Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

I have been into photography for many many year, and have always had a spot for macro pictures. I have used other macro lenses before, but nothing compares to this. It is a speciallity lens, and it can be used for nothing else than macro, but WOW it does it well. It can produce images from 1:1 to 1:5 ! Yes, 5 times real life, that is CLOSE UP MACRO. It does not have any focus system, so all focus is manual, and can only be done by moving the lens and camera back and forth. I HIGHLY recomend some kind of focus rail system and tripod. ESSENTIAL for using this lens. It can be hand held with success, but it requires a steady hand. It extends to almost 25 cm when shooting at 5x and it is a bit heavy, so get a sturdy tripod. DOF is very easy to control, and image quality is very high. Highly recomended to the serious macro photographer. Also, ring flash is a MUST HAVE item with this. Optionally one or two external flashes for better light control.

So im a casual photographer and would say im more of a beginner. This lens is my most unique len i own since you can't use it for anything other than macro images and is NOT very easy for me to use. Only because it takes me a long while to set up the image in question; how people take images of flys or animals is beyond me. That being said the images can take can be VERY close up and high quality. The image im uploading is at x1 if you want to compare this to the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens (link: https://www.amazon.com/Canon-100mm-Macro-Digital-Cameras/dp/B002NEGTSI/ref=pd_sbs_421_1/134-6636504-8069954?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002NEGTSI&pd_rd_r=d5dde6c8-413c-4a8e-9f80-2e893c0b75fd&pd_rd_w=TuElO&pd_rd_wg=cNEX8&pf_rd_p=d66372fe-68a6-48a3-90ec-41d7f64212be&pf_rd_r=N2BJ1GQSA54HRPTSN7AH&psc=1&refRID=N2BJ1GQSA54HRPTSN7AH) it's kinda of like apples to oranges. Since the 100mm can be used for a lot more than macro images. This lens is 100% macro only and can get VERY close to the target in question.

First, the caution. This is absolutely NOT the first macro lens you should buy if you think you might be interested in small object and small-scale nature photography. But if you get a standard macro lens like Canon's superb 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and learn the challenges of close-up photography from that one, it is possible that this would be the next macro lens you should consider acquiring once you find that you have the patience for close-up work. A standard macro lens is usually a prime (fixed focal length) lens with extended focusing capacity in the nearby range that will let you get an object:image proportion of 1:1 -- that is, a 36 x 24mm sensor will record a frame-filling image of a real world object of the same size. In some instances, such a macro lens may cooperate with an accessory extension tube to achieve the 1:1 ratio or in some cases take you a little beyond it so that the image is larger than the photographed object. But an extension tube on a prime lens shifts its entire focusing range, so that you lose the ability to focus at infinity while the extension tube has granted you the power to focus more closely at the other end. The MP-E 65mm lens is a dedicated macro lens with NO infinity setting and whose farthest focusing distance -- only a few inches -- permits no proportion less than 1:1 reproduction. Extending the lens body effectively gives you an image that is 5X life size. At this setting, a bee's face fills the entire image frame. Illumination is a problem in extreme close up photography because less and less light is available to record larger and larger images of small objects. In distance photography you would simply open up the aperture or go to a long exposure, but in macro photography large apertures have terrible depth of focus and longer exposures are not indicated because of the potential camera motion that may occur even on tripod-mounted cameras. The trick is to use macro flashes (another expense!) that will pour a lot of light onto a subject in an instant. This allows you to use a preferred small aperture. Shake and blur are defeated by the brevity of the flash. This lens is not an autofocus lens, but that is not a limitation. In macro photography you want to focus manually -- either by turning the ring on the lens or moving the entire camera body forward or back by a millimeter or fraction thereof. In usual practice moving the camera is easier. The aperture remains under program control, however, and a macro flash will dump the correct amount of light for the aperture you have chosen. For the professional macro photographer and dedicated amateur with sufficient patience, there is no other single solution out there that lets you easily take the kinds of pictures you can get with this lens. It is always possible, of course, to reverse a standard lens on the front of a cloth bellows and put your camera body on the other end, but then you lose any automatic functionality whatsoever and are obliged to do a lot of exposure calculations (or go through a lot of trial and error exposures) to get what you want. For recorded images up to five times life size, it is hard to beat this lens. But to repeat my original caution, please don't use this lens to introduce yourself to macrophotography. This is the lens you should graduate to after learning the ropes on a less challenging lens. And it wouldn't hurt to read a good introduction to macrophotography so that you understand the problems of reduced light levels and depth of focus that come into play.

