The 180L vs MP-E 65 Sharpness Test
A number of people have asked me about the sharpness of the Canon 180L. In general, I find this to be a very sharp lens but that doesn’t help very much. Therefore, I decided to try a little test. Unfortunately, given that I do not have a tremendous amount of time, I was not able to take pictures specifically for this test. Luckily, though, I had some pictures that were of similar subjects taken with both lenses.
Both shots were taken with the MT-24EX mounted and were at 1/200 second at apertures of f/11. The camera used was the Canon 5D. One shot was taken with the 180L while the other was taken with the MP-E 65. With both shots, I took a number of the same subject so I then took the best representative shot from each set. The following are the two test shots.
I hope it is obvious which shot was taken with the 180L and which was taken with the MP-E 65.
Let’s take a look at both of these shots at 100%.
At 100%, both shots still look fairly good. The top one, of course, is the MP-E 65. Here’s the result at 200%.
Try to keep in mind that the eye is larger from the MP-E 65 shot because the shot was taken at a higher magnification than the 1x of the 180L. It does appear that they are quite close. Here is the shot of the 180L magnified to 300% – where the eye is roughly the same size as that in the MP-E 65.
Obviously the MP-E 65 version is sharper, but that one is at 200% vs this one at 300%. In my opinion if I had to pick a winner it would be the MP-E 65, due to the detail in the facets of the eye vs the detail of the top of the head on the shot from the 180L.
In truth though this is neither a scientific nor a very fair test. With all of the gear I had on the camera, I should try to see if I can take shots higher than 1/200th with the 180L – perhaps with high speed flash sync – to see if that improves the sharpness. Certainly there is a higher chance of camera shake with the 180L and the Wimberley brackets than with the MP-E 65. Also, to be entirely fair both shots should have been at 1x – though the MP-E 65 is actually sharper at 1x than at 2x.
This also does not give an indication of how well these lenses work with a 21MP sensor, which I hope to show in a few months. In the end, I may not have proven anything here but I hope to have given you an idea of the sharpness of the 180L.
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Tags: 180L, canon, comparison, lens, macro, mp-e 65, photography, stink bug, test
I’ve been enjoying your macro work and have noticed that you also have the canon 500D close up lens just as I do. Could you give me your impressions of the differences between the 500D on say a 200mm lens and a purpose built macro lens like your 180mm?
Thanks for the question Bob! Your question is too involved to answer in comments, so if you look at the next post you’ll find a more in depth answer.