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Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

by Canon
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

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  • Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 65mm 1:2.8 Lens Construction: 10 elements in 8 groups Diagonal Angl

Frequently Bought Together

Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens for Canon SLR Cameras + Canon MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras + Canon Macrolite Adapter 67
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  • Twelve-Month Financing: For a limited time, purchase $599 or more using the Amazon.com Store Card and pay no interest for 12 months on your entire order if paid in full in 12 months. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional balance is not paid in full within 12 months. Minimum monthly payments required. Subject to credit approval. 1-Click and phone orders do not apply. See complete details and restrictions.


Technical Details

  • Brand Name: Canon
  • Model: 2540A002
  • Lens Type: macro
  • Minimum focal length: 65
  • Maximum focal length: 65

Product Details

  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.5 x 5.4 inches ; 2 pounds
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
  • ASIN: B00009XVD5
  • Item model number: 2540A002
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

A unique manual-focus lens designed exclusively for macro shooting, between life-size (1x) and 5x life-size - at its maximum magnification, you can fill a 35mm frame with a grain of rice. Compatible with the Macro Ring Lites and Macro Twin Lite, it eliminates the need for awkward bellows accessories for many macro shooters. The optical system uses a floating system to preserve optical quality at different focusing distances, and features a UD-glass element.

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
(33)
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
276 of 276 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing lens, amazing fun! May 13, 2004
I got this lens a couple years ago and use it extensively. It is well constructed and easy to use with any Canon EOS body, though it must be focused manually. This is the only tool I know of that enables easy *field* photography above 2x magnification. I have stalked the tiniest insects and peered into the hearts of flowers with this astounding lens, and my images are crisp and clean every time. It comes with Tripod Ring B (same one as several other Canon lenses use, just in black), which greatly aids switching to a vertical format without having to reposition everything.

Buy the MR-14EX ring flash with this, as it is impossible to see *anything* in normal daylight conditions at 5x. Its focus lamps frequently help in obtaining sharp pictures, though even they can't provide enough light to help you much when the lens is stopped down. A focus rail is also helpful--I use the Velbon macro slider since it moves in two directions, not just one. Tripod use is essential, as 5x magnification only covers an area about 5mm by 7mm, and a macro rail will greatly aid focusing.

Since first penning this review, I have worked at using this lens with the 2x Canon teleconverter. This combination can be used, but one must be careful to not stop the lens down very far as diffraction effects quickly degrade image quality. Instead, compose the image with the lens wide open, and use adjacent f-stops to add just a touch more depth of field. With this setup, the object being photographed is too close for the Canon ring flash to illuminate, so you'll want a standard flash attached to an accessory cord to provide sufficient lighting. With the zoom racked out to 5x, one can achieve photos less than 2mm wide on an APS-C sensor, or somewhere between 15x and 20x. I recently photographed a cluster of spider mites this way.

Over the last several years, focus stacking (digitally combining many photos to extend depth-of-field) has become practical. If you plan to do extensive work with high magnification subjects, it is worth investigating Zerene Systems and Helicon Focus for their software, and Cognisys for an automated focus rail. But this is expensive and specialized gear to most people.

The biggest advantage to owning this lens is that I travel less to do photography--I spent several hours on my patio this winter photographing white flies, moss, spiders, and anything else that visited the potted plants there. Plunk down in a field and *stay there* a while, and you'll start to notice the small things around you.
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177 of 187 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, tricky lens July 30, 2007
Amazon Verified Purchase
I had to knock one star off of the rating because this is lens is so difficult to use. It is definitely not for the point and click crowd. But once you get the hang of it, it's produces beautiful and stunning images. It's borderline microscopic photography, as you'll see details you can't see with your eyes.

Great images, but there's a lot of caveats...

First off, this is a manual focus lens in the old-school sense of the word. Meaning there is no focus ring and you adjust the focus by moving the camera or subject backwards or forwards. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except, as noted elsewhere, the focus distance is amazingly short. It's time consuming to manuever everything into place and get focus on the bit your interested in.

Also, you have to really stop down to f16. This produces two problems. 1) you need a lot of light on the subject. I'm using two 1000w strobes in soft boxes, which may be a little overkill, but not by much. 2) dust on your sensor is in razor sharp focus. This is a big problem, so make sure you know how to clean your camera sensor.

Finally, this is not a lens for running around and shooting. You need a tripod and you probably want a remote control, because the process of clicking the button will probably introduce some (if not a lot) blur. It's super sensitive to movement, so if you have the shutter open for any length of time, make sure there's no wind or the table doesn't shake minutely as you walk across the floor.

Bottom line is if you have the time and patience you can tease amazing images out of this lens. You don't need to be a professional, but you do need to understand the difference between professional images and point-and-shoot happy accidents is the time and thought that goes into creating the image. This lens will reward time and thought.
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121 of 127 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Fabulous October 16, 2004
Amazon Verified Purchase
I mainly use this lens inside the studio, so I use studio lights to control the lighting of a subject. The higher the magnification, the more lighting is needed.

I use a tripod to photograph and either move the subject in focus, or change the magnification from the magnification ring of the lens. I set the aperture to f/16 (smallest aperture for this lens) to make sure I get maximum depth of field and sharpest result.

The magnification mechanism works by increasing the distance between the glass and the film/sensor. So if you move the magnification ring fast enough, you can feel some air flowing, just like the bellows. I used this lens on a Canon EOS 10D and forgot to clean the shutter chamber from dust, the magnification movement from 5:1 to 1:1 pushed some of the dust particles on the sensor, so make sure you clean the chamber.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible lens for macro shoots
I had a 100mm macro lens for years finding it limiting at times so I did considerable research regarding the 65mm lens. A focusing rack is a must for this lens. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Chris Janssen
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Pictures
Really great lens for taking very detailed closeups. Takes a little getting used to and requires some knowhow and a steady hand (i would recommend using a mount) but the quality... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Nick Bobak
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
This lense is great for really upclose pictures. All the other reviews that put this in a good light are true. Read more
Published 19 days ago by David Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful lens !
I love this lens. I am a semi-professional photographer. If you do macro photography, this is a must have Canon lens. I use this lens to photograph maker's marks on silver. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Klopfer
5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Macro Performance from a One-of-a-Kind Lens
First, the caution. This is absolutely NOT the first macro lens you should buy if you think you might be interested in small object and small-scale nature photography. Read more
Published 1 month ago by David Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars Way cool lens to have some fun with
I have read all the reviews about manual focus etc... It didn't seem as difficult as some made it out to be. Read more
Published 3 months ago by James Pierce
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Lens for High Magnification Macro Photography
I've had this lens for about three years and it is by far my favorite lens and responsible for most of my best images. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Colin Hutton
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fun, fun!!!
This was a gift. Yay me! It's really fun. No, it isn't the easiest lens in the world but, that's alright. Photography should be fun and challenging shouldn't it? Yep, it should. Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Great lens
This is a super lens, very sharp and clear, excellent for macro work. The only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that it is not a simple lens to use. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lynnell Rubright
5.0 out of 5 stars HELP ME PLZ
I NEED HELP FRIENDS, i own cannon 50d mark 2,cannon mark 2 70, i have been using and have been using 100 mm canon macro,i love macro photography,i have descovered it in the last... Read more
Published 9 months ago by KENNY
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