MFO with the Oly 90 Macro

[bvanant]

Here are two shots of a Tenelia sibogae from Triton Bay. In general the MFO doesn't seem to increase the focus speed very much but that being said it is already quite fast and in fact snappy (no hunting just jump right to focus). I THINK I can see a slight improvement in IQ using it but really hard to compare.

Bill

 

[RIHappyDiver]

I feel the shot above with MFO is just slightly crisper. That being said, I don’t know that I would have noticed the difference in casual viewing.

I really am thankful that you are sharing these with us.

Erik

 

[bvanant]

Yeah me too but it is very subjective
BVA

 

[RIHappyDiver]

Now, that being said, if you ever wanted to blow one up to frame, that little bit of crispness could be beneficial.

 

[rmorgan]

That’s a beautiful animal. I think the MFO (lower) picture is sharper, although I do have the MFO’s-in-the-mail bias.

 

[bvanant]

I think the DOF might be a tad larger.
BVA

 

[justinthedeeps]

I applaud your results with autofocus using the 90mm with or without add-ons

As I have found AF to be very unreliable with this lens for the very close subjects it was designed for. Even with the OM-1 and latest firmwares, settings checked and explored, etc

It could be that the lens is getting distracted by microplankton, or that it just loses things easily near the tight 1x to 2x magnification range. It happens on land too, so I doubt it is anything an in-water MFO is supposed to improve.

A failed AF focus hunt happens often enough that decoupling the AF from the shutter button ended up being a requirement with this lens. Do I have "a lemon?" I don't think so, as the lens is otherwise very good and does perfectly well at non-supermacro ranges.

I operate this lens in manual focus mode with peaking enabled. The AF trigger is mapped to a separate button only for when I am lazy, rushed, or "feeling lucky." (The gamble often loses)

 

[rmorgan]

My experience has been different. I’ve found the small-stuff focus to be quick and accurate, and mostly things further out too. I do find that where there is a lot of particulate, focusing on things further out (maybe 1m or beyond) can be frustrating, but I attribute this as much or more to the body than the lens. I have thought over the past few months of switching to a full-frame system, but read of significant focusing problems with 90mm macro lenses on Sony bodies. I do think the OM 90 is excellent glass.

 

[bvanant]

My experience with the 90 is that in both the 1:1 and macro modes it snaps to focus quite fast if the subject is near the correct distance for the setting, but if it the subject is too big or too far, no dice. With the MFO it seems that it can focus a bit further away but nothing enormous,

Bill