Okay, I've used 5x macro lenses before, and I've used 100MP medium format cameras before. But a 5x macro lens on a medium format camera? The level of detail almost rivals a microscope!
In case you missed it, last week Zhongyi Optics announced the Mitakon 55mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro lens – a frankly amazing bit of glass priced just $399 (around £295 / AU$610).
You can read more about the specs and finer details in our news story, but I'm reviewing the lens, and I've been testing it on the micro-sized objects around my house – and I just can't get over the monumental level of magnification when you combine macro and medium format.
The lens is available for a whole mess of mounts – from full-frame Canon and Nikon DSLRs to full-frame Canon, Nikon, Sony and L-Mount mirrorless, as well as Fujifilm X and GFX, along with Hasselblad X – which is the version I got.
Being a Star Wars nerd, the minute the lens arrived I slapped it on my 100MP Hasselblad X2D and started shooting one some of smallest subjects I could find: my 1-inch Darth Vader figurine from an old Micro Machines set.
For scale, I put Vader next to a double-A battery to give an idea of how big (well, small) he is. Which is to say, a far cry from his seven-foot stature in the movies!
Click the corner of the image below to view it full size. As you can see, the Mitakon's macro lens at 1x magnification renders him pretty darned massive on Hasselblad's hulking medium format sensor:
However, zoom the lens all the way in to 5x magnification and somehow the Sith Lord becomes even more terrifying!
Again, enlarge the image so you can peep every pixel of detail on this micro movie villain. Like I said, I've used a number of 5x macro lenses in the past, but using one on a gigantic sensor with this level of resolution really is something:
I've been photographing a whole bunch of teeny tiny things in the course of evaluating the lens, including grains of salt.
Now, I've photographed grains of salt with a macro lens before and they've never really looked like anything. But on this medium format setup, they look like icebergs floating in the sea:
Pardon the pun, but this is such a cool lens. A pain in the ass to focus, thanks to the depth of field on a medium format camera and my terrible eyesight (god bless focus rails and live view magnification!), but an astounding amount of fun.
In addition to its variable 1-5x magnification (which makes it so much more practical than an exclusively 5x macro lens), my favorite thing about the Mitakon 55mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro is the included LED ring light – which screws onto the nose and is powered by micro USB.
This solves the eternal issue when shooting macro at these extreme magnifications: getting enough illumination between you and your subject. Which, again, was always a bigbear with fixed 5x macro lenses that turned out to be a nightmare to light anything.
I've no doubt that the lens is a blast to use on the other mounts, as well. And it'll be a darned sight easier to focus, with the greater depth of field on an APS-C sensor (or, better yet, a Micro Four Thirds one, if you adapt the EF or F mount versions).
I'm really looking forward to getting Ben (our lab manager) to put this through our battery of lab tests to see how it performs. But if we're purely talking about how much fun I'm having with it, this is already one of the best macro lenses I've ever used. Especially at a bargain $400! Head over to the Zhongyi Optics website for more info.
You might also like…
Make sure you're using one of the best cameras for macro photography, and check out the best extension tubes to give your existing lenses a macro boost.
