Stock Shot Project

Canon has a 60mm MP-E Macro f/2.8 lens that is really more than we normally think of as a "macro" photography lens.  It starts where other macros leave off at reproduction range of 1:1, and it extends out to 5:1, which is five times life size.  This is more akin to a low power microscope lens.  On an APS sensor the magnification is magnified 1.5 times more for a range of 1.5x to 7.5x.  The photo of a pill capsule above was done with a standard 50mm macro to show you where I started.

Here is the same situation as above but done with the Canon 65mm Macro lens set at 1.5x.

  

A typewriter key of a dollar sign at about 3x magnification with the Canon MP-E 65mm Macro and a Canon 550D (Rebel T2i).  The image below  has the same technical data as this one.

  

I do a lot of extreme close in macro photography and the Canon 65mm macro is one of a kind, and the main reason I still keep a Canon camera outfit around.  The lens is far easier to use than mounting a lens on a bellows extension, which is the alternative with other camera manufacturers.