macro on a budget micro 4/3rds

My answer to almost everything is a manual focus film era lens.

I went for a Sigma 50mm f2.8 which does 1:1 but a longer lens might be nice too. Other options could be close up filters, extension tubes or reversing a lens. I've never reversed a lens but I've used tubes and close up filters and I much prefer the close up filters but actually I like a real macro lens a lot more :D

I have Novoflex adapters for my Sony A7 but for my MFT I just have cheap adapters bought off evil bay and the good news is that they seem to work just as well as the very expensive Novoflex ones, so much so that I wonder why I paid so much for them.
 
thanks woof woof.....? I'll probably go for close up filters, I'd sort of narrowed down to them or extension tubes, and given they are half the price of even budget tubes, that's probably the way to go (budget is key here as once lockdown is over I may never touch them again)

Any recommendations for a brand?
 
I use tubes on my Oly 45 1.8 and am pretty happy with them. Haven't tried close up filters since a very cheap set in the early 2000s on an AE1, and the combination I have now is orders of magnitude better than that, but also an apples/oranges comparison so take for what it is.
 
I have a few manual focus lenses and various adaptors to fit , all have a macro capability but TBH your far better off long term in seeking out either a 30 or 60mm olympus one . might consider selling some of my M/F shortly but haven't yet decided . whatever mount you go for be it m42/om/nikon etc your going to need the adaptor to fit and as most come from china your looking at a long delay
 
I just picked up an Olympus 50/2 Macro on the 4/3 adaptor . . . should work well: testing it next week against my other bargain macros - enlarger lenses.
 
thanks woof woof.....? I'll probably go for close up filters, I'd sort of narrowed down to them or extension tubes, and given they are half the price of even budget tubes, that's probably the way to go (budget is key here as once lockdown is over I may never touch them again)

Any recommendations for a brand?

I just have some cheap ones, I think they may be Kood, they're perfectly fine though. Some like mine come in a set of three or four and of course you can use them individually or stack them. It's so long ago I've forgotten how much mine cost but they were definitely under £30.

Whatever you get it may be worth getting ones to fit the largest filter thread lens you want to use them with and get stepping rings for the other lenses.
 
I've tried all sorts, from reversing old manual lenses to macro ext tubes and front element attachments like Raynox - what I've learned over time is - for macro tubes, the shorter the focal length the better - within reason [they won't work so well on wide angle lenses, 25-50mm is about the sweet spot] - and for the likes of Raynox attachments the longer the FL the better, ideally 70/80mm+ if you want close to 1:1 or greater. When I shot M43 I had the Raynox 250 which worked great on lenses 60mm+ - I mostly used it on a Panasonic 100-300 [usually around the 100mm region] and it produced some very pleasing results, not easy though and maybe not the best idea for a beginner to macro. But slap that Raynox on your 45mm and you will be able to get a lot closer and maintain AF - it'll be more 1:2 than 1:1 but you can crop in a bit and still keep decent resoloution - If I remember correctly the Oly 12-40mm with the Raynox had strong vignetting so not that great. Macro tubes might work better with that lens at mid focal lengths

But I agree with Woof here, find a decent old vintage macro lens, some of them are really excellent IQ-wise, though they do tend to extend a lot and can be pretty hefty - If you can get your budget to about £100 you should be able to find a decent old macro lens plus adapter for M43
 
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Quite a few old lenses only go to half life size and need a tube to go to 1:1 so I think it's worth thinking about what's really needed, half life size may be enough and there's the possibility of cropping, maybe.

I used to like my Sigma 150mm on my DSLR's and 50mm seems a bit short for me on MFT but may suit others perfectly so maybe a 50, 80 or 100mm may be worth thinking about if going for a manual film era lens?

I remember using an old film era 135mm f3.5 + tubes once, it focused close and the depth was more than razor thin. Good fun though :D but really just about impossible to use handheld, a geared head helped.
 
Quite a few old lenses only go to half life size and need a tube to go to 1:1 so I think it's worth thinking about what's really needed, half life size may be enough and there's the possibility of cropping, maybe.

I used to like my Sigma 150mm on my DSLR's and 50mm seems a bit short for me on MFT but may suit others perfectly so maybe a 50, 80 or 100mm may be worth thinking about if going for a manual film era lens?

I remember using an old film era 135mm f3.5 + tubes once, it focused close and the depth was more than razor thin. Good fun though :D but really just about impossible to use handheld, a geared head helped.


Nikon, Vivitar and Tamron all have pretty cheap 1:1 options for about £100 or less
 
Well, there you go then :D

I'm sure I've read that there's a Vivitar somewhere in the 80 to 100mm range that's very well thought of.

The only thing wrong with my Sigma 50mm is that although there's plenty of focus movement for close up there's next to none for further distance which can be irritating. Other than that it was £60 (I think...) well spent as I've used it a lot.

And a PS.
One thing with good macro lenses is that they tend to be good lenses for other uses too.
 
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Well, there you go then :D

I'm sure I've read that there's a Vivitar somewhere in the 80 to 100mm range that's very well thought of.

The only thing wrong with my Sigma 50mm is that although there's plenty of focus movement for close up there's next to none for further distance which can be irritating. Other than that it was £60 (I think...) well spent as I've used it a lot.

And a PS.
One thing with good macro lenses is that they tend to be good lenses for other uses too.

