G1 and macro

[phil]

I have a G1 with an M adapter. What do you think is the best way to get in to macro? I know nothing about Leica macro - presumably they would be hellish expensive anyway! How about another adapter and using an Olympus 4/3 macro lens? Or CV?
I want to take macro of small flowers not fly's eyes type photographs.
I would really appreciate your opinions/suggestions as I can find little about this in this excellent forum or on the web generally.
Regards, Phil

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

I have a G1 with an M adapter. What do you think is the best way to get in to macro? I know nothing about Leica macro - presumably they would be hellish expensive anyway! How about another adapter and using an Olympus 4/3 macro lens? Or CV?
I want to take macro of small flowers not fly's eyes type photographs.
I would really appreciate your opinions/suggestions as I can find little about this in this excellent forum or on the web generally.
Regards, Phil

First, I´d suggest you try the kit lens with a good achromatic closeup lens (it´s 52 mm, so it´s easy to find, say, a Canon one. I use an old Minolta one that I believe is the same as some Elpro). It´s quite good if you stop down a step or two, it´s convenient, and it´s cheap.

If your ambitions are higher than that, the Olympus 50/2 macro is said to be excellent (the 4/3 one; it won´t autofocus, but that´s not needed for macro). If you own, or can buy, a macro lens for almost any system, just get an adapter for it; I have a Nikon 60/2.8 AF that works great.

I´d forget the M adapter for this purpose; macro isn´t exactly the forte of the M system, although it can be done if you have the money and patience...
But a good M lens for portraiture.... wow!

 

[elf]

Here's a couple of links to get you started:
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/index.php
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=142566

 

[monza]

If you aren't interested in super super close, use an OUFRO extension ring with your M lens, they have been on KEH for about $25.

 

[phil]

brilliant! thanks fro the help and guidance - much appreciated - Phil

 

[JerryMK]

Close Up lens is doing a great job...

Like this:

And so is a Canon FD 100mm f:4 Macro using an FD adapter and extension tube. Like this:

 

[milapse]

Here is a Sigma 105/2.8... mounted via; nikon->C-mount->hawkpeng adapter

 

[Photomorgana]

Here is a shot taken with Kinoptik Macro Apocromat 2/50mm, strait from camera in a very poorly lit room. Arri to C-mount adapter.

 

[petermcwerner]

First, I´d suggest you try the kit lens with a good achromatic closeup lens (it´s 52 mm, so it´s easy to find, say, a Canon one. I use an old Minolta one that I believe is the same as some Elpro). It´s quite good if you stop down a step or two, it´s convenient, and it´s cheap.

If your ambitions are higher than that, the Olympus 50/2 macro is said to be excellent (the 4/3 one; it won´t autofocus, but that´s not needed for macro). If you own, or can buy, a macro lens for almost any system, just get an adapter for it; I have a Nikon 60/2.8 AF that works great.

Phil,

If you a bit serious about macro work, I would forget using a closeup lens. It is possible, but focusing with the kit lens is difficult, as is setting the correct f/ value. Manual focusing and zooming with the kit lens is not easy either under macro conditions. I do a lot of macro, mostly orchids, until now always with 25mm to 105mm macro lenses (Nikon, Sigma, Leica, Kinoptik) and adapters.

When selecting a macro lens, stay away from zoom lenses, as well as form autofocus lenses. A manual fixed focal length macro lens in the 35 to 105mm range will be perfect. The longer, the bigger your working distance from the object.

With some patience, a pre-AI 55mm micro f/3.5 Nikkor (or another good manual macro prime lens) can be found for around $50; a Nikon or other to G1 adapter will add about the same amount to the total.

Today I wanted to try doing as macro shot with the kit lens and a closeup lens to see what results I can get and how easy/difficult it is. The result is not very good, and it took me over 10 minutes and 8 shots to get one that was at least acceptable after some postprocessing - against 1-2 shots and one minute with a macro lens to get a much better result.

G1, Kit lens, Sigma achromatic closeup lens
​

Cheers
Peter

 

[JerryMK]

Pansonic G1 - Canon 50mm f-1.4 / Canon 500d Close up

I don´t have any problems focussing... this was all shot free hand, `wide open` and no flash

 

[phil]

all very interesting and helpful - for old times sake I fancy the idea of a pre AI Nikon lens!

 

[Michiel Schierbeek]

First effort

There are probably many ways to make a macro shot.
This was done with 3 M42 extension tubes, I found, in combination with a Meyer 100mm 2.8 lens. It is a little bit soft and not the sharpest lens, I think.
Used a tripod and found out one has to take a lot of pictures to find a good result. And always the wind!
This was inside a Rhododendron on our balcony.
Not very spectacular but enough to get me interested to do more and try different lenses.

