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MikeBinOKlahom
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Registered: Sep 16, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 653
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Review Date: Apr 17, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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It is by far the easiest way to do macro photography at greater than 2x. Fairly compact and not too heavy, so you can carry it in addition to a more conventional lens or two.
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Cons:
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All the disadvantages inherent in photographing at 1x or greater--Massive light loss, miniscule depth of field (around 1mm at 5x), and short maximum focusing distances. As others have pointed out, this is an extremely specialized lens that only macro specialists can really justify owning. In addition to buying this lens, budget for a macro flash (MR-14 or MT-24 preferred) if you don't already have one.
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To restate what others have said, this is an extremely specialized lens, and it can be frustrating to use. Do not buy it as your first macro lens. If you are thinking of buying it, try photographing with a 180mm lens and a 2x teleconverter (manual focus of course). If you find this to be EASY and not at all frustrating, you will probably find the MP-E-65 useable.
The maximum distance the lens will focus is less than five inches in front of the objective. And this is at 1x. The maximum at 5x is a bit over an inch! And your flash will probably stick out further--When photographing ants with this thing at 5x, I frequently rub the macro flash in the dirt. I haven't crushed my subject (accidentally!) yet, but I'm sure it will happen eventually.
Image quality is very good, the biggest problems you will probably have are with light (getting enough, yet without glare) and DOF (if your subject is moving at all, or if you even breath lightly, you are likely to get completely out of focus at 4 or 5x).
I love mine, but I never go on a shoot with this lens and nothing else. This is the specialized tool, pulled out when nothing else can accomplish the purpose.
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 Apr 17, 2005
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spartan123
Offline
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Registered: Nov 9, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 3683
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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VERY sharp and fun lens to use... once you get used to it.
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Cons:
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Tripod ring is really badly designed. Lens is too short to use it on a most camera's.
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The ultimate macro lens. Although it is a specialized lens you find yourself looking for ways to use it. Best to buy it used if you can find it, for it is a specialized lens.
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Sep 3, 2004
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Chris Schlaf
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Registered: Feb 9, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3597
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Review Date: Feb 9, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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I am new in the photography world.This is the only lense I will never sell.(Unless they come out with a better version)It is hard to work with because the depth of field is only about 3 mm at best.But when you get everything right it is amazing.You will have to use a macro flash.
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Cons:
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None
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Feb 9, 2004
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John Smeets
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Registered: Mar 17, 2002
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 20632
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Review Date: Jul 4, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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perfect results
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Cons:
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difficult to handle trypod and good flash and macrorail required for good overall result
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the macro lens for me
need a lot off patience a good trypod and macrorail the dof is short absolutly no point and shoot lens but with some practice excellent results
john
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Jul 4, 2003
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dbarker
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Registered: Jan 24, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 26
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Review Date: May 5, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Easy magnification beyond 1x with a very simple set-up
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Cons:
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This lens is a specilized lens for a subset of the macro users. When you need to easily get beyond 1x magnification, this lens is the answer. Combined with a ring flash, it is painless to get shots anywhere from 1-5x magnification.
Obviously you need to be careful of the close working distance, and have some means to accurately control focus (object to camera distance). As one would expect, focusing becomes more difficult with magnifications above 2-3x due to the dropoff in light transmitted through the lens. I commonly hand hold (more commonly object than camera) up to about 2x. At higher mags you need more stability than can be acheived by hand holding.
In my case this lens has more than paid for itself in carefully documenting fracture surfaces and small part failures in a field environment, and not in the lab or studio where one can has more time for a controlled set-up. Yes, you can get the same magnification and more working distance by playing games with reversing lenses, telextenders, extension tubes, etc. but not with as clean of a set-up as with this lens.
Sharpness and contrast of the image is typically limited by things other than the lens, so don't worry there.
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May 5, 2003
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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37
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213960
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Dec 21, 2016
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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97% of reviewers
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$954.56
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.72
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8.13
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9.8
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