Macro kit questions

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mumrar

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Matt
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I have a friend who has a nice varied collection of strange pets - lizard, scorpion, snakes spiders etc. He wants me to take some photos of them for him and I want to have a go at some serious macro stuff (one spider is tiny).

I am looking to hire the MPE-65 and compatible ringflash but wondered what else would be advisable. Also, any hints, tips or tutorials would go down nicely too thanks.
 
I'd personally stay away from the MPE-65 (long term owner here BTW), it's not something you'll get to grips with over a weekend (or three) plus even at 1x mag you've got minimal working distance and DOF. I'd recommend hiring something a bit more user friendly such as EF 100mm 2.8L and the ring flash, much more of a flexible setup.

Regards

Carl
 
I maaaay be wrong... but I don't think the MPE will actually focus on anything more than 4 (I think...) inches away so it might not be what you're looking for.
 
Okay cheers for the responses. As for tripod and flash etc what would people recommend for the 100 f2.8 as an example? Would extension tubes (don't own any) or teleconverter help?
 
For the snakes, lizards and scorpions, a 100mm and regular flash like a 430EX or 580EX (off shoe) will be fine.

The MP-E will only focus at 1:1 or greater. So anything that won't fit in a rectangle the size of your sensor is going to be too big unless you only want to shoot a smallish part of the subject.

Bob
 
mumrar said:
Okay cheers for the responses. As for tripod and flash etc what would people recommend for the 100 f2.8 as an example? Would extension tubes (don't own any) or teleconverter help?
Click to expand...

If you're looking at the 100 f/2.8 Macro (L or non-L), then you'll already have 1x magnification. What are you planning to shoot? Butterflies for instance should be nicely covered by that already. It's only if you're looking at ladybirds that extra magnification might be useful.

If you've not used a Macro lens before I'd recommend perhaps just going with the 100mm for now, and using an off camera speedlight (if you have one). Over a weekend, there should be more than enough to learn (shallow DOF for one) without having to worry about any extraneous equipment!
 
I'd agree with the others, however if you do plan to get the 65 later I'd look at the twin light 24 and skip the ring light
 
Okay, thank you all. I don't have a flash (little lad knocked old camera off table whilst it was mounted). Will most likely hire one with the lens I do but will need to look up shooting off shoe with a 5D
 
Some flashes (not Speedlights though) might have an optical slave function, but if you're shooting outside in bright sunlight, then I've found these sometimes aren't triggered reliably.
The easiest option will be the Off Camera Shoe Cord (OC-E3) or the Jessops (etc) equivalent.
 
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