Just for fun, What are the most extreme 'lenses' you have?

[ac12]

It's been ages since I last looked around so my links are all missing/gone/dead ones now, but I know that there are ways to get the same magnification at a higher image quality. It mostly involved messing with high end 50mm and similar primes and also microscope lenses. The MPE is quite old and technology has come on a long way since it first appeared. That said it's greatest value is the zooming in magnification. Being able to start at 1:1 or 2:1 where you can see what's going on more readily and then increase things up to 5:1.



But don't feel too bad - I'm sitting here jealous at all the 600mm owners

Get a m4/3 camera and an Olympus 300/4, and you have the same magnification in a smaller/lighter kit.

 

[petrochemist]

It's been ages since I last looked around so my links are all missing/gone/dead ones now, but I know that there are ways to get the same magnification at a higher image quality. It mostly involved messing with high end 50mm and similar primes and also microscope lenses. The MPE is quite old and technology has come on a long way since it first appeared. That said it's greatest value is the zooming in magnification. Being able to start at 1:1 or 2:1 where you can see what's going on more readily and then increase things up to 5:1.



But don't feel too bad - I'm sitting here jealous at all the 600mm owners

One link that I believe still works & gives loads of options is www.extreme-macro.co.uk
I tried most of the approaches listed there but don't have the patience/skill to come close to Johan's results.
A couple of my high magnification options do include a zoom function - but the works microscope (1-4x zoom objective) is somewhat limited in subject matter & the c-mount microscope objective I adapted changes focus distance considerably with the zoom managing better than 2.5x at one end & infinity focus at the other!
ultra macro lens set up by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

My own 600mm is quite a different beast - a f11 mirror lens. You could buy several respectable cars for the difference in value.

 

[RAZKY]

... my links are all missing/gone/dead ones now, but I know that there are ways to get the same magnification at a higher image quality. It mostly involved messing with high end 50mm and similar primes and also microscope lenses.

For still subjects, excellent IQ can be had by reverse mounting or lens coupling with fairly modest lenses. One of my best is a 25 f/1.4 Kern Switar off of a beat up 8mm movie camera that cost me $5.00 from a thrift store. Reversed directly on the camera, magnification is about 2X, and can reach about 15X on my longest bellows with no extension tubes. I probably should scan some of my test slides to post on the forum.