Quick comparison shots of a darter dragonfly taken with either a Tamron90/40D or 5Dmk2/MPE-65 with TC on front. I made no attempt to equalize settings just took shots as I would with the separate cameras. Not suprisingly there is quite a bit of light loss with the TC on the front of the MPE-65 so they are at higher ISO and wider aperture.
Overall I thought the MPE-65 +TC shots compared pretty favourably with the Tamron shots. The TC was mounted backwards on the front of the MPE- this seems to work better than the other way round.
Brian V.
Darter dragonfly taken with 40D/Tamron 90mm
Darter dragonfly taken with 5Dmk2/MPE-65 with TC on the front
What is the take away from this observation? MPE65+65 is $1000 setup whereas Tamron 90 is $500 setup...Seems like buying Tamron is a smart decision..if 1:1 macro is the only objective...am I right?
Other than a drop off in contrast/color and sharpness they look relatively comparable. I'd love to see a few more comprehensive tests in a controlled environment using a highly detailed subject with plenty of contrast and color In any case that is a very interesting finding--I wonder if you are the first to discover it...
Kenny - re the shooting distances - I didn't really note them but think they were roughly the same or perhaps slightly further away with the MPE +TC.
EOS user - the only reason for the interest in this may be purely personal. When I'm on a rare field trip I tend to take only one camera and that is the Tamron setup. I do not swap lenses with my MPE-65 setup to help reduce dust problems. Using the MPE-65 with a TC on front would enable me to take that rig which is better suited for around 90% of the subjects I might find but would also mean I could take emergency shots of larger subjects should the need arise.
Remy - placing the right TC on the front of the MPE-65 increases the focus distance and reduces the magnification - you can just about achieve infinity focus like this. I've been looking for a way to do this for a little while as an emergency add-on. been a few posts about this- see
Hope to post some comparisons myself.
In any case that is a very interesting finding--I wonder if you are the first to discover it...
