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I want to take magnified images of the subjects such as compound eye of the Butterflies, dragon flies...

I've a canon 180 Macro/ Canon 550D (planning to take 1DX Or 50D Mach III with some more hands on). Most of the pictures I've taken go up to 1x size and in most cases I try to crop the pictures... which in turn mostly do not give me the exact magnified picture I want to take.

I know; there is Canon 65 MM with 5X magnification available in the market... but really don't want to spend money on getting another macro lens for this purpose.

Is there an good yet professional alternative available.

Many Thanks

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I'm not sure I understand the question - on one hand you say you have a macro lens and Canon 550D and that you don't want to spend money on another macro lens, then in the next sentence you ask is there a good yet professional alternative on the market (presumably to the 180 macro?). You either want a lens suggestion or you don't? – Mike Jul 23 '12 at 14:56
You might always consider a reversing ring for your 180? – Mike Jul 23 '12 at 14:57
No, What I meant it, 1. I can take magnified images using canon 65 upto 5x, but I just bought my 180 mm MAcro and unsure if I should but another macro for magnified images only? 2. Want to know if there is anything availabe in market which can help me take magnified pictures just like 65MM macro can do (except for extenders, have not used them but read that they impact DOP and exposure badly with canon 180)? – Vinay Dwivedi Jul 23 '12 at 15:08
But should reversing rings be used with a Macro Lens? – Vinay Dwivedi Jul 23 '12 at 15:54
Also wanted to know... if Raynox MSN-202 is worth trying? – Vinay Dwivedi Jul 23 '12 at 16:34
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1 Answer

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You have a powerful combination with the 180 macro and the 550d. I am impressed you need more! Note that if you go to a full frame body such as the 1DX or 5D Mk3 you will have less magnification. With the crop sensor you actually get about 1.6:1 magnification, and this will drop to 1:1 with a full frame sensor.

Your options to increase power include the MP-E 65mm you mentioned. This thing is a severe beast - it is very expensive and very challenging to use. It has manual focus and requires massive illumination to deal with fairly dark optics.

Probably a better option is a 2x teleconverter. This will achieve an end magnification of around 3.2:1 with a corresponding drop in brightness of about 2 stops and a decrease in depth of field. So again you will need pretty huge illumination.

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Just curious, why a teleconverter and not an extension tube? – Itai Sep 28 '12 at 17:04

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