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"Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic." - Sheldon
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 GIVE a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. TEACH a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.

"Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic." - Sheldon
Flickr | Gear List | Macro Rig | Astro Rig | Astro Software Post

[Gear List | Flickr | My Reviews] /|\ Tripod Leg Protection /|\
 GIVE a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. TEACH a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.

"Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic." - Sheldon
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troypiggo wrote in post #11009482
I've mainly used it only up to around 3:1. On the few occasions I've gone higher and up to 5:1, I guess the ambient was bright enough. I definitely did notice it was darker and it wasn't easy, but I made do. Now you've got me intrigued and I must have a play with the modelling lights at these higher mags to see how much better it is. I asked you not to tell me what I'm missing...

Does make you respect guys like LordV who just use speedlites on a bracket even more. ie no way of modelling lights and he shoots at 5:1 more times in a month than I would in a lifetime I reckon.

Yea the modeling lamps are not very bright, but they do really help when at the higher magnifications.

And yes that is pretty amazing that they do this stuff without a macro flash. I said no thanks to that and waiting until I could afford the appropriate tools.

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 GIVE a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. TEACH a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.

Here's my setup:

20D on some old BPM bellows (40-150mm) with a Yashica 50mm f/2.8 enlarger lens taped to the front mount (the lens has a 52mm screw thread and I don't think the right mount will be easy to find). Maximum magnification is about 3.75:1, so 6mm fills a whole APS-C frame horizontally.

This is what I've got with it so far:

The bug's head is about a millimetre or so wide, so it's a really tiny bug.

I'm also using a little LED torch for lighting and a focussing aid at the moment as my PC sync cable only works intermittently.

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how bout some oldie but goodie!

got these bellows long ago but never used them because i couldnt find the double cable release ... or was i too lazy to look..

http://onehourwedding.​blogspot.com/

troypiggo wrote in post #11003327
I've never used the modelling light, so don't know what I'm missing out on. Sssh, don't tell me.

ben_r_ wrote in post #11009285
Really?! So how can you see anything at 5x on the MP-E 65?! Unless Im shooting in way bright sunlight I cant see anything at around 3.5x+ magnification!

+1

I love being able to turn of the focus assist light from the shutter button, I use almost all the time with the MP-E.

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7D, 5D3, 60D, D70s, Fuji X100, Oly XZ1, Sigma 50/1.4 ART, EF 100 /2.8 macro, EFs 60/2.8 macro, EF 17-40/4L, EF 24-105/4L IS, EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS, EF 70-200 F/4L IS, EF 10-22/3.5, EF85/F1.8, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Sigma EX 80-400 /4.5 OS APO DG. Sekonic L-308S, Helios 58/2, Tak 55/2, Tak 50/1.4, Zeiss Pancolar 50/1.8, Zeiss N-Mirotar 210mm/0.03, CZJ Sonnar 135/3.5, CZJ Triotar 135/4, Tak 135/3.5, Zeiss Biometar 80/2.8, William Optic Megrez72.

lexanite wrote in post #11166966
My macro gear

Macro bellows set with slide dupplicator

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7D, 5D3, 60D, D70s, Fuji X100, Oly XZ1, Sigma 50/1.4 ART, EF 100 /2.8 macro, EFs 60/2.8 macro, EF 17-40/4L, EF 24-105/4L IS, EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS, EF 70-200 F/4L IS, EF 10-22/3.5, EF85/F1.8, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Sigma EX 80-400 /4.5 OS APO DG. Sekonic L-308S, Helios 58/2, Tak 55/2, Tak 50/1.4, Zeiss Pancolar 50/1.8, Zeiss N-Mirotar 210mm/0.03, CZJ Sonnar 135/3.5, CZJ Triotar 135/4, Tak 135/3.5, Zeiss Biometar 80/2.8, William Optic Megrez72.

A lousy picture of my T1i (500D), and (from right to left) an FD mount 100mm macro, FD-to-EOS adapter, and two sets of $8 tubes. I normally only use 1 set, but was playing around tonight. I also have a bellows that I rarely use any more.

Gripped 7D, gripped, full-spectrum modfied T1i (500D), SX50HS, A2E film body, Tamzooka (150-600), Tamron 90mm/2.8 VC (ver 2), Tamron 18-270 VC, Canon FD 100 f/4.0 macro, Canon 24-105 f/4L,Canon EF 200 f/2.8LII, Canon 85 f/1.8, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mmf/2.5 Macro, Tokina 11-16, Canon EX-430 flash, Vivitar DF-383 flash, Astro-Tech AT6RC and Celestron NexStar 102 GT telescopes, various other semi-crappy manual lenses and stuff.

Now, I'm going totally overboard with extensions; I added my bellows to the middle of the rig:

The tubes, bellows and adapters total about 13" of extension (33cm)

And I still have close to 4" (10cm) of working distance with the lens fully extended:

And here is the final result: this is in Times Roman 12pt font, which measures ~4.2mm tall. That makes the magnification on my crop sensor ~3.5x, which is pretty close to what you would expect just doing the math. I'm totally amazed how sharp it is in the piece that is in focus; I guess all that air doesn't hurt the image much . It is showing ink droplets that are too small to see by eye, even for someone as near-sighted as me (which is saying a lot). It also shows the microscopic DOF; I had the paper as flat and square as I could get it by eye, and you can still see the focus rolling off toward the top and bottom of the character:

Gripped 7D, gripped, full-spectrum modfied T1i (500D), SX50HS, A2E film body, Tamzooka (150-600), Tamron 90mm/2.8 VC (ver 2), Tamron 18-270 VC, Canon FD 100 f/4.0 macro, Canon 24-105 f/4L,Canon EF 200 f/2.8LII, Canon 85 f/1.8, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mmf/2.5 Macro, Tokina 11-16, Canon EX-430 flash, Vivitar DF-383 flash, Astro-Tech AT6RC and Celestron NexStar 102 GT telescopes, various other semi-crappy manual lenses and stuff.

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