Phase One introduces 3.5/45 mm Tilt / Shift lens
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Canon announces EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
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Tamron announces three Di Full-Size Format lenses
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Nikon Wins European Professional Lens with 2 lenses
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Description
This
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Tamron announces new Di lenses for Canon and Nikon
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This lens, used alone without attachments, performs macrophotography from life-size to 5x magnification. This lens offers much better portability and operability for outdoor high magnification macro photography of flowers, insects, etc., than conventional bellows systems. The optics uses a 3-group Floating system, which moves three lens groups independently for focusing. This compensates aberrations caused by the large changes of Image magnification inherent in macrophotography, while achieving high magnification from life-size to 5x and a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture. A UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass lens element corrects Chromatic aberration, which is often a problem in high-magnification macrophotography, and achieves a high-Resolution and high-Contrast image without color fringing. Automatic aperture drive by EMD (Electro-Magnetic Diaphragm) unit makes possible AE shooting with TTL metering for the entire range with EOS-1, EOS-1N and EOS-3 cameras (Manual exposure control for other EOS cameras). The wide manual focusing ring and detachable tripod mount assure good operability, and macro flash photography is possible with the optional Macro Ring Lite ML-3. The Angle Finder C, being marketed concurrently, is convenient for waist-level/low-angle shooting. Its 19.5mm long eyepoint and easy switching of magnification between 1.25x and 2.5x are very useful for macro photography.
Editor review : Canon EF MP-E 65mm f2.8 1-5x Macro
Overall rating (weighted)
1.0
Sharpness
1.0
Build Quality
1.0
AF Speed
1.0
Value for Money
1.0
Editor lens review will be updated shortly.
Why should you care what I think?
My relationship with this item: Editor review
Conclusions at a glance
Would you recommend this Item: Undecided
User Lens Reviews
Average user rating from: 7 user(s)
Overall rating (weighted)
4.0
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.1
AF Speed
3.9
Value for Money
3.9
Add new review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
better than using bellows, Monday, 07 July 2008
Overall rating (weighted)
4.8
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I bought one of these lenses a couple weeks ago and found it easy to use. I've been shooting macro images for over 20 years and have used all sort of devices and techniques for getting images beyond lifesize. I find this lens much easier to use than bellows or stacks of extension tubes. Being able to simply press the Depth of field preview button on the EOS camera body is nice. I wanted to know how this lens compared to my Zeiss Luminar 63mm macro lens for resolution. Under test conditions I found the Zeiss lens to be a Bit sharper, but I had to enlarge the images many times and search for the tiny details. I did find, based on limited test subjects, I preferred the Canon lens over the Zeiss in color saturation. I also found at 3X the best resolution for this Canon lens was at f/8. At wide open the image is a bit soft and the corners are noticeably lacking, but stopped down everything improved significantly. At f/11 the image started to lose some sharpness. For the price of this lens I could easily get a used bellows and used Zeiss macro lens and make adapters to fit my Canon 5D (I know, I've done it), but I find I would grab this lens first just because it's so much easier and faster to use. I've used this both in the studio and out in the field. I find I can handhold it for most still objects I want to shoot but it's better to carry along a couple bean bags or tripod or whatever to hold it more steady. I think the next thing I buy will be one of the macro flashes, as getting adequate lighting is a bit tricky. If you are new to the whole macro world of photography and not sure about spending this much on a lens of this type I would recommend getting a used macro lens and some extension tubes, or bellows, and playing with those first. After that you'll really appreciate what this lens can do.
Excellent special purpose lens. Better than expected. Caution: with large magnifications there is very low depth of field, especially that you need to use large apertures to get a good sharpness.
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Beautiful, tricky lens, Sunday, 29 July 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
3.8
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
3.0
Value for Money
4.0
I had to knock one star off of the rating because this is lens is so difficult to use. It is definitely not for the point and click crowd. But once you get the hang of it, it's produces beautiful and stunning images. It's borderline microscopic photography, as you'll see details you can't see with your eyes.
Great images, but there's a lot of caveats...
