Reading mode: Light Dark

Macro sweet point of the FZ50 with NO add-on lenses

Go to last post
luisflorit

luisflorit

Veteran Member
Messages
8,536
Reaction score
1,322
Location
Rio de Janeiro, BR
Recently we were discussing about the macro capabilities of the FZ50 alone, with no Raynox, Nikons, etc. In that thread (which was it??), I learned that the magnification of the FZ50 is not linear with the focal length. Great discovery for me!

So, I run some tests to discover this sweet point and see if it was worth it, and got this table. The first rows are the results without any macro lenses, at different focal lengths; the others are with the different macro lenses; everything at 10MP):



This confirms the information in the forum. I found 120mm to be the best magnification that can be obtained for focal lengths bigger than 40mm. As you can see, it is much better to go directly to 120mm and forget anything else, unless you need more than the 19cm of working distance of the 120mm. But probably you would not want to go further than 150mm.

With the Raynox 150 you get, at the same 19cm, almost 5x the magnification of the FZ50 (I think this is what it means to have 4.8+ diopters). But, come on, at 19cm to get 9cm wide magnification at 10MP is not bad at all!!

If you don't want to buy macro lenses or forgot yours, you can still do macros with the FZ50. Just go to 120mm!

HTH,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
very well done and thorough investigation. Clear and to the point (the focus sweet point that is ;-) Also explained why the TCON+R2 was a waste of my time last month, while TCON+R1 is my 'stay away from the wasp' rigging!!
--
-- Rich
'Be a non-anxious presence in an anxious system'

 
dontfret said:
very well done and thorough investigation. Clear and to the point
(the focus sweet point that is ;-) Also explained why the TCON+R2
was a waste of my time last month, while TCON+R1 is my 'stay away
from the wasp' rigging!!
Click to expand...
Indeed. Among these lenses, the once you want to stack are the R150 + R250 or the R150 + TCON. And the info I got here about the 120mm sweet point was fantastic. I thought the FZ50 alone was of little use for macros. WRONG!

Thanks,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
Can some knowledgeable person tell us what the sweet spot of an fz8 would be? Would it also be 120mm?

How do you know that you have zoomed that far?

TIA from a newbie
 
episodic said:
Can some knowledgeable person tell us what the sweet spot of an fz8
would be? Would it also be 120mm?
Click to expand...
It's a completely different lens, so the test should be made for the FZ8 specifically. You can do it, it's quite easy and fast.
episodic said:
How do you know that you have zoomed that far?
Click to expand...
Because the lens of the FZ50 has a ring for zooming (one of the best features of the FZ50/30 over the other Panasonics, IMHO), and it has labels for several focal lengths.

For the FZ8, you can know that by reviewing the EXIF data. But this is not practical, since you have to set up the FZ8 in the field. The best to do is to see which magnification you get (3x, 4x, etc) and work with that instead of mm.

HTH,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
The bigger FZs have a "step" at 3*-4* zoom.
You can see this in the diagramm - red line.
The smaller FZs have "smooth" curve. - black line



People often forget this macro capability!
All FZs can shoot butterflies at 3* zoom if you manage to get as close as 20cm.

I could add your data to the diagramm if you don't mind.
(The data of the FZ8 willbe very similar to the FZ5)

Sven

http://freenet-homepage.de/seemolf/achromats.html
 
Luis, very nice information. Now one quick question; what was the zoom set on for the tests with the Raynox and Raynox TC combinations?

Oh, another question. Details at same magnification and overall image quality? Best with no converter at 120mm?
--
Oll an gwella,
Jim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50073525@N00/

FX07
FZ30 * IS/L B-300 * IS/L B-Macro * Sunpak 383 * Benbo Trekker

 
Seemolf said:
The bigger FZs have a "step" at 3*-4* zoom.
You can see this in the diagramm - red line.
The smaller FZs have "smooth" curve. - black line
Click to expand...
Indeed, very similar to the FZ30.
Although the FZ30 appears to have even better zoom (8cm vs. 9cm)
Seemolf said:
People often forget this macro capability!
Click to expand...
I think that it's not quite that we forget. I don't even know about this! Tried with 35-40-50, and gave up. Never thought that the focus zoom would improve with focal length. In fact, never occurred to me that the zoom could not be monotonous with respect to the focal length... This is just great.
Seemolf said:
All FZs can shoot butterflies at 3* zoom if you manage to get as
close as 20cm.
Click to expand...
Even if you don't. If you go to 150mm or so, you will take quite good butterfly shots from 60cm. Really nice.
Seemolf said:
I could add your data to the diagramm if you don't mind.
(The data of the FZ8 willbe very similar to the FZ5)
Click to expand...
Be my guest. I can make further measures if you want (150mm).

Just a suggestion: your diagram is great because all the info it contains, all in the same place. However, it could be a little confussing. I didn't saw the line for the FZ30. Perhaps it would be nice to have, together with your diagram, separate diagrams saying specific things about each lens (like this step backwards of the zoom range of the FZ30).

Thanks,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
krakelis said:
Thanks luisflorit, you did use your time well!

I talked about 70 or 90 mm, but that's proven to be wrong now.
Click to expand...
In fact, the actual sweet point determination is a matter of trial and error. The interesting thing was that this sweet point exists!
krakelis said:
Good
you do correct this here. I will try 'FZ50 only' macroshots at 120
mm as soon as possible.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I'll do the same.

Cheers,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
kernow said:
Luis, very nice information. Now one quick question; what was the
zoom set on for the tests with the Raynox and Raynox TC
combinations?
Click to expand...
It is written in the picture (probably not clearly enough?). Everything with a conversion lens was at 420mm.
kernow said:
Oh, another question. Details at same magnification and overall
image quality? Best with no converter at 120mm?
Click to expand...
I made no IQ tests, but I think that with the conversion lenses you get better results, simply because the magnification is much bigger. You fill the frame with a butterfly and the R150, while you won't without the R150. Well... kind of... there are butterflies in Rio MUCH bigger than 9cm!

The point is that if you need 9cm, these conversion lenses won't give you that. As Sven perhaps would tell you, this is because the Raynox are not proper for this kind of wide angle macro: there are other macro lenses that are good for this. But I think we rarely will need these other lenses, because the macro capabilities of the FZ's IS good!

L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
Just to call your attention to the new table:



Cheers,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
Thank-you, Luis, for the reserach. This type of information is what makes the forum great. I appreciate it and things like this really helps me (us) improve our techniques/results through better understanding of the tool.
--
JF

 
1971_M5 said:
Thank-you, Luis, for the reserach. This type of information is
what makes the forum great. I appreciate it and things like this
really helps me (us) improve our techniques/results through better
understanding of the tool.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the kind words, JF. It's very nice to do something that can be useful for the forum.

This wasn't an original work, but many people (like me) didn't know about this sweet point. It would be very nice if we can collect all this kind of info and post in the same page, like a wiki, for all of us to consult, and to point newbies to the page without having to repeat so many times the same things...

Cheers,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos



FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top