Using the 30mm macro

[Ardy]

Got back a couple of weeks ago from another trip to Tulamben and again only used the 30mm once. There was a reason this time, I had a young dive guide and the stuff he was finding was so small the 30mm (sans a wet lens) would not have done it. I was struggling to see what he was pointing at sometimes! On a couple of occasions I had to shrug my shoulders and move on.
Great trip though. I'll make an effort to do some fish/sand eels/bigger than macro stuff next time I go.

 

[Midget]

Got back a couple of weeks ago from another trip to Tulamben and again only used the 30mm once. There was a reason this time, I had a young dive guide and the stuff he was finding was so small the 30mm (sans a wet lens) would not have done it. I was struggling to see what he was pointing at sometimes! On a couple of occasions I had to shrug my shoulders and move on.
Great trip though. I'll make an effort to do some fish/sand eels/bigger than macro stuff next time I go.

I had the same issue at Tulamben with my 30mm! Even tried stacked macro wet lenses with it. Not very happy with the purchase.

 

[Ardy]

I had the same issue at Tulamben with my 30mm! Even tried stacked macro wet lenses with it. Not very happy with the purchase.

Hi Midget, I am very happy with my 30mm and on the next trip I am going to dedicate a dive or two to things 20mm+ in size, I want some decent shots of sand divers, sand eels, juvenile fish etc also larger nudi's (that I can see).
The 30mm is perfect for these and I cropped a few small stuff from dives and they came out good enough.

 

[Furnari]

I'm also very happy with the Olympus 30mm, and I don't even bother with the 60mm any more. Here's a few from last month's trip to California's Big Sur coast...

 

[Ardy]

I'm also very happy with the Olympus 30mm, and I don't even bother with the 60mm any more. Here's a few from last month's trip to California's Big Sur coast...
View attachment 527955View attachment 527956View attachment 527958

Great shots, do you uses wet lenses and if so which ones?

 

[Furnari]

Thanks I haven't tried a wet lens yet. With the Olympus macro port, I've been able to get close enough to frame what I need, with just some minimal cropping/straightening in post.

 

[tursiops]

Great shots, do you uses wet lenses and if so which ones?

Wet diopters with the 30mm is not a very good combination.

 

[boletus1973]

the 30mm macro is a beautiful cheap lens…. it's perfect with mid size macro stuff and very good with bad viz because you can stay closer to the subject…. i use mostly the 60mm and diopters, but sometimes the 30 is the right choice….

the oly 30mm

_8124051 by boletus.italy, su Flickr

the panasonic 30mm

_8091453 by boletus.italy, su Flickr

for my experience the panasonic is slighty better.... but now i've only the Olympus... for both this lenses every diopter is totally USELESS.... like with canon and nikon 60mm....

 

[bvanant]

The Oly 30mm macro? The main thing to be aware of is the min focus distance is right up on the port glass with the recommended port, the 9.5cm min focus distance is from the sensor so that is only 20mm or in front of the front element of the lens, so getting 1:1 might be a challenge, probably best suited to 1:2 and less magnification.

But at 9.5 cm the magnification is 1.25 to 1 so to get 1:1 you can be a little bit further away. The trouble is at that distance it can be really hard to light stuff well.

 

[Germie]

Funny, I have the Panasonic 45mm macro and that is my favorite. Seems nobody uses it? I also have the 60mm but that is shunting a lot to find focus. The 45mm works better then.
The quality of the shots is same I think.

The 30mm fits in the 60m and the 12-50 port from Isotta. Isotta also has a 30mm port, but you don't need it. The 45mm also fits in the same port as the 12-50 and 60mm.