Extreme Macro Photography with the Canon MP-E 65mm Macro Lens

This lens is unique, no other lens manufacturer has it: it's something like a lens attached with a microscope. You should consider its capabilities as well as limitations before you type in your credit card number at the online store.

CAUTION: I must advise you not to buy this lens unless you are serious. This lens will bring you much happiness but also a lot frustration. It can focus only at short distances; the depth of field is razor thin even at f/16. If you are not really after this kind of photography, DO NOT buy this lens.

Canon MP-E 65 mm 1x-5x Macro Lens;

This is how the lens looks like when unextended. It can extend quite a bit as you go for higher magnification. You can find better description of its technical capabilities elsewhere on the net (at the end of this article I refer to you some of the links). Rather than going into details, I will just point out the essential things you need to know when handling this lens.

After that, without further ado, I will present side by side comparisons of the pictures taken by a normal lens and the MP-E 65mm.

In general and in brief, this is how you use this lens. First, set the desired magnification 1x, 2x, ... upto and then move your camera backwards and forwards until you get something in focus.

You should use a tripod with this lens whenever you can. A macro focusing rail is essential to move the lens backwards and forwards. The lens comes with a lens collar to be used on a tripod.

You can forget about automatic focusing and use manual focusing. The depth of field is razor thin - and I mean it. You have to think in terms of one-tenth of a millimeter.

Focusing is extremely difficult. Yo will be frustrated. I took this lens to a botanical garden once (just the weekend I received it by mail), and found that photographing leaves or grass or flowers was almost impossible at higher magnification. You cannot see the grass move in normal conditions but at 3x, 4x magnifications it looks like there is a storm lashing the grassblades.

You may need to increase the ISO to high values. I tried to use ISO 100 and it was difficult. Also you can use some sort of external flash.

Be prepared to compromise.

At the end of the article I have listed two really good references on the web.

A small note: As the magnification goes beyond 1:1 this lens is technically a "micro lens" but I will still refer to it as a macro lens in this article.

I first took the macros and then for comparison, only later on, did I take reference pictures using a normal 50mm lens. I have used a box of mints in the normal pictures because it is helpful to visualize the scale that way.

So here they are. The first picture in each section was taken with the 50mm lens, the second with the MP-E 65mm lens.

Canon Logo on a Lens - Normal; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Canon Logo on a Lens - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Chocolate with Almond and Sugar - Normal; Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Chocolate with Almond and Sugar - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Cisco Logo on My Neck Strap - Normal; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Cisco Logo on My Neck Strap - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Kitchen Towel - Normal; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Kitchen Towel - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Letter from Buddhist Prayer Wheel - Normal; Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Letter from Buddhist Prayer Wheel - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Mammut Logo on My Jacket - Normal; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Mammut Logo on My Jacket - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Mammut Logo Lettering on My Jacket - Normal; Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Mammut Logo Lettering on My Jacket- Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

A Button on My T-Shirt - Normal; Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100); Aperture: f/2.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

A Button on My T-Shirt - Macro; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Oven Glove - Normal; Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160); Aperture: f/2.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Oven Glove - Macro; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Sponge - Normal; Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Sponge - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Swiss Coin - Normal; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 800; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Swiss Coin - Normal; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

Dish Handle - Normal; Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500); Aperture: f/1.8; Focal Length: 50 mm; ISO Speed: 1600; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash did not fire

Dish Handle - Macro; Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200); Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 65 mm; ISO Speed: 100; Exposure Bias: 0 EV; Flash: Flash fired

I hope you liked this article. If so, you may also find interesting the following two articles on macro photography: Learning Macro Photography with Butterflies as Subjects and Macro Photography of Flowers.

Also my Flickr set I used for this article is here:
My Flickr Set of Extreme Macros.

And, do you want to know which one is The Best Compact Camera in the World?

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