 

[HansenTsang]

When I wanted to setup my G1 to do macro I searched the eBay for an old Nikon 55 mm macro lens. I finally found a nice 55 mm f2.8 macro from KEH camera. I used a Nikkor to Olympus 4/3 adapter then the Panasonic 4/3 to micro 4/3 adapter on the G1. Worked beautifully.

I have since been using the Nikkor 55 mm f2.8 AIS on both my Nikon bodies and the G1.

Other alternatives will be the Nikkor 105 mm AF-D macro and the Tamron 90 mm f2.5 macro. I also have the Leica 60 mm f2.8 Elmarit converted to Pentax mount and use it on the G1 as the macro lens.

I have also tried various extension tubes, reversed lens mount and the 150 and 250 Raynox close up lenses. They all worked but not as convenient as the macro lenses. Out of all the macro lenses the Nikkor 55 f2.8 gave me the highest image quality.

 

[Terry]

I haven't done so well yet on G1 macros. Here is an "OK" one from today....These flowers are only about 1 inch from edge to edge....


View attachment 16066

 

[phil]

that looks OK - the colours are lovely - it's the size of flower I would like to photograph - what lens or set up have you used? - regards from Phil

 

[Terry]

This is with the 45-200 at 84mm. Attached was a Canon 250D close up lens which is a +4 diopter. I currently don't own a macro lens. The light just got really good. Going to give these flowers another try.

 

[Terry]

Better light better technique a few more....Again these flowers are only about an inch big. These have been cropped but not dramatically.


View attachment 16067


View attachment 16068


View attachment 16069

 

[petermcwerner]

Propositions for Improvemement

I have a G1 with an M adapter. What do you think is the best way to get in to macro? I know nothing about Leica macro - presumably they would be hellish expensive anyway! How about another adapter and using an Olympus 4/3 macro lens? Or CV?
I want to take macro of small flowers not fly's eyes type photographs.
I would really appreciate your opinions/suggestions as I can find little about this in this excellent forum or on the web generally.

Phil,

my advice is to invest in a Manual Macro Prime lens in the 40-100mm range, not necessarily Leica or Olympus; Old Nikkors still give excellent results and you can find many good ones at affordable prices on ebay. I had a look at the completed listings this morning to get a feel for the current market and found several interesting lenses that would fit your needs.

The following search string showed some pertinent examples among a lot of rubbish:

(mikro, micro, macro) lens -(af,ring,adapter,adaptor,tripod,hood,cloth,reverse,extension,extention,wide,fisheye,fish eye,zoom,close up,closeup,conversion,converter,convertor,filter,filters)

Completed listings (items actually sold in the last few days)

Vivitar 55mm/2.8 Auto Macro for Nikon from $24.99
various Nikon Micro Nikkor 55mm/3.5 from $27.89
Canon 50mm/3.5 macro from $49.99
Nikon Micro Nikkor 105mm/4.0 $61.30
Nikon Micro Nikkor 55mm/2.8 from $81.00
Olympus OM 135mm/2.8 Macro from $39.17
Pentax M 50mm/4.0 macro $ 56.00

The lowest priced Leica macro lens, the excellent Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm/2.8, would set you back about $350.

Add a hood (if it does not come with the lens) and a G1 adapter and you should be able to have a good macro outfit for around $100. If you do not yet own a tripod, add this, too. For the type of shooting you describe, this outfit can deliver very good IQ and ease of operation.

Regards,
Peter

G1 - Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 2.8/100 + APO Extender-R 2x - ISO=100 - Developed in Raw Therapee
​

 

[phil]

thanks guys for your kind help and advice - I intend to look for a Nikon lens (for old times sake - I have a soft spot for Nikon!) - regards - Phil

 

[heavyharmonies]

I had a Nikon f4 105mm macro (MF) from KEH here for a few days. Didn't like it, for 1 major reason:

(I'm a photography novice, so please pardon incorrect terminology...)

With the Zuiko 35mm macro lens I also have, any time I adjust focus, the LCD jumps to a 10x or 20x zoom while focusing, which makes it easy to get a precise focus. I lost this with the Nikon, and had to make do with what I was seeing at full frame on the LCD, which was insufficient to get precise focus.

I assume this is because I had to use an adapter between the Nikon and the DMW-MA1 rather than mating the lens to the DMW-MA1 directly. Please correct me if this is an incorrect assumption and there was another cause for this behavior.

With the kit lens and the Zuiko, precise focusing is easy on small objects, but I never could get there with the Nikon, regardless of the on-camera settings I tried...