It then occurred to me that the answer was quite obvious.  First, by switching to my 7D instead of my 5D2 I reached an effective magnification (compared to my 5D2) of 8x.  Second, I was curious if my 1.4x extender would work with the MP-E 65 – so I fit it on to give me an effective magnification of 11x.  I decided to ignore the inevitable diffraction and try it out.

After trying it out on the carpet, I decided to find a real subject so I went outside with my contraption.  I quickly found a fly that was temporarily willing to be a still subject – or at least up to 3x when it flew away.

I quickly noticed a number of things about the combo.  For one thing, while hand shooting at 5x is a challenge, when it comes to 11x things take quite a different turn.  Not only is it incredibly difficult getting something to stay still in the viewfinder, but the viewfinder is even darker than usual.  For the first time in awhile I was forced to use the lamps on my MT-24EX just to focus.  While normally the viewfinder is dark at higher magnifications, I can see barely enough to be able to focus.  This wasn’t the case here.  Also, I noticed that the image on the viewfinder itself looked much ‘noisier’.  This was a bit of a surprise and took getting used to.  I’m not sure if it is an effect of the 7D or the 1.4x extender, but the viewfinder quality was definitely worse.

After playing around with the fly I decided to look for a smaller subject.  Aphids on our rose bushes have always proven a challenge.  While they keep relatively still, they are quite small.

For comparison sake, here is an aphid taken at 5x with the 5D2 on the same day.

And here’s a different aphid – even smaller than this one on a different leaf at 11x.

While I was very pleased with the result, there are obvious drawbacks.  FIrst, image quality suffers – which one would expect.  I am honestly not sure how much of this was due to the increased diffraction inherent in the small sensor of the 7D and how much was caused by the 1.4x extender.  I will have to try the extender some time on the 5D2 to get a better idea.

Diffraction, at least, can be combated.  For instance I can take multiple shots at a lower aperture and focus stack them.  I may try this some time with this combo to see what type of quality I can get, but on this particular day I did not have much time.

While I will not go through the lengths to post the 100% crops here (this is not a review blog) I did compare the crops from the 5D2 and the 7D/1.4x combo and it looks like they are roughly equivalent.  In other words, about the same detail is visible from a 5D2 image at 5x blown up to the equivalent size compared to the 7D + 1.4x.  Still, at first sight the 7D + 1.4x certainly looks more impressive!

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Mystery solved: How to harvestmen climb?

Here you can see a closeup of two of the legs of the harvestman.  On the ends of each leg are claws.  They obviously use these claws to grasp onto things.  This shot was taken around 3x magnification and is blown up 150%.

Of course, with each mystery solved a new mystery comes along.  This harvestman was found on a fallen leaf.  Therefore the new mystery is – what are those things coming out of the leaf?  My guess is they are some kind of mold or fungus, but I truly do not know.

New mystery: What is this thing?

I wasn’t actually trying to get a picture of this.  The actual shot is of a centipede that I found under a piece of wood and that was the subject I was focusing on.  However, when I edited that shot over the weekend I noticed this thing.

My guess is it is some type of root or a sprout.  I’m sure a botanist would have a better idea, but it sure looks strange.

Mystery: What are these green spots on this fly?

I posted this picture a few weeks ago and thought little of it.

However, when I edited this weekend I noticed these green spots.

The original shot was taken around 2x and this shot is blown up to 278%.  You can see a number of green spots on the back of the fly.  The spots go along the entire back.  What are these?  Are they just the way the fly looks or are they some kind of fungus?

These came up just from editing a few pictures.  In the future I think I need to look at my macro shots more carefully as I’m sure there are a number of new mysteries already there waiting for me.

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Comments that I heard were

“I just don’t have that much patience.”

“I took a number of shots, but they all came out blurry”

I feel like some sort of zen master, when I prognose that the reason that they failed to take good shots had nothing to do with their photography skills (they’re both better than I), but that they were unable to find their inner peace to use the lens correctly.

Unlike most other lenses, the only chance you have to get good shots with the MP-E 65 is to completely concentrate on the subject.  Nothing else matters except for getting the photo.  There is no room for thinking about other subjects – but instead you must concentrate entirely on the subject in front of the lens.

When I believe that I have the subject in focus, I hold me breath to steady the camera – rather like rifle shooting.

Ultimately, the MP-E 65 is the ultimate lens for relaxing – because it cannot combine with worries.  Perhaps that is why I like this lens so much – because I find myself in a different world whenever I use it.  I find myself in a world not inhabited by war, terrorism, successes, and failures but instead one inhabited by aphids, ants, and springtails.

