Canon officially discontinues the MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro

[stevelee]

this lens has intrigued me forever and hope to see an RF version some day. However the amount of light needed/gear/technique makes it a difficult choice for me as sort of hobby. I ended up pivoting to the EF 180mm Macro and it's quite good, happy with results, but wish for even more magnification of course. Seems to work fine on R5, but would love to see an RF version some day too as it's also a very old lens model.

I've been tempted by macro rails.. any suggestions, nothing too high end as it's just a hobby.. but also been wanting to try on the 180mm.

I paid less than $50 for mine, maybe more like $25. It is metal and has metal gears. Check Amazon. It is plenty sturdy for for the 100mm, and might be OK for the larger 180mm. If you want to move more than about 5” or you are making a decent amount of money from your macro shooting, then it might be worth it to spend a lot more money for something fancier.

 

[snappy604]

I paid less than $50 for mine, maybe more like $25. It is metal and has metal gears. Check Amazon. It is plenty sturdy for for the 100mm, and might be OK for the larger 180mm. If you want to move more than about 5” or you are making a decent amount of money from your macro shooting, then it might be worth it to spend a lot more money for something fancier.

no earnings from it.. hence the hesitation, but $50 isn't that much if it's a good rail

 

[Nemorino]

I doubt focus stacking can work well if you change the magnification.

Focus bracketing by the camera changes the magnification and I never experienced any problems.
This is close to mfd of the RF 100 and the R5 did the job within 10 seconds.

Of cause higher magnification is a different story.

 

[Deleted member 393411]

I very much hope that they already have had a replacement scheduled, but couldn't get the timing right. Hypothetical example: a planned last production run early 2020, replacement announcement in 2024. Since 2020 was a dumpster fire, that production run wouldn't have happened and it could also have pushed the replacement even further out. That's the most positive interpretation I can come up with.

Whatever the reason, I want the replacement to be available and in stock when my MP-E breaks, especially during spring/summer when I use it almost daily.

That's rather poor imho - I don't want a RF version, I want the EF-M version. That way, I can use it on BOTH my DSLRs and a future mirrorless camera.

Another disappointing thing from Canon. Mark my words, Canon will eventually discontinue the EF to RF adaptor, forcing consumers to buy RF lenses.

 

[AlanF]

Another disappointing thing from Canon. Mark my words, Canon will eventually discontinue the EF to RF adaptor, forcing consumers to buy RF lenses.

Canon will certainly not discontinue the adapter to force you to buy RF lenses. If there's demand for the EF-RF adapter, then 3rd party manufacturers will continue to supply them - there are many alternatives on the market now. What they could do in theory is to bring out new R models that won't work with EF lenses, but that will be another story.

 

[unfocused]

...Another disappointing thing from Canon. Mark my words, Canon will eventually discontinue the EF to RF adaptor, forcing consumers to buy RF lenses.

Canon will certainly not discontinue the adapter to force you to buy RF lenses. If there's demand for the EF-RF adapter, then 3rd party manufacturers will continue to supply them - there are many alternatives on the market now. What they could do in theory is to bring out new R models that won't work with EF lenses, but that will be another story.

Neither one is going to happen. What will happen is that eventually Canon will stop making EF lenses, just as they stopped making FD lenses. But that will only happen when there is no longer sufficient demand for them to justify the manufacturing expenses. Of course there will still be plenty of used lenses available for those who prefer the EF mount, just as there are still plenty of FD lenses around.

 

[AlanF]

Neither one is going to happen. What will happen is that eventually Canon will stop making EF lenses, just as they stopped making FD lenses. But that will only happen when there is no longer sufficient demand for them to justify the manufacturing expenses. Of course there will still be plenty of used lenses available for those who prefer the EF mount, just as there are still plenty of FD lenses around.

And there will be zillions of used EF-ER adapters. I bought a used one in anticipation of my R5, got a new one bundled with it and then two more with my R6 and R7, and sold 3 of them.

 

[stevelee]

Of cause higher magnification is a different story.

Nice photo. And yes, in reference to the MP-E, you would normally be using higher magnification.

 

[Deleted member 393411]

Canon will certainly not discontinue the adapter to force you to buy RF lenses. If there's demand for the EF-RF adapter, then 3rd party manufacturers will continue to supply them - there are many alternatives on the market now. What they could do in theory is to bring out new R models that won't work with EF lenses, but that will be another story.

I guess time will tell, eh?

Neither one is going to happen. What will happen is that eventually Canon will stop making EF lenses, just as they stopped making FD lenses. But that will only happen when there is no longer sufficient demand for them to justify the manufacturing expenses. Of course there will still be plenty of used lenses available for those who prefer the EF mount, just as there are still plenty of FD lenses around.

We will see then. I am 100% confident that Canon will discontinue the EF to RF adaptors within the next 3 years.

Another thing is that by discontinuing the MPE-65, it'll drive up used prices for this lens as macrophotographers scramble to get One of them from the limited pool available in the used market. It's a niche lens, with a low production rate, and low acquisition rate - so there'll be limited numbers on the used market.

 

[Ozarker]

Not great, but digital images are 'free'. I use my swaying to 'focus', and just press the shutter when I hit the focal plane I want.

I'm sure glad I'm not the only one that does it that way. Never realized how much I sway until I tried macro.

 

[PhotoGenerous]

I guess time will tell, eh?

