Looking for experiences with the MC14 on the OM 90mm Macro Lens

macrophoto_markus · Aug 18, 2024

I've been using the OM 90mm lens with and without the MC20 over the past year excessively. I really enjoy the extreme magnification with the MC20, but as a walkaround combination it is a pain to use, most of the time, I have to attach the MC20 when I want to do higher magnification work and then take it off again.

I have a Nisi closeup lens to get to 3x on the bare 90mm, but I am hesitant to use it during the day due to horror stories of the Raynox 250 burning through the aperture blades, so I rarely ever attach it.

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of macro photographers who use the MC14 on the 90mm, at least I can't find them, so I wanted to ask about peoples experiences, is it sharp? How is the image quality at 2x and 2.8x? Is handholding easier than with the MC20 @3x? Is it worth selling the Nisi to get the MC14 alongside the MC20 I already have?

Here are some shots I took with the Nisi 49mm @3x on the bare 90mm to compare sharpness a bit:

90mm + Nisi at 3x, massive crop, f8

90mm + Nisi at 3x, crop, f8

Jens_ac · Aug 18, 2024

macrophoto_markus said:
I've been using the OM 90mm lens with and without the MC20 over the past year excessively. I really enjoy the extreme magnification with the MC20, but as a walkaround combination it is a pain to use, most of the time, I have to attach the MC20 when I want to do higher magnification work and then take it off again.

I have a Nisi closeup lens to get to 3x on the bare 90mm, but I am hesitant to use it during the day due to horror stories of the Raynox 250 burning through the aperture blades, so I rarely ever attach it.

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of macro photographers who use the MC14 on the 90mm, at least I can't find them, so I wanted to ask about peoples experiences, is it sharp? How is the image quality at 2x and 2.8x? Is handholding easier than with the MC20 @3x? Is it worth selling the Nisi to get the MC14 alongside the MC20 I already have?

Here are some shots I took with the Nisi 49mm @3x on the bare 90mm to compare sharpness a bit:

90mm + Nisi at 3x, massive crop, f8

90mm + Nisi at 3x, crop, f8

Hello Markus. My OMS90 is already a bit soft using it wide open so I have to stop down a bit. Thus I do not see the benefit of teleconverters but use Mitutoyos instead. Other people often use MC14 and (less due to more softness) MC20 - but more for larger reach in case insects do not let you get close.

Your images are very good - you optimized your light and workflow very well!

Best regards,

Jens

macrophoto_markus · Aug 18, 2024

Jens_ac said:
macrophoto_markus said:

I've been using the OM 90mm lens with and without the MC20 over the past year excessively. I really enjoy the extreme magnification with the MC20, but as a walkaround combination it is a pain to use, most of the time, I have to attach the MC20 when I want to do higher magnification work and then take it off again.

I have a Nisi closeup lens to get to 3x on the bare 90mm, but I am hesitant to use it during the day due to horror stories of the Raynox 250 burning through the aperture blades, so I rarely ever attach it.

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of macro photographers who use the MC14 on the 90mm, at least I can't find them, so I wanted to ask about peoples experiences, is it sharp? How is the image quality at 2x and 2.8x? Is handholding easier than with the MC20 @3x? Is it worth selling the Nisi to get the MC14 alongside the MC20 I already have?

Here are some shots I took with the Nisi 49mm @3x on the bare 90mm to compare sharpness a bit:

90mm + Nisi at 3x, massive crop, f8

90mm + Nisi at 3x, crop, f8

Click to expand...

Hello Markus. My OMS90 is already a bit soft using it wide open so I have to stop down a bit. Thus I do not see the benefit of teleconverters but use Mitutoyos instead. Other people often use MC14 and (less due to more softness) MC20 - but more for larger reach in case insects do not let you get close.

I primarily bought the 90mm to use with teleconverters, so I spent quite some time looking for one that was already sharp at f5, with the MC20 attached, the sharpest aperture is now f10 at 4x, the results are quite good considering the very long working distance and the ease of use (though of course not as good as microscope lenses, but significantly better than cropping in from 2x or 3x, so pretty much what I wanted).

Yeah I think you're right, the only person with a similar lighting setup to mine who uses the MC14 seems to have it always attached, but doesn't appear to shoot at 2.8x, maybe I'll just have to try it myself.

