Nothing like a purpose built macro lens for those intimate closeups

I mostly use Panasonic zoom lenses which focus really close. Or add a diopter. Or there is an adapted Zuiko 50mm, With a current sale and great reviews on line I sprung for an Olympus 60mm mft macro lens which came in yesterday. Delightfully tiny and super light. It focuses fast and to my ears quite hushed. I would say that with 13 elements and for $400, sealed body and focus limiter not a bad deal for a prime lens of 2.8 and 120 eq focal length. In short I recommend it as one to use and maybe use a lot. For 1 to 1 cozy stuff, the first results are striking. ( I may even do some flowers some day. ) About a third of the girth of my great and well used ED 50mm and it will autofocus on Lumix bodies to my taste. Nowadays this is almost-well not quite- a bargain. A hood. Extra but I prefer a folding rubber one anyway for chump change. GX 7 with 20mm and this 60mm covers much turf in general stuff and friendly portraits. We are talking light and small let us confirm. A getaway bag to grab and go where it will add little to the day's schleppage .... It fits nicely alongside my GX 7 in a small bag with camera mounting a 20mm. Room for the FL 20 flash just in case....By the way----- I do not know what age this ancient Hebrew (?) coin on tie clasp is, but it is very tiny, just fills the mft sensor. Coin buffs , let us hear. if you care to...I think with this size I might even think MACRO even more. aloha nui Edited September 1, 2017 by GerrySiegel

That's a good price for a brand new, dedicated macro lens. It's not always a good idea to use general purpose lenses for macro, unless they're really, really good.

 

BTW that looks like Greek, although I don't know enough about language to really tell. I see an omicron and a psi - but the other characters seem oriented oddly, so they may not be omega and pi. And whatever the last one is.

I did a brief google check and it appears to be a Judean coin design of about the second century CE. Bar Kochba uprising days it reads. And I learned that these were frequently overstamped over Hadrian's denarii. See, political correctness begins way back :-) Must be common ancient piece to get glue to a tie pin.... Reverse mostly hidden by the (cheesy) tie clip but I can see that there are twin trumpets, another clue.... See what stuff the paths lead to Karim, life long learning bit and all..... On macro lenses with long helicoids. I have an early FD 3.5 50mm ( bought in Guam in the 1970s with a 1 to i life size adapter tube and later a FD 25 U better one which connected to the AE lever nicely) which I still also for duplicating slides on a FD auto bellows. A well made lens also, silver nose, solid like all Canon gear , but the slightly longer length of the new plastic Oly is nice and good thermoplastic and AF makes it handy for people pics too. In portraits, recall, the FF 135 mm was a real favorite for years as it was for me. I would say that the product cost is in the metal and the glass, lots of good elements and some with special properties. Deliciously luscious focus wheel. Has to be felt to appreciate.... No regrets at all. Which is not my typical style if I buy any new lens, it better get used, I got too many already and hate to sell anything I know not why. The focal limiter switch btw is something I am not familiar with yet. Sounds like a valuable item as well and time saver in the field. I have an original Novoflex focus rail from the 1960s, Nothing much like it now for the price of twenty bucks at an auction. sometime you win one, Karim. Regards from Oahu. Edited September 1, 2017 by GerrySiegel

I am betting that our classical scholar JDM will be familiar with the script. And the significance of grapes and trumpets. Anyway this is smaller than a ten cent piece in US coinage.

I had been satisfied enough with the 2004 ED Zuiko withe the MMF adapter for some time, and I just did the same object with that lens. Now I see the improvements in the last ten years. The focus is internal in the micro lens and does not trombone way way out and trombone way back in ( that also take battery power). The focus on the older macro makes a hearty swooesh so we know the motors are doing their work. The micro four thirds 60mm shows improvment int he motor efficiency and is Intrnal Focus. What a nice improvement that alone is. Here is a photo with the f 2 lens. It goes about as close but the front element goes way way close to the object almost obscuring my LED flash side light. So, if you can pony the bucks and want a nice macro lens to round out your ensemble,buy the Olympus. It works. Photo below is the older four thirds lens with about same aspect ratio. it will do the job. But is not as delicato or as cool. The slight softness is due to the photographer holding the gear and in a hurry for one shot capture. Not perfushunal that is...

In the philosophy department, and off topic, it is interesting to observe that at some students of the Maccabean revolt and later essentially "anti Hellnistic: revolts against Rome in Judea were not such great accomplishments in terms of cultural progress. Return to a purified version of the Torah and its strictures....They argue It was that old time religion that kept some of the Hellenistic progress in sculpure, art and science at bay in favor of the Book. I personally am not sure, we get what we got. But the Greeks do have my admiration in the pantheon of civilization. The Hasmonian Dynasty , well I am not so sure about progress vs regress. Still reading. Interesting stuff. I would argue, as to the relevance of this observation just this little bit. Photography whether of historical or botanical or landscape of structure leads to delving into the subject and is a refreshment of the senses beginning with the visual and opening the doors to what graven images leave us within our life span--- life long learning. The aesthetic as a link to the wider doorways. But I still do snaps of the family and selfies :-) Edited September 1, 2017 by GerrySiegel

Hebrew coin with grape cluster and trumpets among many such coins. All those sunken ships with clay amphoras now discovered. Moses was not against a little nip nor was any of those early dynasties I recall . Was a big trade item in a day when water was iffy. Wine was also a preservative and solvent. And a medicine if nothing else except herbs. Germs eat sugar and yield ethanol,. a great accomodation to us homo sapiens.

