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Best Macro Lens for GFX50R

Cozmopak

New member
Any recommendations? I've been reading that some have had good results with the extension tube attached to the GF 32-64 lens.
I'm also not opposed to using adapted lenses. Heard mixed reviews of the native GF macro lens.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
There’s always the Contax 645 120 macro. IIRC, It goes to 1-1. There is a GF adapter. I’ve had no problems with the Fuji GF 120, though.

—Matt
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
Best lens? Very subjective however I'll share what I've found works for me using a trio of GFX bodies.

I began shooting waterdrops with a GFX50S then moved to the 100. I sold the 50S shortly after then decided to get a 50R since it was too good to pass up.

All my waterdrops are captured using a GF120 with and without the extenders.

So, my vote goes for the GF120...



 

Don Libby

Well-known member
As it was pointed out, these samples were with the 100. I've not yet shot the 50R however based on past experiences with the 50S I see no issues.
 

gurtch

Well-known member
I have a GFX 50R. I also have the Pentax 645 120mm f4 lens, which is quite good. It is a manual focus lens, with physical f stop ring and goes to 1:1, and is easy to adapt to the GFX. In fact the adapter I have has a nice tripod collar built into it. They are also very reasonably priced on the used market, The manual focus is buttery smooth.
Dave in NJ
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I have a GFX 50R. I also have the Pentax 645 120mm f4 lens, which is quite good. It is a manual focus lens, with physical f stop ring and goes to 1:1, and is easy to adapt to the GFX. In fact the adapter I have has a nice tripod collar built into it. They are also very reasonably priced on the used market, The manual focus is buttery smooth.
Dave in NJ
I have the GF 120, Contax 120, and Pentax 120 macros. I agree that the Pentax is beautifully smooth to use - my best macros were taken with it years ago - but its color fringing is quite noticeable compared to the Contax and the Fuji. (I might have noticed that wide open. I can test it again.) But the Pentax is just silly inexpensive, and one should have a copy just in case.

Matt
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
OK! Way too many pictures incoming! Three 120 macros! Two MF cameras!

This post is dedicated to the Pentax 645 120. It's a 1:1 macro that is a screaming bargain.

We start @f/4 mounted on the GFX 100



Crop



Same @f/8



Crop



And @f/16



Crop



So pretty good once you get away from wide open.

To be continued...
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Now the Contax 120, also a 1:1 zoom @ f/4 mounted on the GFX 100



Crop



Less fringing, but not perfect. But Damn! We can't stop it down on with my adapter!

Leica S(007) to the rescue. Once again, f/4.



Crop



Now you see more fringing - probably because I was focused on the letters when it was mounted on the Fuji. Or it works better with the Fuji. Or ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

Now @f/8



Crop



And @f/16



Crop



Next up, the 1:2 Macros...
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
While we have the Leica S mounted, here's its native 120/2.5 macro. It's a 1:2 macro (magnification 0.5, in case I wrote that backwards). To get pictures like the 1:1 lenses, we crop 50%.

Leica S(007) with S120 macro @ f/4



and crop (now only 800 pixels wide - a mere 37.5 MP sensor... y'know, that was once a lot. :deadhorse:)



@f/8



crop



And @f/16



Crop



One of the all-time great lenses, IMHO.

Next .. The GFX 100 and its native 120/4 macro.
 
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MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Aaaand back to the GFX 100 with the GF 120/4 macro - also a 1:2 (0.5 magnification)

First @f/4



Crop (not much wider than the Leica crops, as the square root of 102/37.5 is ... :deadhorse:)



Now @f/8



Crop



And @f/16



Crop



And, as a bonus, here is a 39 shot stack of f/16 shots with the new auto stacking on the GFX 100. Sorry if that's :OT:



Crop



That's it!

Best,

Matt
 
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MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I am going to reshoot the Leica S images. I did not use Live View manual focusing and feel that the lenses don't show themselves best. Mind you, all four are superb from f/8 on.

This time I carefully focused on the leading edge of the coin. First the Contax Zeiss 120/4 APO-Macro on Leica S(007).

Here's the working distance for a 1:1 120 macro:



Crops only

f/4



f/8



f/16




And now the Leica S-120/2.5 macro. First, working distance for a 1:2 120 macro:



And since the Leica goes to 2.5, here it is wide open

f/2.5 Not to get into an equivalence war, but the DoF is larger at 1:2, this is also a tighter crop (by a factor of 2, amazingly enough!)



f/4



f/8



f/16



Once again, unless you plan to shoot macros wide open, any of these lenses will do fabulously. My recommendation is still to get a Pentax 645 120/4, and then if you want the automation capabilities for focus stacks, the GF 120/4 (not sure if that feature is on the GFX 50R yet which is, after all, what the OP asked about.)

No more coin shots, I hope!

Matt
 
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Shashin

Well-known member
This is shot on a Pentax 645D with the Pentax 645 A 120mm Macro--the old manual focus version.











Personally, I have never seen a medium-format 120mm f/4 macro lens I did not like. There is just something special about them.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Love the Dandelion, Will.

Here are a few of my old Pentax 645 120/4 macros on the Sony A7II. Limited focus stack - didn't want everything in focus. With such a smooth manual focus, I just turned the barrel the same amount between shots. It was easy to do a manual focus stack!



Single frame showing off the bokeh.



Matt
 
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MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Further testing (I have an unhealthy fascination with George Washington's nose).

I got the Fringer adapter for Contax lenses on the GFX100. It works. but AF is unreliable. They warn of that, and the Macro is MF anyway, so works well. What doesn't work, of course, is the auto focus bracketing (pre-stacking). A not-exactly-cheap solution is to get the Fuji extension tubes for the G system. That moves the 120 magnification range from [0, 1/2] to [1/2, 1]. In other words, with (slightly more than) 60 mm of extension tubes, the whole focus range of the 120 is from magnification 1/2 to 1:1. Now the 120 is internal focusing, so the numbers may be off. BUT...



Yielding



The lighting is different from previous Noses, and (gasp) the tripod has one leg on the rug, but it works just fine.

So while probably the most expensive GFX macro solution, I can recommend the GF 120 Macro and a pair of extension tubes.

Matt
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Will,

Sorry to get :OT:, but your dandelion is about the softest (in the emotional sense, not focus!) example I've seen. I went for the most hostile and aggressive dandelion I could get:



--Matt
 

Duff photographer

Active member
Seems Matt is owning this thread, and deservedly so :D Many likes/thanks given for that.

For sake of completion I would perhaps, possibly, maybe add the macro lenses by Rodenstock and Schneider, the Apo-Macro-Sironar Digital 120mm and Apo-Digitar 120mm respectively (Schneider also did an 80mm version). Both f5.6. Both constructed as 'large format' lenses. Of course, they would need to be adapted to fit the Fuji using a bellows to focus. Both super sharp and true apochromatics.

While the macro lenses mentioned above will more than suffice (my choices being the Contax and the Leica) and way easier to use, both the Schneider and Rodenstock lenses have the advantage of a whopping image circle (at 1:1) so can be used on an appropriate bellows for lens movements, which can be useful depending on the type of macro one wishes to shoot.

Probably too much info' there, but it's done now ;)

Cheers,
Duff.
 
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