If you want easy, pass on this lens. If you want beautiful true macro, have patience, the accessories, and the ability operate your camera correctly, this is the one. If you want infinite and auto focus buy the 100mm macro (which I have and love). But this lens is take you to world beyond what you see. I've had the lens for about a month and still feel I haven't begun to explore the full potential. For outdoors a tripod or monopod is a must past X2. Get the MT24 EX twin light or a ring light for anything else. A view finder magnifier helps with focus. Remote shutter release too. At 5x I can see my pulse move the camera, so hands off is a good idea. It's hardest lens to use I've ever had. It takes the best photographs I have.

This is an excellent Canon lens if you're interested in going beyond the standard 1X magnification of a normal Canon Macro lens. The lens does require a modification in technique as there is no manual or automatic focusing as found on most lenses. Instead you will need to move the entire camera/lens combination to get your subject in focus. This can be done outside by hand holding the lens and moving your body accordingly or using a monopod and moving the camera slightly to get the object in focus. If you are inside and using a static setup, then a focusing rail is a nice option as this allows for very precise movement of the camera/lens as a unit. The lens also comes with a nice, sturdy metal tripod ring attached to the lens so the weight of the camera and lens is supported by the ring, not the camera. And if the lens ring is loosened slightly, this allows one to rotate the lens 90 degrees for vertical orientation. If you're into macro photography beyond 1X magnification, this is your lens. Highly recommended!

Not worth the money. Sent it back! This is also a review of Amazon. They took my $1049.00 plus tax and would not refund it for well over 1 1/2 months and ripped me off for $381.72. They only refunded $906 including tax on an item that I paid $1288.48 including tax. I got totally fed up with dealing with Amazon. Never buy a high dollar item if you even think you may have to return it. You'll be sorry!

This is a super lens, very sharp and clear, excellent for macro work. The only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that it is not a simple lens to use. It requires a very solid tripod and focusing is done by changing magnification or moving the object or sometimes the camera. At high magnification such movements have to be made very carefully.

I recently acquired the Canon MP-E 65mm Macro lens for the sole purpose of getting in real close to the features printed on US Local stamps from the 1800s, since there are an abundance of multi-variant forgeries that need to be identified against a reference original stamp. A focusing rail, such as the Jamco brand, is essential, as the lens needs to be brought forward and backward to manually focus at the different magnifications. DOF is not an issue with stamps, obviously, but targeting in to a focused image across the stamps' surface while attempting to get into the minute details within design lines and lettering, forces the use of the rail frequently. Also, a Neewer macro "flash" ring is quite sufficient for a paper-only non-reflective surface/even with the common glazed papers often found on these type of stamps. A great lens for documenting in this very specialized field, esp. when I want to sell the forgeries to collectors under the correctly identified number and letter in my reference books. I have posted 2 images of the portions of a legitimate vs. a fraudulent stamp, to give an idea of the level of detail, for comparison, revealed at high magnification.

Beast of a lens. Wish Canon makes the equivalent for RF mount too,

This is an amazing lens but it pretty much requires a focusing rail since it has no focus adjustment and focus must be achieved by changing the lens to subject distance. Also, the depth of field at 5X magnification is minuscule and requires focus stacking for all but totally flat subjects. It is extremely helpful to have the subject and camera mounted on a common base since the angle of view is very narrowl and any movement between the camera and the subject will throw both focus and format way off.. Not a lens for casual close-up photography but well worth buying for serious interest.

Love this lens! A macro photographers dream lens!

Very narrow depth of field - a mm will make a difference. Focusing by moving the camera. But with patience and care, the images are fantastic.

SADLY there is no aperature control for this lens which greatly limits it's usefulness.