New MPE65 lens

Geoff66 (Geoff) · #1 19-05-2013, 03:55 AM

Dennis' recent brilliant photographs (4/4/13) inspired me to get a MPE65 macro lens.

Here are a couple of my first shots with it - bugs on the kitchen bench ... the moth is at about 3x; the full bug (no idea what type it is) is done with a Canon 100mm L macro, while the closeups are both MPE65 at 5x. The young St Andrews spider (body of 1cm), near the tv, has just caught a small beetle - it cooperatively moved to the other side of the web so I could get both above and below angles, both with the 100mm. All shot with 600D and handheld (ie arms resting on the bench) except the St Andrews which were shot with a tripod.

Ok, so I have the lens; that's the easy bit... if one day I can go close to the quality that Dennis produces I'll be very happy

Dennis · #2 19-05-2013, 09:32 AM

A great series of images Geoff, with impressive image quality at x3.

Congratulations on the new acquisition, I’m certain that it will bring you hours of fun and fascination! You are a braver man than me – I mainly use the MPE-65 tripod mounted and with flash as the main source of illumination and stick to slow moving insects!

Cheers

Dennis

Geoff66 (Geoff) · #3 19-05-2013, 09:57 AM

Yeah the quality of the lens is pretty impressive - and I doubt I could do real handheld at > 2x ... these were done with my arms laying on the kitchen bench - pretty stable, but still tricky at 5x.

With the mpe65 I used a mt24ex to get the flash at the end of the lens, but I can see diffusion being a real pain. With the 100mm I use a simple off-camera bracket with a large softbox resting on the end of the lens.

Even though I have taken photos of moths before, when I saw that moth shot I was surprised (the MPE65's extra magnification makes a difference). Macro can be like that, which is why it's my favourite photography; every pic has the potential for the unexpected.

astro_south (Andrew) · #4 19-05-2013, 08:59 PM

Congrats on the new lens Geoff ... and some good test shots there.

If your off bracket can position it right you can use your softbox with the MPe - just get it close to the front of the lens. You might get better results with this than the mt24 because the light isn't as harsh and can be spread out with the softbox.