Canon 65mm macro lens

Recently the nature center where I do alot of my photography received a donation of a Canon 50D and a Canon 65mm macro lens. I have never used this type of lens and it seems to me this is a lens not only requiring a tripod but a focusing rail to function properly since it appears the only way to focus is by moving the camera in and out. Am I correct or am I missing something?

It also came with the Canon 100.. 2.8 macro, which I have. Thanks for any help you can give.

correct! My DH bought it for me for my bday and I had to send it back, I am not patient enough for it. It is awesome in its magnification and sharpness, but your feet or a focusing rail are the only way to focus.

While I have never used this lens I have a friend who owns one and uses it all the time without a tripod or rail. He typically uses flash but gets good images in bright light as well. When using it he is generally so close to the subject that he anchors the camera on something sturdy (table, rock, log) with a finger from the hand supporting the camera. Next he rough focuses, and then leans slightly forward or back as needed for fine focus, and shoots. He gets marvelous photos and has worked with a botanist cateloguing lichens (seems there's a niche for most anything) over the last couple of years. I've also spend some time with a guy studying arthropods who does the same with live spiders and gets very nice images.

Bottomline, that's a marvelous lens and I'd work with it for a while before I wrote it off as worthless with out tripod or rail.

I assume you are talking about the Canon MPE-65?

See this article:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/mp-e-65.shtml

Thanks guys, I will be trying this lens out and hopefully have some decent images to post.

If this is indeed the MPE-65, it's an amazing lens for high magnification macro work, but you will absolutely need a tripod and focusing rail to use this effectively and you should probably have a cable release. You will also find yourself using mirror lock up regularly. In fact, I would strongly recommend a focusing rail with a geared adjustment. You'll find that the short focal length makes insect photos very challenging, but stationary objects (like flowers) will work well. I don't own one, but I dream of owning one since I often use extension tubes on my 100mm macro to get magnifications higher than 1:1. If you're super steady (as Keith A. describes) you may get a few shots leaning to adjust focus, but you'll be throwing away most of your images. Since you're familiar with the 100mm macro, imagine using it only at 1:1.