So if you do come across this lens some day, do not think of merely going outside to get a few pictures.  Instead, clear your mind completely, focus on your subjects, and prepare yourself to enter a new world.

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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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First of all, you have to be very realistic about the place you are going to?  What types of macro pictures will you really take there?  While macro photography can be done anywhere, some types of trips make certain types of macro photography difficult.  For instance, my wife and kids generally will not sit around and wait while I setup a tripod to take a picture of a flower.  While I occasionally use a tripod for my flower pictures in gardens around Seattle, I never use a tripod for macro photography on vacation (I do use one for sunrise/sunset and night shots though).  The following are my experiences on different types of vacations.

Jungle adventures – I spent some time in the rainforests of Peru before I had an SLR.  One of the members of my group brought an SLR together with a 50mm macro lens.  He expected to get close shots of army ants but came back without a single decent macro shot.  There were several problems with his approach.

1. He had no prior experience with macro photography.  When on vacation, I find that I need to move quickly for my macro shots.  The time to learn is back home – not on the road.
2. The 50mm macro is one of the worst lenses you can take with you on vacation.  It simply does not offer the distance you need to get the shot right.
3. Unless you really know what you’re doing, you don’t want to be that close to army ants.  Fortunately he was not bitten, but when starting out with army ants I suspect I would try a 180mm first.
4. He had no lighting equipment.  He did have a tripod, but this won’t help much with quickly moving army ants.
5. The group kept moving.  He never had time to properly attempt much because the tour guide kept us moving.

Jungle trips are one of the best places to take macro shots, but you will need ample time to perfect your technique before going there and you’re best shot at good macro pictures will be in the vicinity of your hotel.  Unless you are on a photography specific tour (and even then) the tour guide will keep you moving.  You will not have time to stop and get the ideal macro shot, except during down times when you can check around the camp.

Tropical trips – These are trips to tropical countries where you stay in hotels instead of camps that are usually in built up areas.  While tropical locations do have excellent opportunities for macro photography, you will still find that your best opportunities are in the vicinity of the hotel.  Therefore I highly recommend that you choose a hotel that is located closer to nature.  For instance, when traveling to Singapore, stay in Sentosa rather than in the city.  In Bangkok, I found a number of opportunities at the Marriott – which is located in the city but has ample gardens.  Many resorts not located in cities are already close to nature – but make sure to not choose one that uses pesticides or your subjects will be few (except for flowers of course).

European trips – For the most part, these aren’t the best trips for macro.  I’m sure there are some areas where you can find some interesting subjects, but unless you are staying out in the country you’re unlikely to find great subjects.  When I travel to Europe, I generally leave most of my macro equipment at home.

In general I find that I do not have much time to take my macro shots when on vacation.  I do sometimes take walking trips for an hour or so while my wife and kids relax in the hotel, but I certainly don’t have the time to setup a tripod and get things exactly right.  Therefore, I highly recommend that you take a form of macro lighting with you on vacation.  The best choice is the MT-24EX.  I won’t go into detail here about the advantages of this flash, but while on vacation I constantly have it on my camera if I am using any of my macro lenses.

Of course, this means that you have another thing to carry.  This has caused a number of problems for me as I do not have a large backpack and don’t want to carry an extra large backpack when I am on vacation.  Therefore, I often divide my equipment into two camps – macro equipment and non-macro equipment.  When I am out and about visiting sites, I generally have the non-macro equipment.  When I am walking around the hotel, I generally have my macro equipment.  As I have already stated, the vast majority of my macro photography is done near the hotel.  When I am out and about I simply don’t have the time and most of the subjects are not macros.

So now you have the lighting, but which lens do you take?  In my experience, most people who have a macro lens have the 100m 2.8.  This is an excellent macro lens and is always the lens I recommend to people getting started.  On vacation, I think this lens is the ideal choice with a cropped frame camera.  However, with a full frame camera I think it falls a bit short.

The main problem I have run across while on vacation is I never know what I will want to photograph.  For instance, on a recent trip to Mexico I was photographing a flower by a bridge.

Suddenly, I heard a pack of coatis.  I didn’t know how much time I would have with them, so I dared not change a lens.  Besides, the only other lens I had on me at the time was a wide angle lens – I had left my telephoto in the hotel to make room for the macro.  Luckily, I had the Canon 180L mounted on my camera at the time.  I turned on auto-focus and took several frames of the coatis.