We will see then. I am 100% confident that Canon will discontinue the EF to RF adaptors within the next 3 years.

When you said "eventually" I already thought that as a pretty unlikely occurrence. If we were talking towards the end of life of the RF mount, then sure I can see that, but that's really a non-factor at that point. But three years? Zero chance.

In three years, Canon is still in a transition phase converting people from DSLR to mirrorless. The EF to RF mount is a *major* reason why the transition is so easy. Otherwise if you're forced to sell all your old gear, you might as well consider other brands. The EF to RF mount is also how Canon fills out holes in their lens lineup and fills out a wide spectrum of lens options and price points, especially with the current third party situation.

Another disappointing thing from Canon. Mark my words, Canon will eventually discontinue the EF to RF adaptor, forcing consumers to buy RF lenses.

Never used the Bookmarking system in this forum before, but words are now marked.

 

[Deleted member 393411]

I'm sure glad I'm not the only one that does it that way. Never realized how much I sway until I tried macro.

This is how a lot of people focus with macrophotography - it is far more convenient than using a tripod, especially for living animals that move. A friend of mine (LordV, flickr) was a heavy proponent of stacking using software (CombineZM back in the day) - I believe the R7 and R6 II can do focus stacking in camera, which I admit is very cool. It's not natural, and most competitions will outlaw it as photo manipulation, but it is very cool.

 

[Deleted member 393411]

Never used the Bookmarking system in this forum before, but words are now marked.

Probably moot for me, since I will more than likely have moved on from Canon by then anyway.

 

[koenkooi]

This is how a lot of people focus with macrophotography - it is far more convenient than using a tripod, especially for living animals that move. A friend of mine (LordV, flickr) was a heavy proponent of stacking using software (CombineZM back in the day) - I believe the R7 and R6 II can do focus stacking in camera, which I admit is very cool.

Starting from the RP, all R bodies have that feature. It is limited to electronic shutter, so no flash, but still very useful. It also uses AF to focus on the starting point, so pick that one carefully. I discovered I suck at estimating depth on curved subjects like clamshells.

The M6II also has it, which is very handy to get enough DoF for intricate subjects like this:

It's not natural, and most competitions will outlaw it as photo manipulation, but it is very cool.

I find it very annoying when Laowa or Irix launch a new lens and all the stills in their PR gallery are focus stacks. It takes a fair amount of skill and dedication to capture those stacks of live insects in the jungle, but it is very misleading for a lens brochure. When I wanted to upgrade from a P&S to a DSLR I kept thinking "This new camera will give me a much larger area in focus" after seeing focus stacks. I didn't know what focus stacks were back then

I'm also looking forward to a stacking program that incorporates machine learning and things like NeRF, this seems to be an excellent field to use these technologies in. And I wish more people would experiment with the depth map you can extract from the 'Dual Pixel RAW' files.

 

[Kit.]

I doubt focus stacking can work well if you change the magnification.

Photoshop auto-align should be able to handle gradual changes in magnification.

Changing the subject distance, on the other hand, also changes the image perspective. I wonder how noticeable this effect actually is.

 

[AlanF]

When you said "eventually" I already thought that as a pretty unlikely occurrence. If we were talking towards the end of life of the RF mount, then sure I can see that, but that's really a non-factor at that point. But three years? Zero chance.

In three years, Canon is still in a transition phase converting people from DSLR to mirrorless. The EF to RF mount is a *major* reason why the transition is so easy. Otherwise if you're forced to sell all your old gear, you might as well consider other brands. The EF to RF mount is also how Canon fills out holes in their lens lineup and fills out a wide spectrum of lens options and price points, especially with the current third party situation.



Never used the Bookmarking system in this forum before, but words are now marked.

What is the "Bookmarking system"? Agree 100% with your comments.

 

[stevelee]

Photoshop auto-align should be able to handle gradual changes in magnification.

Changing the subject distance, on the other hand, also changes the image perspective. I wonder how noticeable this effect actually is.

It is the sort of thing I would run tests on if I had the lens. My photographic intuition is geared for things a foot or more away, and so how things act at 5X or even 3X would be counterintuitive for me. Shooting at 0.5X to 2X has given me some sense of how things are different, but I can’t bet on extrapolating from even that.

 

[Kit.]

What is the "Bookmarking system"? Agree 100% with your comments.

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[Deleted member 393411]

Starting from the RP, all R bodies have that feature. It is limited to electronic shutter, so no flash, but still very useful. It also uses AF to focus on the starting point, so pick that one carefully. I discovered I suck at estimating depth on curved subjects like clamshells.

Nice to know. Not being able to use flash is a deal breaker for me though.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Starting from the RP, all R bodies have that feature. It is limited to electronic shutter, so no flash, but still very useful.

Just FYI, R3 can fire a flash with full electronic shutter. Initially, flash could not be used with focus bracketing, but that feature was added with the v1.2.0 firmware. The default is to fire the next shot in the bracket series as soon as the flash is ready (one area where the ultra-fast recycle times of the EL-1 and EL-5 are beneficial), but you can set a longer interval if you want (e.g. if the flash is connected to the PC terminal so the camera doesn't know when it's ready, or if using a 3rd party flash).

Canon : Product Manual : EOS R3 : Focus Bracketing

It also uses AF to focus on the starting point, so pick that one carefully.

Not if you don’t have AF assigned to the shutter button (e.g., back button focus), AFAIK.