

Before that though I got a couple of shots of a spider skeleton, he was long dead in an old web, it was about 4mm long including legs, this shot is about 8/9x.

Assuming the 2.0 extender actually doubles the magnification. I am not great with optical maths :confused:

http://photos6.flickr.com/11524764_752634de1f_o.jpg

Thanx again for your input.