USA Pacific NW Mushrooms w/ EM1 & 40-150 f2.8

Beautiful compositions and great lighting John. Great eye for a shot using those low down to earth angles. Also well done on the DOF, darn good IMO.

All the best John and again, beautifully done.

Danny.

Very nice. Love the colors and the composition.
Just one question: Why the high ISO setting with a relative high shutterspeed while using a tripod and a beanbag for the last two?
Motion because of wind?

Cheers,
Ruud

Nice ones. I especially like #2. The lens has very good close focus ability.

Thank you John. More confirmation for selling my 60mm Macro in favor of my new 40-150 Pro! A very versatile lens.

These are the type of photos I would aspire for if I were to get this lens...tempting!

Thanks so much to all for kind and encouraging comments. I intended to add some explanation but was interrupted after getting the pics posted.

Ruud; Thanks, and good question re ISO. When I first started shooting it was under a heavy spruce canopy and total overcast, and I actually needed ISO 3200 at about 1/30 and f2.8. As I moved out from under the trees and light was better, quite frankly I forgot to lower ISO. My EM1s EVF and LCD at times were totally fogged and humidity had to be 99% +. Later I was able to get to ISO 640. I shoot in aperture preferred auto. When I first discovered that high ISO I was really disappointed-- not to mention irritated-- but on looking at the results, I was mostly pleased and did some NR w/ Topaz DeNoise 5.

In addition to that, spruce forest typically has a thick spongy floor so even w/ a tripod on some shots stability can be really tricky. I think using the beanbag provides best stability. Then too, I do a 3 shot bracket including -1/2 f-stop and do not use a cable release as I want really tight composition and have found finger release to be good down to even 1/8 sec. I almost always do composing using the flippy LCD and really like using different aspect ratios too.

I usually use my 60mm macro for MRs but sometimes they're out of reach, e.g. up on trees, stumps, logs etc. Anyway I was really looking forward to trying my new 40-150 f2.8 to check its close focusing ability. Overall I was quite pleased with results and handling. I think the 60mm macro would still have a sharpness edge, but it would be very slight. Also, the 60mm being much smaller is easier to use-- still, for it's incredible versatility the 40-150 f2.8 has earned bag space-- albeit a bigger bag;>)

John

Yes, I've long been fascinated with mushrooms and related fungi and have been shooting them off and on for 35+ years. Mushrooms, even today, are both cherished and condemned. They have both dark sides and light sides-- think witchcraft, sorcery, wizards, medicine men etc. in olden days. Some are deadly poisonous and some edible with a delicate taste-- others are hallucinogenic. The "good" ones will bring hundreds of dollars per pound, especially in Asian markets. Locally some MR pickers will even protect their "territories" with firearms. There is a fee for MR picking on federal lands-- USFS and BLM.

The 60mm macro has been my go to lens for shooting MRs this year-- and it's excellent for that-- but they're also sometimes out of reach so I really wanted to have a go at them w/ the 40-150 f2.8. Conclusion: it really works well for this use though it's more cumbersome to set up and use. At close range it's sharpness comes close to the 60mm which is one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used, so that's high praise for the new PRO zoom lens. I would not have bought the 40-150 f2.8 if it didn't CF to at least 4 feet, but 28", as it does, was to good to pass up. It focus' to about 1/2 life size in FF terms.

John

Danny; comments like that make it all worthwhile. Thank-you.

John

CallNature; I agree and would not have purchased such a lens without good close focus capability. Thank-you.

John

Beauties John, almost magical that forest up there...never been, but I am going to make it one day...

These are wonderful series of photos. These photos show how good the new lens is in close focusing situations.

JohnLock said:

Thanks so much to all for kind and encouraging comments. I intended to add some explanation but was interrupted after getting the pics posted.

Ruud; Thanks, and good question re ISO. When I first started shooting it was under a heavy spruce canopy and total overcast, and I actually needed ISO 3200 at about 1/30 and f2.8. As I moved out from under the trees and light was better, quite frankly I forgot to lower ISO. My EM1s EVF and LCD at times were totally fogged and humidity had to be 99% +. Later I was able to get to ISO 640. I shoot in aperture preferred auto. When I first discovered that high ISO I was really disappointed-- not to mention irritated-- but on looking at the results, I was mostly pleased and did some NR w/ Topaz DeNoise 5.

In addition to that, spruce forest typically has a thick spongy floor so even w/ a tripod on some shots stability can be really tricky. I think using the beanbag provides best stability. Then too, I do a 3 shot bracket including -1/2 f-stop and do not use a cable release as I want really tight composition and have found finger release to be good down to even 1/8 sec. I almost always do composing using the flippy LCD and really like using different aspect ratios too.

I usually use my 60mm macro for MRs but sometimes they're out of reach, e.g. up on trees, stumps, logs etc. Anyway I was really looking forward to trying my new 40-150 f2.8 to check its close focusing ability. Overall I was quite pleased with results and handling. I think the 60mm macro would still have a sharpness edge, but it would be very slight. Also, the 60mm being much smaller is easier to use-- still, for it's incredible versatility the 40-150 f2.8 has earned bag space-- albeit a bigger bag;>)

John

Click to expand...

OK. That explains it all. Thanks!
I have the lens too, including the TC. I'm very pleased with the set.



Ruud