Best Macro Lense for Oly XZ-1/PT-050?

[anenomefishman]

Sorry, tried search, but no hits on "Olympus XZ-1 Macro Lens" Recommendations are welcome.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[Puffer Fish]

I have an Inon wet lens and we are getting the oly wet lens... will try them out and see which is better, but given how well the oly wide angle works, my bet would be on the oly one.

 

[reneewoo]

My initial test shots of PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 close-up lens. No vignetting underwater (while no zoom), only very tiny corner coverage on land.
All photos are having w/ UCL165 M67 here:
Anilao, Philippines, April 2011 - a set on Flickr

Gear : Olympus XZ-1 + PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 + Inon D2000 flash + Sola 600
Thoughts after test :
1. Need to zoom to get focus right by eye, can't follow the Green box for focus ref.
2. Can't really get pigmy seahorse well by a single close-up lens, too difficult to focus when zooming a lot (for eye focus purpose).
3. We need that super macro flash to be unlocked for firing external strobe. You need to stay away for min 10cm on land to get focus for macro mode, and appears to me it's far more away u/w.

 

[under water]

My initial test shots of PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 close-up lens. No vignetting underwater (while no zoom), only very tiny corner coverage on land. All photos are having w/ UCL165 M67 here: Anilao, Philippines, April 2011 - a set on Flickr ...

Wonderful pictures Renee.

Bruce. The INON macro lenses have consistently given fantastic results. The issue alluded to by Puffer above is related to the geometry of the wide angle lenses and should not be a factor for macro lenses. I am curious to see the results of a comparison of the Oly & INON Close-Up lenses.

The caveats mentioned by Renee are important to note.

 

[anenomefishman]

My initial test shots of PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 close-up lens. No vignetting underwater (while no zoom), only very tiny corner coverage on land.
All photos are having w/ UCL165 M67 here:
Anilao, Philippines, April 2011 - a set on Flickr

Gear : Olympus XZ-1 + PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 + Inon D2000 flash + Sola 600
Thoughts after test :
1. Need to zoom to get focus right by eye, can't follow the Green box for focus ref.
2. Can't really get pigmy seahorse well by a single close-up lens, too difficult to focus when zooming a lot (for eye focus purpose).
3. We need that super macro flash to be unlocked for firing external strobe. You need to stay away for min 10cm on land to get focus for macro mode, and appears to me it's far more away u/w.

Renee-

Very nice pictures! What camera mode did you take these pics in? M, A, S, scene, etc.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[reneewoo]

I used M mode for all photos. M + macro mode.

 

[slowhands]

...
Gear : Olympus XZ-1 + PT-050 + Inon UCL165 M67 + Inon D2000 flash + Sola 600
Thoughts after test :
1. Need to zoom to get focus right by eye, can't follow the Green box for focus ref.
2. Can't really get pigmy seahorse well by a single close-up lens, too difficult to focus when zooming a lot (for eye focus purpose).
3. We need that super macro flash to be unlocked for firing external strobe. You need to stay away for min 10cm on land to get focus for macro mode, and appears to me it's far more away u/w.

Your shots are marvelous! I'll have to try Anilao one of these times. Dauin is my macro haven, but there are different critters at Anilao. Nice work anyway.

The supermacro mode does not allow the flash to fire, as already discussed in this forum. This is what Olympus decided was best, since the camera flash is blocked by the lens when that close. Dumb! Those who use external flash or ring flash are unable to use external flash with supermacro.

But Olympus will probably not update the firmware to unlock this unless they fix some other serious functionality bug at the same time, and I don't know of any bugs. They probably don't see this as a defect anyway, just a design choice. It's interesting to note that they are somewhat schizoid on this; in the past the C5050, C5060 and C8080 allowed external flash, but the C7070 and SP-350 did not. I've never heard of anyone hacking the firmware to make this possible, but I wish it could be done.

For now, the best workaround seems to be use your focus light for illumination in supermacro mode. An underwater ring LED would work too.....

I think they should allow flash with supermacro it in M mode -- as a minimum. Anything should be possible in M mode, it's up to the photographer to know his craft well and know when to break the rules to get the intended result.

Most of these lenses have an advertised minimum working distance for the widest setting, that is, the 10CM is for 28mm. It seems to be longer for telephoto, the opposite of what I would prefer. I assume this has to do with close focus being difficult to accomplish at longer zoom.

At any rate, the last time I tried to shoot a pygmy seahorse I had only one macro lens, poor planning, and just could not get close enough to fill the frame with the poor seahorse. After about 30 shots, I decided I was too far behind the group and better get going. Now it's an obsession to get that shot. Next time, I'll stack the macro lenses and use the focus light for illumination.

 

[musi]

You mean something like this?
Got this with a Panasonic Lumix Fx01 and a foto light by mb sub.
Simple point and shoot. No wet lenses... and now I am in an upgrade dilemma Which camera makes better macro pictures unless I invest a huge amount in a DSLR system...
Greetings,
Daniel

 

[Jun Lao]

inon ucl165 works well, stacking another with vignetting, waiting for oly macro wetlens sample

 

[anenomefishman]

An underwater ring LED would work too.....

I am not aware of an underwater ring LED. can you point me towards one.

Thanks,
Bruce