Re: [Leica] favorite macro equipments?

["faneuil" <leica_korenman@hotmail.com>]

Coolio macro shots!

Slight subject shift here - can anyone post some examples of 60 elmarit-R
macro work?
Just wondering what I can expect out of this lens.

Eric

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 9:14 PM
Subject: [Leica] favorite macro equipments?


> At 12:52 PM 3/28/03 -0800, Richard F. Man wrote:
> >For the M shooters, do you sometimes carry some sort of macro capable
> >SLR/digicam equipments in addition to the M? If so, what's your favorite?
> >Trekking up and down Yosemite with just 2 lens (35 and 75) seem to work
> >fine, but there are several times I wish I have a macro lens....
>
> Up until recently, I used an Olympus OM-2 with 50/3.5 Zuiko Macro lens and
> three extension tubes.  The problem was that I hardly ever used them.  I
> found that film was always in the Leica M, and I somehow never got around
> to loading the OM unless I had a specific reason for using it.  And then I
> would have to take it out and load it in the Leica, and wait for the end
of
> the roll before seeing the results.
>
> Recently, I picked up a used Nikon Coolpix 990.  The macro abilities of
the
> split-body Coolpix cameras are astounding--you can fill the frame with an
> area 2 centimeters wide using the 990 "out of the box."
>
> 990 at closest focus:  http://www.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/Bug2cm6221.jpg
>
> But add a couple of adapter rings and a reversed camera lens, and you can
> do even better.  Here's the same subject with taken through a reversed
35mm
> pre-Asph Summicron, which becomes the Mother of All Closeup Lenses.  This
> lucky serendipity also makes my macro pictures on topic, as they were shot
> through Leica glass!  The field is an astounding 1 cm wide:
>
> Full Field:  http://www.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/Bug1cm6219.jpg
> "Actual Pixels" Detail:
> http://www.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/Bug1cm6219Detail.jpg
> Detail, with Neat Image noise reduction:
> http://www.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/Bug1cm6219DetailNRSharp.jpg
>
> The above pictures were taken of a dead bug lying on a Leica M lens rear
> cap, and were just my first crack at trying things out.  They were shot as
> ISO equivalent 400 using a draftsman's lamp as the light source.  Aperture
> priority, f/8 and f/11 (as small as the 990 stops down) at 1/30 and 1/5
> sec, respectively  And I used the camera's high-quality JPEG mode.  Even
> with things less than optimum, the second picture resolves individual
> insect hairs and the facets of the compound eye.
>
> I'm sure I'd have less noise and artifacting and things generally better
if
> I started with TIFFs, ISO 100 and a more intense light or ring flash.  I
> suspect that f/11 at the Coolpix's short focal lengths probably has better
> depth of field (and certainly not much worse) than using a 50 or 90
> macro  at f/22 on a 35mm camera. And the instant gratification is very
> instructive as well as fun. I can try something and see it on the LCD
using
> magnified playback.  If it isn't quite what I want, I can modify my
> technique and try again.
>
> I hope to do some more "Small Game Hunting" as spring and summer
> progress.  I got the Coolpix specifically for its macro abilities, and to
> just try digital out without spending a bundle.  I'll consider pro-quality
> digicam when Moore's Law makes it worth it for me.  (Obligatory loyalty
> oath:  An M with fast film, usually black-and-white, is still my usual
tool
> of choice).
>
> --Peter Klein
> Seattle, WA
>
>
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