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 Replies: 6 / Views: 2,541 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
I used to sell them and even dated a Canon sales rep (oh the fringe benefits were great - free rentals of any lens I wanted). I never really shot with one much, just wondering if anyone here is using it and how you like it.
The lens can go from 1x to 5x powers without a bellows system (it is internal) a weird looking little lens that gets pretty good reviews online.
I would bet, for coin work, I could get away with the larger than 2x stuff on my USB microscope but I do like my Canon camera's quality and the image chip is considerably larger than on my USB microscope.
Most of what I've seen in samples on this lens is insects and while very beautiful and frightening, it doesn't show coin photography all that well, hence my search for reviews from primarily coin shooters.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
627 Posts |
I don't know anything about this lens, but holy expensive! $800-$1200 for this lens puts it out of my price range...
I know there are MUCH more expensive lenses than even this, but it's hard to consider when I can snag something like the Rodenstock 75ARD1 duplicating lens for ~$300 for the 1x-2x range. If you do experiment with this lens I would love to see the results though.
Edited by brg5658
01/18/2012 09:31 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
570 Posts |
I was able to use one once. It's a pretty sharp lens all the way up to 5x. The lens is manual focus though. I actually prefer the setup that I currently have. I have a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 macro lens and Kenko extension tubes. The Kenko extension tubes allow you to use your auto focus. The problem with the 50mm lens is the working distance is short. I plan on getting the EF 100mm macro lens someday and with the extension tubes stacked, it should be close to a 5:1 ratio and still have auto focus. You can get the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens for around $540 brand new plus Kenko extension tubes for $180 for a total of $720. The MP-E65 will run you close to $900 brand new. I would say if you were going to use this inside on a stand your best bet would be the 100mm plus extension tubes. If you were photographing nature and needed to change ratios quickly then I would say go with the MP-E65. Just my 2 cents worth.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
I'm inclined to think the MP-E65 would be one heck of a lens for magnification shooting. Keep in mind, 1x is too much mag for full-face imaging; with an APS-C sensor one needs about 0.45x to get a whole Morgan onto the sensor. 5X, considering the inherent "magnification" of sensor megapixels, would probably be enough for just about any microstudy of a coin. As long as you can get enough light onto the subject to overcome an effective aperture of f/48 at a lens setting of f/8.
Of course, that's an inherent function of magnification, so not a knock on this specific lens.
A disadvantage is the length to which it extends when magnification is increased. This will leave you constantly adjusting the focus rail. Yeah, at this kind of mag, you're going to want a focus rail because stacking will be imperative; DOF at 5x is 0.269mm.
Price is the only real disadvantage. This is balanced by the overwhelming quality of the optics; nothing we've talked about here so far will be its' equal under magnification, including the Monozoom 7 (even when I finally learn how to maximize its' capabilities) which is far less portable. The MP-E65 is staggeringly sharp and chromatically correct.
If you want to shoot extreme-mag macro, and if the lens will ever be leaving your carefully-controlled indoor coin shooting setup to (gasp) go outdoors, there is no competition. Zero. For indoor-only coin photography, I think the price is not justified.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
It's too high magnification for coins. Even at its lowest setting it can't image a Lincoln Cent, let alone a Morgan dollar. You need a lens in the 0.5x to 1x (1:2 to 1:1) range for coins. Now, if you're looking to image varieties, it can do it, but there are much better solutions for this as well. But if you're looking to carry it around and take pictures of bugs and flowers it can do a nice job, though at only 65mm you are going to get VERY close to your subjects. Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
9792 Posts |
Quote:
SuperDave: For indoor-only coin photography, I think the price is not justified. My thoughts too. For dedicated coin photography I could save a lot of $$$ by getting another bellows setup and a good macro lens like the Rodagon APO 75mm! I use a macro focusing rail when I played with this lens, I do think it is one of the most expensive lenses that isn't AF save for some specailized lenses like the tilt-shift ones Canon makes. We had a couple come in for demo at our shop, I should've taken one home and shot all night when I had the chance, oh well. I;ll keep looking for a good bellows set-up I can use. Gotta get a Rodagon 75mm! I'm am so impressed by this lens' sharpness. It will probably make me want to upgrade half my collection, the way my stereoscope made me rethink coin cleaning.  Shows too much gunk at magnification! "Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
For fixed, studio type setups like we all put together for coin photography, you can achieve a better result with a good microscope objective than with the MPE65. A good Nikon, Mitutoyo, etc objective mounted on the bellows will give you more working distance and much more lighting flexibility for a lot less money. If you need zoom, a monozoom7 will give you a huge zoom range, fixed working distance and parfocality, something the MPE65 couldn't hope to achieve.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Replies: 6 / Views: 2,541 |
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Posted 01/18/2012 10:41 am