If I had the 100mm 2.8 at the time, I would have had a much more difficult time getting this shot due to the shorter focal length.  On a cropped frame camera, where the 100mm macro is really a 160mm lens, I don’t think the difference is as important – though the 180L will still prove to be all the more versatile.  This lens served this purpose multiple times on vacation and is now my favorite macro lens for vacations.  Granted, it is a much heavier lens than the 100mm, but it is also more useful.  Also, a number of animals are a bit shy (such as the lizard above) and difficult to get too close to.  The 180L makes it much easier.

Keep in mind that I am not advocating you do most of your wildlife photography with the 180L.  On my last vacation to Mexico I used the Canon 70-200 4L IS to take most of my coati and bird shots.  The extremely quick AF in that lens allowed me to get more keepers.  However, my images from the 180L were a bit sharper.  Still, when I had the 70-200 that was the lens of choice as the 180L has very slow AF – even with the focus limiter.  This isn’t really a drawback of the lens – it’s not really intended for that purpose anyway.  What the 180L did offer though was the ability to switch quickly from larger wildlife to smaller critters.

What about the MP-E 65 that I currently use for a majority of my macro shots?  While I love this lens, for standard vacations it is not very practical.  This lens requires a lot of patience and time to get a good shot – even with a macro flash attached.  I simply don’t have that kind of time when on vacation.  I wound up not taking a single picture with it on vacation.  I did put it on the camera a few times, but most of the subjects I found were flowers that required the 180L.  It also didn’t help that the hotel used pesticides and as a result insects were hard to find.  Lizards, on the other hand, were in large supply – but the 180L was required because they were skittish – and too large to be photographed with the MP-E 65 anyway.

For future vacations, I will likely leave the MP-E 65 at home unless I am going on a tropical vacation where the hotel is in close proximity to the jungle – and the hotel does not use pesticides.

The last piece of equipment I take with me may be overkill for some, but I always take two Wimberley macro arms to hold the MT-24EX.  In general I find that putting the lights closer to the subject makes the lighting more pleasing.  Therefore I always use these together with my 180L.  The combined rig tends to scare some fellow tourists and I always receive a wise crack or two whenever I go out.  However, if you are using the 100mm 2.8 or shorter, I don’t think this is necessary.

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#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

As a rather funny aside, after taking these shots it occurred to my how truly dirty my office was!  Another early experiment was photographing the food I was about to eat at high magnification.  For obvious reasons, I no longer do this.  Without further ado, here are the correct answers.  How many did you get right?

#1 ballpoint pen

#2 staples

#3 carpet

#4 highlighter

#5 status indicator light on computer

#6 computer circuit board

#7 serial port

#8 parallel port

#9 kleenex

#10 Ethernet cable

#11 another view of Ethernet cable

#12 sweater

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The leaf in this shot is from me.  In a previous shot some commented that the red of the Japanese maple was too strong against the green of the stink bug.  Also, in this case the stink bug wasn’t in a very good spot to photograph so I used the leaf to move it.  One thing I have noticed is that the MT-24EX on the 180L can tend to be a bit too strong.  In this case the front of the stink bug is a bit too strongly lit.  Continue on for a comparison with a similar shot on the MP-E 65 and more stink bug experiments.

Here’s a very similar shot taken last year with the MP-E 65 and the MT-24EX.

This is the shot that others generally reviewed as having too strong of a contrast.  Contrast aside, note that the lighting on the stink bug is much softer here.  In both cases I used the exact same flash – MT-24EX – and in both cases the MT-24EX had Sto-fen diffusers.  I remember reading some time ago that in macro as the light gets further from the subject it actually becomes harsher.  This still doesn’t make sense to me but these shots seem to suggest that is true.  The fix, I hope, is a Wimberley macro flash bracket that will arrive at the end of this week.  I did try adjusting the position of the heads and the angles but I was unable to soften the light as much as the shot with the MP-E 65.

Getting back to my experiment, I then decided to try photographing the stink bug on my car.  The first one is from the top.

The blue of the car is a bit dark here, but I don’t think that’s too much of an issue as in previous shots it has the tendency to overpower things.  One thing to note is that pictures with my MP-E 65 brought out the blue much stronger, further indicating that I am currently not lighting the entire shot but just the bug.  Here’s a shot I took several weeks ago with the MP-E 65.

If this is the case, the Wimberley will probably not be the only solution but I should look into also firing a 580EX to light the background when taking macro shots with the 180L and MT-24EX.  In the past I have had problems firing the 580EX from the MT-24EX but I can probably now solve the problem with Pocketwizards.  Finally, I took advantage of the lighting from the combination to get the stink bug and its shadow.

So the moral is from this experiment that I need to work more with lighting when using this combo.  Things are a bit easier with the MP-E 65, but with the 180L more thought needs to be given to the background and to preventing harsh light on the subject.

