I mentioned in the post I wrote just before my recent trip to California that I had gotten some new toys: new cameras. Most excitingly, I have long coveted the Canon MP-E 65 lens, so I bought myself my first Canon DSLR! I couldn’t be happier with that purchase. I knew the lens would have a bit of a learning curve as it doesn’t have a focusing ring, but I LOVE the lens! You’ll be seeing a lot more photos taken with that camera, I’m sure, but this is one of my favorites from my very first Canon DLSR shoot:
Green lynx spider
That’s a green lynx spider sitting on one of the black-eyed susans that’s awaiting planting in my native plant bed. I can already tell that I am going to get a LOT of use out of my new toy. :)
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The Dragonfly Woman 
congrats on the new ‘toy’
Thanks! I am SOOOOOO excited!
Gorgeous shot. I love the contrast between the spider’s green body and the yellow petals of the flower. I think that a lot of us covet the MP-E. I look forward to both your photos and your impressions of your new “toys.”
Yeah, I’m a Nikon user, so I went over to the dark side for that lens. :) But it works out well! Now I have a Canon body and flash for just that one lens and a Nikon body for all of my other lenses. It’s going to be great to have a dedicated macro rig, ready to go at a moment’s notice. It takes FOREVER to get it set up from scratch with all the flashes and the diffusers and getting things attached to the camera and the lenses. Honestly, it can take 20 minutes to get everything set up on my Nikon! That’s a LONG time, especially when there’s a chance that the super cool thing I’ve seen is going to move on before I’m ready to photograph it.
Glad you liked the shot! You can’t beat a green lynx spider on a contrasting background, but I was honestly just excited to see it. Haven’t ever seen one in my yard! It’s rather perfectly landscaped (the house came that way when we bought it – I’m trying to “mess” it up a bit), so I don’t get as great a diversity as I might like…
Nice! I have only borrowed this lens,and indeed it is tough to use, II think you will have fun learning!
I am completely in love with the new lens! I am glad, however, that I had a lot of experience using the manual settings on my Nikon or the learning curve would be pretty brutal. It’s going to be so fun to have this lens in my arsenal of camera gear! Hope you’ll get your own someday.
Nice! Have fun with your new toy!
Thanks Lee! I’m super excited.
What spindly details! Makes my skin crawl. Thanks for sharing a fun result of your new toy!
Thanks! Glad you appreciated it, even if it made your skin crawl. :)
That’s great news- I’m looking forward to all the new macros!
Thanks Alex! I inherited some money from my dad and wanted to buy myself something that I know he would have wanted to get me if he could. I significantly upgraded my Nikon body and got the Canon rig specifically for the MP-E lens. I am thrilled with them both!
I love green lynx spiders! They are always wonderful to find!
Agreed! This is the first one I found at home, and I was thrilled!
I’ve heard its a great Macro lens, I’m looking forward to more pictures. The first sample looks promising!
I had heard the same thing, and now I’ve confirmed it for myself! That said, I’m glad that I learned how to use an SLR on a completely manual, ancient film camera. It would be a beast of a chore to learn how to use this lens coming from an automated background!