I've used just about every piece of macro equipment out there so far including
bellows, extension tubes, 50mm, 100mm and 200mm macro lenses and combinations
of them with teleconverters.
I haven't actually seen one but the MP-E seems to be a bellows lens attached to
a variable length tube. Is that an accurate description? Does the MP-E have a
focusing ring or is focusing accomplished by moving the lens?
I shoot film and I have a 1V-HS and Sunpak DX-12 ringlight with the eos module
so I should be set.
I guess my biggest concerns are how much working distance I'd have at various
magnifications and how dark the viewfinder gets at high magnifications.
Hi Tom,
I can find myself in your situation some years ago. I think the top of
the mountain in my macrophotography trials was a FL bellows with 2
sets of FD extension tubes and a "legendary" FD Macrophoto 35 f/2.8,
all together almost impossible to handle but achieving a superb 10x
magnification.
http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/sp/data/macro_35_28.html
I also tried reversing & inversing and while it gives good results
(specially inversing a wide-angle lens), the optical quality is not
optimal for those uses.
After I got the MP-E it all became triviality. I didn't scare my
subjects anymore from turning the diafragma level on the lens or
missed the opportunity while stop-down metering. As you can see in
the Canon museum
(http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/ef/data/mp_e65_28_1_5.html)
the MP-E is not as simple as a bellows lens on variable extension.
Although I haven't updated it recently, you can see some images made
with the MP-E on my website: (not all images were made with the MP-E)
http://www.gerardmaas.com/gallery_145.html
Regarding focusing, as others mentioned, you have to move the lens
back&forth if you want focus while preserving a fixed magnification.
Nevertheless you can play with the extension to fine-tune your focus.
For example, I never extend it fully up to 5x but let a bit of room
for finetuning (specially if I'm working on a tripod, when it's
handheld it's obviously easier to move)
Viewer darkening is an unavoidable problem. I don't remember the
bellows-correction formula exactly but it should be about 6 stops
darker at 5x.
All in all, it's an excellent lens for macro photography.
Do you have a website to have a look at your work?
greetings,
Gerard.
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