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As many of you know, the Canon MP-E 65 is my primary lens for macro. In fact, when I am not travelling, this is the lens I primarily use. At parties I will use the Canon 16-35 2.8L II and with my kids I’ll use the Canon 70-200 4.0L IS, but otherwise the MP-E 65 is the lens that will be on my camera. I moved to this lens after starting with the Canon 500D diopter on my Sigma 80-400. I quickly realized that I needed more magnification and the MP-E 65 was the lens that met my needs the best. I did a lot of research before purchasing it, but I have found out a lot more since buying it.

To start off with, I would never recommend purchasing this lens if you are not serious about macro photography. The following are the main reasons.

1. This is an extremely difficult lens to use and requires a lot of skill and practice. Your initial shots will be very disappointing.
2. You will need additional equipment in order to make the best use of this lens. I will go into more depth on this later.
3. Unlike all other macro lenses, this lens can only take macro shots. You cannot shoot portraits or anything else with this lens – just macro.

If you are willing to accept the above, then read on. First, I should explain my experience with this lens. I have owned it for a bit more than a year and I have taken several thousand shots with it. I also sells photographs professionally through microstock sites. This has meant that I have some different requirements than other macro photographers. Most of the shots taken with this lens that look awesome on Flickr would not be accepted by any stock agency. I will go into more why this is so shortly.

So what is the MP-E 65? Unlike practically every other macro lens that is limited to 1:1, the MP-E 65 allows you to fluidly move between 1x and 5x magnification. At 5x, a subject merely seven millimeters long will fill the entire frame. The lens is also incredibly sharp, providing you know its limitations. In tests that I have seen the MP-E 65 outperforms Canon’s venerated 100mm 2.8. This is one of the sharpest macro lenses you can own. Combined with the fact that this is the only macro lens I know of that can ‘zoom’ makes it a very interesting piece of optics.

Now comes for the tricky part. Using the MP-E 65 is unlike using any other lens you know of. First of all, there is no autofocus. In truth, autofocus is pretty useless in macro anyways. The vast majority of professional photographers use manual focus. The technique for doing this is to move the camera away so the subject is slightly blurry, then slowly move the camera forward until the subject is in focus. Then the process of focusing involves slowly moving the camera forward and backward in minute amounts. However, what may come as a surprise is the MP-E 65 has no focus at all. That’s right – it doesn’t even have manual focus! The only control you have is the magnification.

Another interesting detail is the optical effect of aperture. Many macro shots are typically shot at high apertures – f/11, f/16, f/22, or even sometimes f/32. First of all, the MP-E 65 cannot go beyond f/16, but in truth you will rarely use it. As the magnification increases, the effective aperture also changes. To calculate the effective aperture, you must use the following formula.

Effective aperture = (set aperture) * (magnification + 1)

So if you are shooting at 1x at f/2.8, the effective aperture will be f/5.6. If you are shooting at 5x at f/2.8, the effective aperture will be f/16.8. If you set the aperture to f/16 at 5x, the effective aperture is f/96! The immediate result you’ll notice is the viewfinder becomes very dark. Even a bright subject will be very hard to make out when shooting at 5x. The other corollary is you need a lot of light in order to get the shot. There are two ways you can supply this light.

1. Use a tripod and hold the shutter for an adequate amount of time. This works fine, as long as your subject doesn’t move.
2. Use a flash

I have chosen the second approach, which is basically a must because my subjects do move. However, you cannot use any flash with the MP-E 65. As with almost all macro work, the subject is too close to the lens for on camera flash or a hot shoe flash to work. In particular, you need bright lot and a lot of it aimed close to your subject. The two flashes that enable this are the Canon MR-14EX and the Canon MT-24EX. I own the second flash, which in my opinion should be offered in a package with the MP-E 65 because the lens is practically useless without it. This is the extra expense I mentioned above, as you now have to pair an $850 lens with a $650 flash – and neither one is useful for anything other than macro. The MT-24EX also solves another problem – the dark viewfinder. A button on the flash lights two small lamps on the flash that illuminate the subject for just enough time to focus and shoot. Annoyingly, the light goes out after a short period of time and after you take the shot. After months of using the lens, I found in the manual that you can set a custom function on the flash that allows you to trigger the lamps with the exposure (*) button on the camera. After learning about this, I cannot imagine how I managed to shoot before.

