Patent: Optical formulas for Canon RF macro lenses

Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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Can I hope and hope that there might just be an updated RF 65mm lens like the MPE-65. From my handheld macro perspective IS isn't much of an issue or want, since at +1x or more I feel that it wouldn't have much effect. Anyone on here use the MPE-65 on a EOSr body?

I don't know of too many people using the MP-E 65mm with natural light, and a flash pretty much makes IS obsolete. I've been hoping that Canon would update the MP-E, but I don't think they are going to make anymore EF lenses. So really hoping that 65mm RF lens is the MP-E replacement, and it would cause me to move the RF cameras. Don't know of anyone shooting with the MP-E on an RF body.
 
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Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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I know many want to use their macro lens as a portrait lens but us macro shooters don't give a damn about it being fast. Hell, make it f/5.6 but make it crazy sharp without aberrations at 1:1 or higher. A middle ground is needed between the 100L and the MP-E 65. Real world usability, handheld and stabilized. Not a beast necessarily needing focus rails, twin strobes or focus stacking to achieve the results but basically an update of the 100 on the RF mount with today's optics.

No one should ever buy a macro lens because they can use it for something else, and macro lenses in the 100mm range are not optimal (too much workign distance for a flash, and for natural light you'll wish you had more room to work). IS is obsolete if you're using a flash, since the short duration of light it produces is your "shutter speed" and when using natural light IS only compensates for your motion. Worthless for images like this one where the subject is actively foraging.

Sweat Bee Foraging in a Sourgrass Flower III by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I've only shot single frames with the camera in my hand. So for me a lighter version of the MP-E with an RF mount would definitely get me to switch to an RF camera body.
 
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Dalantech

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I'm happy enough with my EF 180mm f/3.5L macro. Was the sharpest black EF lens for a long time, maybe still is? What are other people looking for in a macro lens that this one doesn't do?

That focal length offers too much working distance for flash based macro, and it's a pain to get that lens above 1x. I prefer lenses in the 60mm range since it's easier to freeze motion and get good specular highlights due to the short working distance. I have the 180mm L and it sits in my closet collecting dust (bought it based on some bad advice). I'm using the MP-E 65mm (and sometimes the EF-S 60mm + tubes) to get shots like this one:

Honeybee Covered in Zucchini Pollen by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I'm hoping that the 65mm patent is for the MP-E 65mm replacement.
 
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usern4cr

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That focal length offers too much working distance for flash based macro, and it's a pain to get that lens above 1x. I prefer lenses in the 60mm range since it's easier to freeze motion and get good specular highlights due to the short working distance. I have the 180mm L and it sits in my closet collecting dust (bought it based on some bad advice). I'm using the MP-E 65mm (and sometimes the EF-S 60mm + tubes) to get shots like this one:

Honeybee Covered in Zucchini Pollen by John Kimbler, on Flickr

I'm hoping that the 65mm patent is for the MP-E 65mm replacement.
That's a magnificent photo!

How did you get so close to take the photo without the bee flying away?
 
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Dalantech

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Ok, I’m going to plant some zucchini seeds now
I set up four bamboo polls tied together at the top and separated at the ground by about two feet, then planted Zucchini close to every poll. Gonna get them to climb the bamboo so I don't have to lie on my stomach to take those shots.
 
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Dalantech

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That's a magnificent photo!

How did you get so close to take the photo without the bee flying away?
The liquid she's feeding on is some sugar syrup that I had in a syringe. Give them something to eat and they'll let you get close. I used the same trick to inject sugar syrup into a Lavender flower...

Feeding Honeybee IX by John Kimbler, on Flickr
 
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koenkooi

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I set up four bamboo polls tied together at the top and separated at the ground by about two feet, then planted Zucchini close to every poll. Gonna get them to climb the bamboo so I don't have to lie on my stomach to take those shots.

The beds in my garden are already a foot of the ground for that reason :)
 
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usern4cr

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The liquid she's feeding on is some sugar syrup that I had in a syringe. Give them something to eat and they'll let you get close. I used the same trick to inject sugar syrup into a Lavender flower...

