jalywol • Forum Pro • Posts: 13,509
I like mine a lot.
6
maggiemole wrote:
I finally acknowledged after reading posts from Mike Rowe, Adrian Harris and Nick the Gardner's Assistant that I have been failing with macro because I was too ambitious for a novice. So, with humility, I have now ordered the Olympus macro and look forward to it arriving in the next 2 weeks (I gather there might be some delay getting stocks into the UK at the moment). I had originally thought I could use my zoom lenses with additional equipment (tubes, Raynox 150 or close-up lenses) but finally cottoned on to the fact that my lack of technique was the main problem, and I'll be better off using a simpler macro lens to get up to speed.
See AlsoLumix 30mm f2.8 Macro review
Well....Lack of technique is going to bite you no matter what lens you use. It's the old saying: A tourist stops a passerby on the streets of NY, and asks "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The passerby looks at him, and says "practice, practice, practice".
I've been shooting macro for probably about 20 years now (and interested in it for a lot longer than that) with all sorts of lenses and cameras. Never used bellows or reversing rings, as those impressed me as being too fussy for my particular uses, but they can give great results in the right hands. However, I have used all sorts of lenses and diopters for macro over the years, and in recent years have gone to using long teles (but not average long; REALLY long, like the 100-300 or 100-400mm ones) with extension tubes for most of what I shoot.
I still have my (treasured) micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 pre-AI lens, which is still amazing, and is one of only two vintage lenses I have kept from the early days of M43 when adapting lenses made up for not having a lot of native lens options. I will never get rid of that one, but I don't use it that much anymore. I did have, and liked very much, the PL 45mm f2.8 macro, but found I just wasn't using it a whole lot after I started working with very long teles and the ext. tubes. I did buy the 30mm Oly macro, on a whim, when it came up on a Black Friday special a couple of years ago, and, oddly enough, really enjoyed using it, so when I sold off a lot of my M43 gear, I got rid of the PL45mm and kept the Oly 30mm. No, it's not as good in a few ways, but it's awfully close, and since I am not doing a lot with dedicated macros right now, AND it's very small, AND I can use it as a walk around lens for non-macro stuff, it was a better choice to keep. I think it's a fun lens to use, also in general.
Any comments from users of this lens? It looks very good in reviews. It will go on my Panasonic GX9, and as I dislike flash I hope to use the ring light instead to compensate for the f3.5 moderately sized aperture. The main interest is in static things not as small as tiny insects or flies' eyes.
The only suggestion I have for using it on the GX9, which I also own, is to try and keep the shutter speed up a bit, as the IBIS in the GX9 is not really great with it at macro distances. Stabilization in general is difficult for most cameras and lenses at macro distances, but this is one area that I think the Oly bodies do a bit better with than the GX9. It's not terrible, but you just need to be aware of it, and watch your light.
One other thing you do need to get used to; with macro, shooting wide open is going to give you too shallow DOF. Focus stacking can take care of that, but do some experimenting so you know what apertures are going to work best for your purposes with your shots. For a lot of what I shoot, I don't need everything in focus, and I use the OOF areas as a way to frame the particular details that I am most interested in in the shot. But, that's my thing, and it may not be what you want to do, of course. Experimenting with the lens will tell you that, soon enough .
One other thing: With macro, it's very easy to get caught up in just concentrating on the subject and not seeing what else is in the frame. You may get a fabulous shot of a flower, but find there are weirdly distracting pieces of foliage in the background that you didn't notice when taking the shot. It requires patience and concentration on the entire field of view to make macro shots really work as good photographic compositions. That's the part of macro work that takes the longest to master, and whatever lens helps you get into that groove is a good thing.
Oh, and as an added bonus: Once you figure out what works for you best in terms of macro shooting, you may find that you can use just about any lens for it, if its minimum focus distance can get you close enough. That's when those long teles with extension tubes may jump back into your bag .
-J
