M.Zuiko 40-150mm F/2,8 lens + M.Zuiko MC-14 Teleconverter for Close-up Photography

romangeber wrote:

Very impressive closeup capabilities. Surprising for such a long lens that's not even trying to be a "macro".

Certainly a big plus not having to bring a macro just to make sure something smallish fills the frame. Right now, I almost always bring a Macro lens, just in case.

My 40-150 and Mc14 have seldom been parted since the first day I purchased them. And the close up is a real asset.

Uncropped & handheld at minimum distance.

I didn't buy this lens to take pictures of insects; really I didn't. And I didn't buy the 1.4 X tele-converter to take pictures of insects either. It just turned out that I leave it on now.

With or without converter, it turned out to be one of the best lenses I've ever owned since I got interested in halfway-serious photography in 1968 or so.

Frankly, after being absent from the hobby for some years, I was flabbergasted by the high quality of digital imagery, and blown away by how much lenses have improved in this age of computerized manufacturing and design .

Here's a crop of a picture I took on the shore of Lake Michigan some time ago using this lens with the tele-converter:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101461001@N06/30937811736/in/album-72157656755135932/

Here's another one I took of a dragonfly (Widow Skimmer, a local species) at a town lake, minus the tele-converter:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101461001@N06/31058250390/in/album-72157675436371631/

The sheer quality of the images I can get may explain why I put off buying Olympus' latest OM-D EM-1 Mk II in favor of the new 12 –100 mm F4. I've got two Mk I's, and these lenses make for a go-anywhere combo for just about anything closer than the Moon.

Lovely photos. I also used to use that combo, but since summer have been using the Panasonic 100-400, as it allows me to shoot from further away.

Adrian Harris wrote:

Lovely photos. I also used to use that combo, but since summer have been using the Panasonic 100-400, as it allows me to shoot from further away.

Thanks, Adrian. You WON'T see the really bad ones here. Heh!

For farther away (i.e.: the Moon. lighthouses etc [see below]) I've an old but surprisingly good Tokina 150-500mm F5.6 AT-X manual zoom.

Unfortunately, it is 1)NOT parfocal, needing refocusing after each zoom, 2) about 500mm long and 3) weighs 2.4 Kg. PLUS, the combo needs a rail to have its center of gravity over the tripod it sits on.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101461001@N06/30334530003/in/album-72157672817966410/ (Moon pictures can be seen using the < and >).

Also note
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101461001@N06/30937816106/in/album-72157675436371631/ sun setting behind lighthouse
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101461001@N06/30109442582/in/album-72157675436371631/ sailboat on a stormy lake

When I find a more modern parfocal zoom, 150-600 etc, that works with the OM-D EM-1 auto-focusing I'll probably put the 40-150 back on my OM-D M-10.  I just can't afford the Olympus' new 300mm F4.

Cortland

PS: I started taking pictures as a lad, when Dad was stationed at a USAF hospital near Swindon in the 1950's.
He had to buy me a box camera to get his Rolliecord back.