While not in my budget by a long shot, but looking for a macro lens, I ran across: Minolta AF 3x-1x f1.7-2.8 Autofocus Macro Zoom Lens 43325446443 | eBay Almost seems like an AF MP-E with a 1.7 aperture at 1:1. Has anyone used this beast?
The MP-E is 5x, but this is close. I am a bit confused as to why you would want to shoot at f/1.7 for a macro shot at 1:1 magnification though. Unless you wanted nothing in focus...
I agree. It's really opened up wide. For flat copy work, 1.7 would be fine and the lens comes with this weird thing that lets you set it on a table pointing directly downward, so I am thinking that is what they had in mind. If the lens performs well at 1.7, and is optimized for it, it will likely perform even better at smaller stops. Of course if they just opened the lens up to 1.7 because they could, this isn't really the case. It is AF, which is pretty snazzy. It's just a crazy lens. Never seen anything like it and I'm not finding many examples from someone who seems to know how to use it.
I would imagine the large aperture would be an asset for the AF to work. Here's a link to more info and reviews of this lens. Minolta AF 3x-1x 1.7-2.8 Macro 2594-116 lens for Sony Alpha - Minolta camera mount Here a direct link to the image samples. Minolta AF 3x-1x 1.7-2.8 Macro - Dyxum forums
I was just reading this write up on this lens and it even more amazing than I first thought. Review of the 3x-1x Macro Zoom