Another very interesting issue dealing with the MP-E 65 is diffraction. If you want the optical definition of diffraction, look here. However, the basic thing that you must understand is, with higher apertures and higher magnifications, you will lose quality in the picture. Basically you can only get so much detail the closer your subject gets to the lens. This becomes a big issue when trying to sell the picture. Typically, if you want to sell the picture, it must be sharp at full resolution. However, if you take a shot at 5x and f/16, in almost every situation the diffraction will be so severe that the photograph will be unsaleable. Here’s an example. The following picture will likely look fine on Flickr. It was taken at 5x and f/16.

Does the picture look sharp? Let’s see a full sized crop of the ball point.

Clearly the shot isn’t as sharp as first thought. You may also notice something else that I will discuss shortly. If you are happy with just showing small versions of your shots on Flickr, you can safely take shots at 5x and f/16. If you hope to sell these shots, then forget it. However, on the other hand you have the tiny depth of field to deal with. At 5x, and f/2.8 you have a DOF of .05mm. You can roughly double that by using a higher aperture. Perhaps the toughest issue I had when starting out with this lens is balancing these competing forces. If my aperture is too high at a high magnification, the shot will not be sharp. If I use a low aperture, the shot will be sharp but the depth of field will be tiny. I have found the following median works well for me.

1. When shooting at 1x, I will generally use f/11 unless I have a reason to open up more.
2. When shooting at 3x-5x, I will generally use f/8 unless I want the photo to be more abstract.
3. When shooting at 2x, I will use either f/8 or f/11 depending on the situation. If I feel I may quickly move to 3x then I’ll shoot at f/8. If I think I’ll stay at 1x or 2x, then I’ll use f/11.

Since moving to this approach, I rarely have shots rejected for lack of sharpness. To help make up for the low depth of field, I need to seriously think with each shot my angle in relation to the subject. Shooting the subject at an angle generally means that a good part of it will be out of focus, meaning I generally try to shoot with the camera perpendicular to the subject.

Now for another point that you may have noticed in the above crop. There’s a lot of dust in that crop! The above shot was one of the earliest shots I took with the MP-E 65, and it was rather embarrassing when a pro asked me what on earth was wrong with my camera! The simple fact is you might as well call the MP-E 65 the dust buster – it loves dust. Add on top the fact that it will show the tiniest spec of dust in ultimate details means that it’s nearly impossible to avoid getting dust in your shots. Perhaps the newer cameras with automatic dust removal will work better, though one of my coworkers who uses the MP-E 65 with the Canon 1D Mark III mentioned that it has not improved. I suspect that dust removal simply doesn’t get these miniscule specs – it just takes care of the larger ones that show up with normal lenses. To combat the dust, I regularly clean my sensor using Eclipse solution whenever the dust gets up to unacceptable levels. I am very careful when removing the lens from the camera, making sure to turn both off so the sensor is not electrically charged and I minimize the time the lens is off the camera. Still, I have to remove dust spots from every shot that I hope to submit – though thanks to my precautions this usually takes only a few minutes.

Perhaps the toughest thing to get used to is how to hold the lens still when photographing. Especially when you get to 5x, any tiny movement of the camera will be magnified tremendously in the picture. I combat this in several ways. First, I always shoot at 1/200 – which is the flash sync speed on the 5D. This helps keep the image sharp, but doesn’t prevent me from accidentally knocking the part of the image I want in focus from being in focus. To combat this, it helps that I spent some time learning to shoot a rifle as a kid, because the technique is similar. You simply must hold the lens steady. The MP-E 65 is not a very social lens. When taking pictures with this lens I focus intensely on the subject and I do not talk at all. Before I take the shot I will hold my breath to try to steady the camera.

Finally, I had a number of learning experiences dealing with the combination of the MT-24EX and the MP-E 65. The MT-24EX is a wonderful flash, but the light tends to be a bit harsh. The first lesson I learned was positioning the flashes in a way to try to minimize the light bouncing back into the camera. However, often when taking small subjects on the ground I need to position the flash heads so they don’t hit anything. In this case, I have less flexibility in not bouncing light back into the lens. To minimize this, I made use of two accessories. The first is a little known hood that Canon sells for the MP-E 65. It is quite unlike any other hood you have seen, but the nice thing is it screws directly onto the MT-24EX and is designed for this particular combination. The second accessory was a set of Sto-fen diffusers for the flash heads. Since I did this I have fewer problems with reflected light.

Other changes I have made have been to change the rations of the flash heads. I currently use 80-20, though I need to get better at switching this depending on which side I want to be stronger. The second approach is the change the strength of the flash to a stop or 2/3 of a stop lower depending on the subject I am shooting.

In summary, the MP-E 65 is one incredible lens, but it takes a lot of work to get it right.

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