MP-E 65 being phased out?

[revup67]

I've read in a few places this lens may be phased out as it has been around since 1999 and is primitive in many ways. The online users who implied this belief stated the reasons were its lack of sales and its complexity.  I'm on the verge of acquiring this along with the MT 24EX macro flash but was curious if anyone out there has heard the same rumor and if there will be a replacement?  it's a nice chunk of change to plunk out and then have it replaced by a MK II version shortly thereafter or possibly no MP-E 65 at all.  Can anyone validate if any of this is true or if the demise of this lens is on the horizon ?  -Thanks Rev

[Goincarcrazy]

Sadly I haven't heard the rumor, but I'm also not surprised to hear it.  It's a very niche lens.  It does one specific task better than any other lens on the market and as such has some major limitations, so it's not for everybody.  I love mine and wouldn't give it up for anything (unless of course someone wanted to trade their 500mm for one...).  I can't see IS being effectively applied in this lens, and at the same time, I can see how canon might think they have a large enough supply out there to keep those who want this lens happy.  Who knows, we might have a collectors item on our hands!

[tzalmagor]

I think there are two separate questions here - is it likely to be upgraded, and is it likely to go out of production ?

IMHO, it is unlikely to be upgraded. AFAIK, no other competitor has a 5x macro lens, and it's performance is good compared to other macro lenses. In this situation I don't see any reason for Canon to upgrade it, though possibly newer manufacturing processes making it profitable to redesign the lens, or Canon knows about a competitor going to announce a better lens.

Canon would produce the lens as long as it can sell it for profit. Considering the lens has no competition and is rather cheap (= Canon could raise it's price to keep it profitable), I'd guess it would only go out of production if sales dropped through the floor - which I think is unlikely.

My guess is the lens might go out of stock until a new batch is produced, but not out of production.

[revup67]

Thanks for both of these replies.  I wound up ordering the lens from Adorama for $899 flat along with the MT 24EX Macro flash for $645 (no tax no ship).  I appreciate your help and postings