Feeding Honeybee IX by John Kimbler, on Flickr
I just checked out some of your pictures on Flickr-pro. They're amazing! I'm retired and a non-pro who's taken some good photos. I have a few printed large and on display in my little town's art gallery, but nothing like this! My EM1mk2 with 300mm f4 pro lens (FF Equivalent 600mm f8) takes some amazing handheld closeups up to a FF equivalent 0.48x. But I plan to buy the upcoming R5 and am interested in what I can do with it for closeups. I always thought their expected RF 180mm macro would be the best for me, but now you've got me wondering whether I should try to do what you're doing with the 65mm version.

Also, I've been wanting to find a website to collect & show off my pictures where I don't have to do website programming or worry about the site owner having poor privacy/copyright protection. Do you think Flickr-pro might be the best site for me? If so, this would be a good time for me to get one started.
 
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Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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I just checked out some of your pictures on Flickr-pro. They're amazing! I'm retired and a non-pro who's taken some good photos. I have a few printed large and on display in my little town's art gallery, but nothing like this! My EM1mk2 with 300mm f4 pro lens (FF Equivalent 600mm f8) takes some amazing handheld closeups up to a FF equivalent 0.48x. But I plan to buy the upcoming R5 and am interested in what I can do with it for closeups. I always thought their expected RF 180mm macro would be the best for me, but now you've got me wondering whether I should try to do what you're doing with the 65mm version.

Also, I've been wanting to find a website to collect & show off my pictures where I don't have to do website programming or worry about the site owner having poor privacy/copyright protection. Do you think Flickr-pro might be the best site for me? If so, this would be a good time for me to get one started.

Thanks!

Flickr has been a mixed bag for me. Every time one of my images has been stolen it has been from Flickr, and every time someone has contacted me because they want to license my images for print it's because they saw then on Flickr. So it must be a popular site.
 
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usern4cr

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Thanks!

Flickr has been a mixed bag for me. Every time one of my images has been stolen it has been from Flickr, and every time someone has contacted me because they want to license my images for print it's because they saw then on Flickr. So it must be a popular site.
Can you control who sees your site? That is, could I say my site is private, then mention it to people I know and tell flickr that only those email addresses are allowed to see it? That way my friends could see it, or others I specifically offer access to. As you can tell, I'm more interested in privacy and sharing to a small group of friends than I am to letting the whole world see.
 
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Dalantech

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Can you control who sees your site? That is, could I say my site is private, then mention it to people I know and tell flickr that only those email addresses are allowed to see it? That way my friends could see it, or others I specifically offer access to. As you can tell, I'm more interested in privacy and sharing to a small group of friends than I am to letting the whole world see.
If you did that then people wouldn't be able to find you. If you're really worried about people stealing your work then you can't post your images online...

You can restrict who can see your full size images. It won't stop people from stealing the lower resolution versions.
 
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usern4cr

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If you did that then people wouldn't be able to find you. If you're really worried about people stealing your work then you can't post your images online...

You can restrict who can see your full size images. It won't stop people from stealing the lower resolution versions.
If I can choose the low-resolution size (and/or watermark them somehow) that the public sees, so that I won't sweat them possibly being stolen, then I would be OK with it.

Since you say I can choose (somehow) who I allow to see the hires versions then I would be fine opening up an account after all.
 
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Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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If I can choose the low-resolution size (and/or watermark them somehow) that the public sees, so that I won't sweat them possibly being stolen, then I would be OK with it.

Since you say I can choose (somehow) who I allow to see the hires versions then I would be fine opening up an account after all.
I wouldn't bother with a watermark since they are really easy to remove. Just restrict who can access the full resolution images to "Friends and Family" (I think that's what the setting is called).
 
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Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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They should make 4x converter for 180mm macro ,could be intresting
Not really since the working distance wouldn't change. Odds are you're not gonna field shoot anything with natural light at 4x, and if you're using a flash it's gonna be tough to get good light quality at the 180mm's working distance. At that point you might as well just shell out the grand for an MP-E 65mm macro lens.
 
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Dalantech

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Feb 12, 2015
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...My EM1mk2 with 300mm f4 pro lens (FF Equivalent 600mm f8) takes some amazing handheld closeups up to a FF equivalent 0.48x. ...
Just wanted to point out that whatever magnification you get from the lens is all the mag that rig will give you. Cropping an image, either with a smaller than full frame sensor or in post, creates an enlargement and is not the same as increasing magnification. So even though my 80D has a 1.6x crop sensor when I have my MP-E 65mm set to 2x then twice life is the magnification, for example. It's not 3.2x...
 
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