Jens_ac said:
Your images are very good - you optimized your light and workflow very well!

Thank you!

Jens_ac said:
Best regards,

Jens

macrophoto_markus · Aug 18, 2024

macrophoto_markus said:
I've been using the OM 90mm lens with and without the MC20 over the past year excessively. I really enjoy the extreme magnification with the MC20, but as a walkaround combination it is a pain to use, most of the time, I have to attach the MC20 when I want to do higher magnification work and then take it off again.

I have a Nisi closeup lens to get to 3x on the bare 90mm, but I am hesitant to use it during the day due to horror stories of the Raynox 250 burning through the aperture blades, so I rarely ever attach it.

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of macro photographers who use the MC14 on the 90mm, at least I can't find them, so I wanted to ask about peoples experiences, is it sharp? How is the image quality at 2x and 2.8x? Is handholding easier than with the MC20 @3x? Is it worth selling the Nisi to get the MC14 alongside the MC20 I already have?

Here are some shots I took with the Nisi 49mm @3x on the bare 90mm to compare sharpness a bit:

90mm + Nisi at 3x, massive crop, f8

90mm + Nisi at 3x, crop, f8

Just ordered a used MC14, let's see how it goes as a walk around setup.

Sylvan120 · Aug 18, 2024

After some experience with it, please let us know your opinion of that combination.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 19, 2024

Sylvan120 said:
After some experience with it, please let us know your opinion of that combination.

Yeah, i am planning to test it thoroughly to see if it is worth the 230€.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 22, 2024

A short little update, I recieved the MC14 today. First results have been really good, diffuser fits better than with the MC20 as it is much shorter, and the diffuser was made just for the OM 90mm alone. I haven't done much comparisons yet, but results look very sharp at 2.8x, almost as good as with the MC20 at 4x. I suspect if we ever get a higher resolution OM System camera, the MC14 results will be at least as good as the MC20 results when cropped, due to the diffraction at 4x with the MC20, but that's just a guess. Unfortunately, the combination of the teleconverter with the Nisi 49mm closeup lens isn't good even with the MC14.

Seems easy enough to handhold as well. I will be making a proper comparison in the next few days/weeks after some in the field experience.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 23, 2024

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Jens_ac · Aug 23, 2024

macrophoto_markus said:
Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 23, 2024

Jens_ac said:
macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

It's an "excellent" one from MPB, but it was worse looking than I expected, quite a lot of wear and tear at the camera-side mount. I actually got my 100-400 from mpb as well, "good" conditions, but almost looks like new, so I expected better. I actually contacted them even before testing that it doesn't look as expected and they told me I could return it free of charge for a different one. I decided I'd still check it out to see if it is sharp, if it was tack sharp I would have kept it, but it seems to be significantly worse than my MC20 in the corners.

For my hand-held stacks I need it to be sharp wide open otherwise my flash won't be able to keep up at wider apertures, that's why I'm looking for one that's (reasonably) sharp wide open.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 23, 2024

Jens_ac said:
macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

For good measure I tried again with the 100-400 at 140mm wide open and it seems to perform as expected, center is quite sharp, corner is slightly softer but still seems very good, now I am unsure if this is just how it is on the 90mm. Seems strange, I'd expect it to perform better on a pro prime lens as opposed to a zoom lens? Or maybe the center of the zoom lens is just worse so the difference isn't as noticeable, unfortunately the only two lenses I own. Worth trying another one? Really not sure if I should keep it, or wait 2 weeks to get a new one that might or might not be better on the 90mm.

Cropped to the same size:

Upper right corner

Center

Jens_ac · Aug 23, 2024

macrophoto_markus said:
Jens_ac said:

macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

Click to expand...

For good measure I tried again with the 100-400 at 140mm wide open and it seems to perform as expected, center is quite sharp, corner is slightly softer but still seems very good, now I am unsure if this is just how it is on the 90mm. Seems strange, I'd expect it to perform better on a pro prime lens as opposed to a zoom lens? Or maybe the center of the zoom lens is just worse so the difference isn't as noticeable, unfortunately the only two lenses I own. Worth trying another one? Really not sure if I should keep it, or wait 2 weeks to get a new one that might or might not be better on the 90mm.