It does require a little research, as like you say they all have 1:2 variants too

Take the old Vivitar 90mm, there's a 2.5 version [they share this build with Tokina, [oft referred to as the 'Bokina' because of it's nice bokeh] that's well loved, but on it's own is only a 1:2, you need the specific extension to make it a 1:1, but there's a 2.8 version that is 1:1 from the off - it's cheaper but going on reviews needs stopping down a bit more than the 2.5 version.
 
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Thanks folks, you've gone beyond both "beginner" and "budget" in the last few posts but interesting stuff :)

I've ordered extension tubes from amazon with prime delivery, will be here sometime between 9th april and 1st may........:tumbleweed:

1:2 will be plenty for now, as I said this is a bit of an educational exercise as I've never explored macro, never really having had any interest. If that interest develops then I'll invest in better and more appropriate kit but for now tubes seem to be the best cost/simplicity/results combination.

:ty:
 
Thanks folks, you've gone beyond both "beginner" and "budget" in the last few posts but interesting stuff :)

I've ordered extension tubes from amazon with prime delivery, will be here sometime between 9th april and 1st may........:tumbleweed:

1:2 will be plenty for now, as I said this is a bit of an educational exercise as I've never explored macro, never really having had any interest. If that interest develops then I'll invest in better and more appropriate kit but for now tubes seem to be the best cost/simplicity/results combination.

:ty:

Not really, as many beginners opt for the adapted lens route, as it can be pretty cheap. Anything below £100 is usually considered budget, but you can go a lot cheaper too - thing is, Macro with extension tubes or add on elements is no easier than using a proper macro lens, in fact it can be much trickier as you get much less working distance and you have a much narrower area of focus. They are purely designed to focus at a certain distance only. With a macro lens you can go from 1:1 or 1:2 back out to infinity.

Now a focus rail, as you've posted above, to me would be very tricky - in fact I've never used one as I don't tend to do stacking - that seems complicated to me and I've been shooting macro for a long time. I think if you can manage to get good results using that you're well beyond beginner :)
 
Now a focus rail, as you've posted above, to me would be very tricky - in fact I've never used one as I don't tend to do stacking - that seems complicated to me and I've been shooting macro for a long time. I think if you can manage to get good results using that you're well beyond beginner :)

If I use the rail (and it's a big IF) it will be to fine tune composition of (very) static subjects :LOL::LOL:, not intending to go down the stacking route at that point, staying well away from that rabbit hole for the forseeable
 
If I use the rail (and it's a big IF) it will be to fine tune composition of (very) static subjects :LOL::LOL:, not intending to go down the stacking route at that point, staying well away from that rabbit hole for the forseeable

I am fascinated sometimes by stacked images, especially ones of live bugs - it puzzles me how they actually accomplished stacks of 20+ images where one micro movement by the bug would throw it off. I just don't have the patience, it's get it in one or nothing for me - I also never use a tripod for macro unless it's a specific set up in the kitchen, doing water splashes or going beyond 1:1 for an interesting texture close up where hand held is nigh on impossible. Most macro I shoot is one handed, manual focus using my body to adjust, with an off cam flash with diffuser in my left hand - sometimes I'll stick it on the hot shoe, actually doing more of that atm because the lens I have is pretty hefty - with some form of DIY/makeshift diffuser
 
I am fascinated sometimes by stacked images, especially ones of live bugs - it puzzles me how they actually accomplished stacks of 20+ images where one micro movement by the bug would throw it off. I just don't have the patience, it's get it in one or nothing for me - I also never use a tripod for macro unless it's a specific set up in the kitchen, doing water splashes or going beyond 1:1 for an interesting texture close up where hand held is nigh on impossible. Most macro I shoot is one handed, manual focus using my body to adjust, with an off cam flash with diffuser in my left hand - sometimes I'll stick it on the hot shoe, actually doing more of that atm because the lens I have is pretty hefty - with some form of DIY/makeshift diffuser

Unfortunately some photographers go down the road of putting the bug in the fridge to slow it down
 
Unfortunately some photographers go down the road of putting the bug in the fridge to slow it down


Yeah I personally hate that crap, it's like buying flowers just to get the close ups - if you don't find it in the wild, you're not really trying IMO - but hey, who am I to judge? Some would say bugs deserve no less, but when it's bees I'm gonna have to differ
 
I've never done stacking but Googling told me my creaking old CS5 has the ability so I might give it a go. Not for bugs though and I don't agree with interfering with them but it's something that could come I handy for flower and detail shots at home such as jewellery.

Thanks guys :D
 
Go CS5! Mine still works after what feels like a lifetime. No plans to upgrade. May eventually have to build a PC with an old OS just to run it . . .
 
I am fascinated sometimes by stacked images, especially ones of live bugs - it puzzles me how they actually accomplished stacks of 20+ images where one micro movement by the bug would throw it off. I just don't have the patience, it's get it in one or nothing for me - I also never use a tripod for macro unless it's a specific set up in the kitchen, doing water splashes or going beyond 1:1 for an interesting texture close up where hand held is nigh on impossible. Most macro I shoot is one handed, manual focus using my body to adjust, with an off cam flash with diffuser in my left hand - sometimes I'll stick it on the hot shoe, actually doing more of that atm because the lens I have is pretty hefty - with some form of DIY/makeshift diffuser
get yourself a olympus high end model and a 60mm macro and you can stack in camera Keith . its a fast process and really works well i.e
green fingers by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
FWIW I bought a cheap set of FOTGA tubes for my Olympus ages ago.
They worked fine and allowed me to discover how little patience I have for fiddling around at that scale :)
Some results are here
https://flic.kr/s/aHskypyDQ2
 
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