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Re: [OM] Re: macro posts please / 1-11/12 screens

Subject: Re: [OM] Re: macro posts please / 1-11/12 screens
From: Jan Steinman <Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 08:54:04 -0800
From: Wm Biesele <wbiesele@xxxxxxxxx>

The macro kit is now complete except for the 20 f2.

Not to dissuade you from your passion (like I could :-) but the 20/2 is, IMHO, the least useful of all the macro lenses, and at the same time, perhaps the most rare. So sit back and wait for a good buy while learning how to use the rest of the lenses -- especially the 38. When you find the 38 isn't getting you close enough, THEN you'll be ready to spend the big bux on the 20.

By "least useful," I don't mean to imply that it is a bad lens, but it is the most difficult to work with, because:

1) It is the most difficult to light, unless you go for the fancy and expensive stage/illuminator/reflector. I use it with a T-10, but am less than thrilled with the results. It is almost impossible to use without a special macro light source of some kind.

2) It is the most difficult to compose for, since you cannot see what you're composing without looking through it, unlike almost every other lens in the world! When you're trying to image something roughly 2mm on a side, you simply cannot predict what it will look like in the viewfinder.

3) It is about as difficult to cortrol as a 600mm lens, albeit without the weight. Every little tap on the tripod translates into vibration. Ideally, you'll use it with a copy stand rather than a tripod. Luckily, the almost necessary use of flash makes vibration less critical.

4) It is perhaps the most difficult Zuiko to focus. All those tiny vibrations I was talking about above? If only a tiny fraction of a mm in the focal axis, they still cause the image to vibrate in and out of focus, largely negating the motion-stopping advantage of flash. Try to use it aligned with the axis of your center column, so vibrations will be in the film plane rather than in the lens axis.

5) It is diffraction-limited at a relatively high f-stop. (I think 8, or perhaps even 5.6). Forget about stopping down for maximum depth-of-field unless you're willing to tolerate loss of sharpness, which you'll already be compromising unless you use it on a rock-solid copy stand with flash.

I'm always struggling with the difference between "need" and "want." I'm sure you "want" this lens, but you might want to wait until you actually "need" it before adding it to your stable!

: Jan Steinman <mailto:Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Bytesmiths <http://www.bytesmiths.com>

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