Cropped to the same size:

I like to rate/judge a lens in focus stacking - in z-scan one can separate the optical problems. Your problem could be plane field distortion (Bildfeldwölbung) - totally irrelevant for stacking.

Funny, I also have only 2 MFT lenses: OMS 90 and the PL100-400... seems to be typical MFT usage.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 23, 2024

Jens_ac said:
macrophoto_markus said:

Jens_ac said:

macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

Click to expand...

For good measure I tried again with the 100-400 at 140mm wide open and it seems to perform as expected, center is quite sharp, corner is slightly softer but still seems very good, now I am unsure if this is just how it is on the 90mm. Seems strange, I'd expect it to perform better on a pro prime lens as opposed to a zoom lens? Or maybe the center of the zoom lens is just worse so the difference isn't as noticeable, unfortunately the only two lenses I own. Worth trying another one? Really not sure if I should keep it, or wait 2 weeks to get a new one that might or might not be better on the 90mm.

Cropped to the same size:

Click to expand...

I like to rate/judge a lens in focus stacking - in z-scan one can separate the optical problems. Your problem could be plane field distortion (Bildfeldwölbung) - totally irrelevant for stacking.

Funny, I also have only 2 MFT lenses: OMS 90 and the PL100-400... seems to be typical MFT usage.

Yeah, I always compare stacked images on the 90, dof is just too tiny to tell what is in focus and what's soft. I'll take a set of better comparison shots later today.

macrophoto_markus · Aug 23, 2024

Jens_ac said:
macrophoto_markus said:

Jens_ac said:

macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

Click to expand...

For good measure I tried again with the 100-400 at 140mm wide open and it seems to perform as expected, center is quite sharp, corner is slightly softer but still seems very good, now I am unsure if this is just how it is on the 90mm. Seems strange, I'd expect it to perform better on a pro prime lens as opposed to a zoom lens? Or maybe the center of the zoom lens is just worse so the difference isn't as noticeable, unfortunately the only two lenses I own. Worth trying another one? Really not sure if I should keep it, or wait 2 weeks to get a new one that might or might not be better on the 90mm.

Cropped to the same size:

Click to expand...

I like to rate/judge a lens in focus stacking - in z-scan one can separate the optical problems. Your problem could be plane field distortion (Bildfeldwölbung) - totally irrelevant for stacking.

Funny, I also have only 2 MFT lenses: OMS 90 and the PL100-400... seems to be typical MFT usage.

If you want to have a look, I took some more test shots, they look better, but I am not sure.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67883584

Jens_ac · Aug 24, 2024

macrophoto_markus said:
Jens_ac said:

macrophoto_markus said:

Jens_ac said:

macrophoto_markus said:

Another update:
Unfortunately, I have to return the MC14 and wait for a new one. While it is quite sharp in the center, the corners are really bad, seem warped a little (similar to when using a Raynox lens or similar). The corners seem much worse than with my MC20, both shot wide open.

Click to expand...

That is strange - was it a used broken one or new with such problem? Or do you have special very high demands? I would not care so much about warpness or sharpness (I go for diffraction in macro) but I am very allergic to astigmatism, coma and spherochromatism - probably we have all different optical preferences.

I wish you good luck with the next sample.

Click to expand...

For good measure I tried again with the 100-400 at 140mm wide open and it seems to perform as expected, center is quite sharp, corner is slightly softer but still seems very good, now I am unsure if this is just how it is on the 90mm. Seems strange, I'd expect it to perform better on a pro prime lens as opposed to a zoom lens? Or maybe the center of the zoom lens is just worse so the difference isn't as noticeable, unfortunately the only two lenses I own. Worth trying another one? Really not sure if I should keep it, or wait 2 weeks to get a new one that might or might not be better on the 90mm.

Cropped to the same size:

Click to expand...

I like to rate/judge a lens in focus stacking - in z-scan one can separate the optical problems. Your problem could be plane field distortion (Bildfeldwölbung) - totally irrelevant for stacking.

Funny, I also have only 2 MFT lenses: OMS 90 and the PL100-400... seems to be typical MFT usage.

Click to expand...

If you want to have a look, I took some more test shots, they look better, but I am not sure.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67883584

I am not at the pc right now and do not want to judge images on my phone. I will look at it later.

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Looking for experiences with the MC14 on the OM 90mm Macro Lens

macrophoto_markus

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