LOL


Okay, so I set up a little test with some mineralogical samples I'd collected years ago. The results were pretty impressive. See for yourself.


Here we have a piece of crystalline bismuth, approximately 1.5" x 1.2" x 1". Following image is uncropped, resized to 12.5% from the original 5616x3744 capture on 5D2. Magnification was 1:1, set up by manual focus, and moving the object into the depth of field. Rocks (and coins) are the easiest macro subjects in the world to shoot! []


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.30.26/IMG_5F00_0035.JPG[/img]


This is a 100% crop of the same image. In this image, the distance between the two "points" from the upper left to the middle right is about 2.4mm.


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.30.26/IMG_5F00_0035c.JPG[/img]


EXIF information shows 1s @ ISO 100 @ f/8, +1 EV.


The funny thing I'm beginning to realize about shooting at such high magnification is that there aren't really very many objects that actually have enough fine detail at these reproduction ratios, except for things like insects. I tried shooting some printed text and nothing appeared sharp because, well, printed text isn't sharp when you look at it that closely. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could photograph with this crazy lens? I thought I'd want the MP-E 65mm at some point, but I think that for now, the EF 100/2.8L IS is going to be more than enough magnification for the foreseeable future! Can anyone advise on how to test this lens for sharpness at or near MM/MWD?