Working distance 16-50 PZ & CMC-2

[Xterra]

Shooting with the a6700 and 16-50 PZ, practice with the CMC-2, I get best results at around 20mm
(FF=30mm), but when I zoom to 50mm with the CMC-2 to get more close-up,
Autofocus is struggling and pictures are mostly out of focus.

Any advice on that best Macro range? Is the CMC-2 zoom through like I
can with the WWL-C wide angle?
Thanks

 

[VsubT]

I shoot a6600 in Nauticam with that same lens combo sometimes. Yes, the CMC-2 can be used through the entire zoom range. Sounds like you’re experiencing the depth of field limitations inherent in this setup.

A couple of recommendations: try changing the working distance between the lens and the subject until you find the sweet spot and bump aperture to f18 or higher to increase depth of field. DOF is a challenge with this combo, but the CMC-2 is easier to use than the CMC-1 in this respect. Patience and practice are your friends here. Have fun and happy hunting for good macro subjects!

Lance

 

[Nemrod]

Shooting with the a6700 and 16-50 PZ, practice with the CMC-2, I get best results at around 20mm
(FF=30mm), but when I zoom to 50mm with the CMC-2 to get more close-up,
Autofocus is struggling and pictures are mostly out of focus.

Any advice on that best Macro range? Is the CMC-2 zoom through like I
can with the WWL-C wide angle?
Thanks

You should set up back button focus. Then preset your focus at the distance you want and then recompose moving the camera back and forth until the image is sharp and then press the shutter button.

BBF is useful for most shooting. It decouples focus from the shutter to a separate lever on the NA6XXX Nauticam housings. It can be a game changer.

In olden time with the film Nikonos cameras we used a frame or a wand to determine the subject was in our prefocus chosen range. Focusing with the Nikonos was zone focus by manually setting distance on the lens.

Another advantage of BBF is that it reduces lag. Prefocus on something to get the distance you want to take the photo and then compose and when press the shutter the camera takes a picture now, not an instant later.

The Sony, like all such cameras you can do a half press of the (coupled) shutter to get and hold focus but it is difficult to hold the shutter down half way and do all the framing. BBF, push the lever, get focus, recompose, shoot. Unfortunately not all cameras support BBF, it is one of the positives for the Sony/Nauticam, that and the integral handles, that helps to offset the negatives of the slow X sync speed and always on pre-flash.