 

NGC Ancients: The Coinage of Bar Kokhba | NGC

Edited September 1, 2017 by GerrySiegel

Oh, so it is Hebrew after all. Obviously a very different script to the standard Hebrew alphabet.

 

BTW those FD lenses sound sweet. I have access to a couple that I can borrow - all I need is an E mount adapter.

Wine happens! There is enough natural yeast on grapes to cause fermentation. Wineries use a starter culture to make sure it proceeds in a consistent manner. One problem is how to make it stop before turning to vinegar. Traditionally this was done with clay based clarifying agents. More recently, sodium sulfite was used. I suspect micro-filtration is employed today, since no chemicals are involved.

Loose amethyst.

I might add, for the close up brigade, that I used to use my two EL Nikkor lenses that I bought for enlarging. The El Nikkor 100mm was used for medium format 6X6 enlarger in the days of chemistry, but on a micro ft it would do a juicy job in getting close ups. Someone cleaned it and screwed it up for me but good....I think it has an M Leica/ Contax (?)screw in mount not sure but the adapters for that mount are simple enough plates and cheap to make and I expect will do a fine job to any mirrorless camera. Click stops too....PS: Canon made a lot of interesting close up gear for FD system too like reverse mount with helicoid which I have and a gadget that keep the lens from reverting to its lowest stop...all good stuff. I have tried much of it over the years and got decent results back then. But time marches on and we want it all just like our beloved kids and grandkids, nay? Now, on the used market there is a cornucopia of lenses that can do close up and equal the modern glass in resolution. Not always convenience though. I am now officially member of the Age of Convenience. (. I never did buy that Miata I threatened to get 10 years ago...) And I am not a long long lens shooter of birds in flight. My longest optic is the ED Zuiko 50-200. Heavy but good on a tripod. And it will take the EC 14. I think the portrait length that is close but not too close is an equivalent FOV of 100-150. But I do not sweat it for whatever happens to be on the camera at hand. We can still crop. Edited September 2, 2017 by GerrySiegel

A focusing rail proves very useful with a macro lens. Turning the focusing ring has less effect as you approach 1:1 reproduction, and since the travel is a significant fraction of the distance, the magnification changes, hence your careful composition. With a focusing rail, you set the lens, then focus using the rail. It also enables effective use of focus stacking, for 3D objects, in spite of the minuscule DOF

 

For most closeups (e.g., flowers), a rack-and-pinon rail is best, but for 1:1 or closer, a screw thread gives finer control.

Hi Ed, yes for 1 to 1 or even 1 to 2 I find that the focus rail is an essential gadget. Trouble is that the RRS and good Novoflex rails are costly. I borrowed a cheaper one and of course the rack and pinion were a little coarse for pleasing functionality. But if I did a lot of super closeups I would tend to gulp and spring for the RRS which has a very fine adjustment or lead screw that is a lab instrument build. Microscopists also use small jacks under their items to raise and lower...., but even these can be pricey if lab quality. I came across this Novoflex rail at a local auction some 15 years ago. It has a fine enough rack and pinion for my use...but then I had to add a top and bottom Arca Swiss clamp and plate which jumped the price but not all that much.... I would also guess that focus stacking which I look forward to would profit from the use of the rail...note that the setup below is a little off balance and I could use a clamp to add weight to the opposite side. For the jewelry I could use my old slide sorter box with an AC adapter.. I am sure those who market jewelry on eBay and on line have a rig and a tent all ready....Oh yes, I paid twenty bucks for the Novofles circa '50s rail...can you believe it. In a box and all.... photo attached.. I love amethysts, wish I had a big beautiful one from Brazil for a ring or pendant for the missus. Edited September 4, 2017 by GerrySiegel

A cross rail like you show would be very useful. Novoflex stuff is built to last.

 

I've seen people use a plastic milk jug with the bottom cut out for a jewelry sized soft box. The lens peeks through the neck The RRS rail has a very fine thread, useful only for 1:2 or closer. It has a quick release nut for coarse positioning

A cross rail like you show would be very useful. Novoflex stuff is built to last.

 

I've seen people use a plastic milk jug with the bottom cut out for a jewelry sized soft box. The lens peeks through the neck The RRS rail has a very fine thread, useful only for 1:2 or closer. It has a quick release nut for coarse positioning

 

Home made is the thing in table top. The set up above has only one axis. I have an AS plate and a very small clamp on the mini tripod. All RRS stuff except the Novoflex. I wish I could afford more RRS gear...they are indeed well machined. But out of reach on my budget except for the plates and clamps. Been with them since 1990 and Geyer days. Loyal I am and love neat machining.

It doesn't take much tilt to make the edge fuzzy. I have a little electronic level, $25 from Amazon, which reads to the nearest 0.5 degree. It's a relative value, so you zero it on a known surface. For copying, the film plane must be parallel to the surface. With this device, it wouldn't matter if the table were level (none of mine are) as long as you could set the camera to the same value. For about $12, Amazon has a glass circular level with 30' sensitivity. If the table were half a bubble off tilt, make the camera the same half bubble.