First off, this is a manual focus lens in the old-school sense of the word. Meaning there is no focus ring and you adjust the focus by moving the camera or subject backwards or forwards. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except, as noted elsewhere, the focus distance is amazingly short. It's time consuming to manuever everything into place and get focus on the bit your interested in.
Also, you have to really stop down to f16. This produces two problems. 1) you need a lot of light on the subject. I'm using two 1000w strobes in soft boxes, which may be a little overkill, but not by much. 2) dust on your sensor is in razor sharp focus. This is a big problem, so make sure you know how to clean your camera sensor.
Finally, this is not a lens for running around and shooting. You need a tripod and you probably want a remote control, because the process of clicking the button will probably introduce some (if not a lot) Blur. It's super sensitive to movement, so if you have the shutter open for any length of time, make sure there's no wind or the table doesn't shake minutely as you walk across the floor.
Bottom line is if you have the time and patience you can tease amazing images out of this lens. You don't need to be a professional, but you do need to understand the difference between professional images and point-and-shoot happy accidents is the time and thought that goes into creating the image. This lens will reward time and thought.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Cumbersom and limited lens, Saturday, 30 June 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
1.0
Sharpness
1.0
Build Quality
1.0
AF Speed
1.0
Value for Money
1.0
I made the mistake of purchasing this lens about two years ago. It is expensive for what you get, which is a bare-bones macro lens. There is no auto focus and the depth of field is microscopic, to say the least. If you do, in fact, manage to locate the subject of your photo, you probably won't get the photo you want.
Granted, I haven't spent a ton of time trying it out, but all my attempts have met with unacceptable results. I suppose its a good lens for those with thousands of dollars in lighting equipment at the ready, but for the average soul looking for a good macro photo or two of bugs in the back yard, this lens is not for you.
I think maybe this lens is for professionals only
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens, Sunday, 18 February 2007
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
This is an incredible lens! For anyone who wants to shoot up to 5x, this is the lens to get. I am amazed how sharp the images are. Having tried all manner of bellows and extension tubes, this lens is the ultimate choice for this type of photography.
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Absolutely Fabulous, Friday, 15 October 2004
Overall rating (weighted)
4.5
Sharpness
4.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
5.0
I mainly use this lens inside the studio, so I use studio lights to control the lighting of a subject. The higher the magnification, the more lighting is needed.
I use a tripod to photograph and either move the subject in focus, or change the magnification from the magnification ring of the lens. I set the aperture to f/16 (smallest aperture for this lens) to make sure I get maximum depth of field and sharpest result.
The magnification mechanism works by increasing the distance between the glass and the film/sensor. So if you move the magnification ring fast enough, you can feel some air flowing, just like the bellows. I used this lens on a Canon EOS 10D and forgot to clean the shutter chamber from dust, the magnification movement from 5:1 to 1:1 pushed some of the dust particles on the sensor, so make sure you clean the chamber.
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Amazing lens, amazing fun!, Wednesday, 12 May 2004
Overall rating (weighted)
4.8
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
5.0
AF Speed
5.0
Value for Money
4.0
I got this lens a couple years ago and use it extensively. It is well constructed and easy to use with any Canon EOS body, though it must be focused manually. This is the only tool I know of that enables easy *field* photography above 2x magnification. I have stalked the tiniest insects and peered into the hearts of flowers with this astounding lens, and my transparencies are crisp and clean every time. It comes with a tripod ring (same one as several other Canon lenses use, just in black), which greatly aids switching to a vertical format without having to reposition everything.
Buy the MR-14EX ring flash with this, as it is impossible to see *anything* in normal daylight conditions at 5x. Its focus lamps frequently help in obtaining sharp pictures, though even they can't provide enough light to help you much when the lens is stopped down. A focus rail is also helpful--I use the Velbon macro slider since it moves in two directions, not just one. Tripod use is essential, as 5x magnification only covers an area about 5mm by 7mm.
The biggest advantage to owning this lens is that I travel less to do photography--I spent several hours on my patio this winter photographing white flies, moss, spiders, and anything else that visited the potted plants there. Plunk down in a field and *stay there* a while, and you'll start to notice the small things around you.
