Olympus 60mm Macro AF

I always use MF-only lenses for macro, and I'm thinking about getting the Olympus 60mm Macro for its AF. Mostly moving bugs - is the 60 paired with e-m1.3 autofocus good enough near 1:1? Thanks.

I don't photograph bugs, but the Olympus 60 macro on my EM1.2 seems to AF quickly and accurately every time.  (except, of course, when I hold the lens too close to the subject)

On my EPL9, the AF is usually okay, but not as snappy and sure as on my EM1.2.

I just tested that using single point center AF with somewhat bright indoor lighting.

glassoholic wrote:

number_5 wrote:

I always use MF-only lenses for macro, and I'm thinking about getting the Olympus 60mm Macro for its AF. Mostly moving bugs - is the 60 paired with e-m1.3 autofocus good enough near 1:1? Thanks.

The AF of the 60 and an Oly EM1.3 is fine... as good as any. But macro near 1:1, especially handheld, is a bit tricky.

I think you're understating the difficulty of focusing at near 1:1.  Unless you're using a tripod, the ever so slight body movements you make will take the subject in and out of focus.  At such high magnification I find it easier to focus using distance to the subject and leave the focus ring alone.

If AF is essential, CAF is a must to try and allow for tiny movement in focus distance whilst handheld between you seeing what you want and the shutter firing.

And turn on the motor drive (is it still called that?).   Your chances are much higher if you take several high speed shots of each subject.

I think most people find that Manual focus is your friend when doing close up macro photography.  The only reason I can see for using autofocus is when you want to use the focus stacking feature.

number_5 wrote:

I always use MF-only lenses for macro, and I'm thinking about getting the Olympus 60mm Macro for its AF. Mostly moving bugs - is the 60 paired with e-m1.3 autofocus good enough near 1:1? Thanks.

I've been shooting bees with the 60 macro on the EM-1X this past summer. The AF is quick but the DOF is very shallow and bees move quickly. Hence imaging for best composition is difficult. But it is really not at the fault of the AF; rather my quickness in tripping the trigger combined with my body and the bee both moving. It may be easier to preset focus distance or it may not be. At high magnification things are happening very fast with a shallow DOF and the behavior changes as well very quickly.

But there is really no solution to this problem regardless of gear. The AF on the 60 macro is very fast - it is just that I am not. I'd think with most insect subjects other than bees it would function just fine. I do find that I do much better at about F8 to have some control over DOF.

I use the 60mm macro on my EM1.2, regularly shooting bees, wasps and other insects throughout the summer.

I hand hold, usually grasping the plant which the subject is sitting on between my left thumb and forefinger whilst resting the camera on the side of my left hand.

AF works well for me. I use the smallest focus point and set the position where I'm intending the insect's eye to be when I take the shot. I used a Marumi achromat on some of the pictures below.

Not as nice as Richard's shots above, but here are a few from last July.
I don't spend a lot of time setting up shots, these were just quick snaps from the back yard, so do give a fair representation of the AF ability of the lens.

I actually prefer a longer lens, be it the 12-200 or the MC-14 (with an extension tube as an adapter) on the 60mm

Art_P wrote:

Not as nice as Richard's shots above, but here are a few from last July.
I don't spend a lot of time setting up shots, these were just quick snaps from the back yard, so do give a fair representation of the AF ability of the lens.

I actually prefer a longer lens, be it the 12-200 or the MC-14 (with an extension tube as an adapter) on the 60mm

Thank you for the compliment. Only differences are different angles and colours. The techniques are more or less the same.

I've not thought of trying the MC-14 with a tube. I'm really hoping that the 100mm macro will materialise at some point.

Excellent photos, Richard! Thank you

RichardCass wrote:

[...]

I've not thought of trying the MC-14 with a tube. I'm really hoping that the 100mm macro will materialise at some point.

I use the 60 2.8 with the tube an MCs (14 and 20). It works surprisingly well; but the magnification is large, for HH use with AF, for me, is too much of a challenge (it may work for you...). Don't forget that (AFAIK) you need the 10 mm ET just to mount the MCxx, but that another ET is still needed. For me is a "stacking only" combo, with "sitting bees" as it were!

Peter 1745 wrote:

RichardCass wrote:

I've not thought of trying the MC-14 with a tube. I'm really hoping that the 100mm macro will materialise at some point.

The MC-14 won't fit on the 60mm macro without extension tubes between them. Also most brands of extension tubes won't fit on the MC-14 and the ones that do often require some modification to do so. If you are thinking about going this route I would read some of the previous threads on the subject.

Once you add extension tubes and the MC-14 you are getting into very high magnification which requires precise technique. The undoubted master of it on this forum is "oneofone25 ". Check out his posts for what can be achieved.

I too am hoping for a 100mm macro lens.

Thanks

Walt_A wrote:

number_5 wrote:

I always use MF-only lenses for macro, and I'm thinking about getting the Olympus 60mm Macro for its AF. Mostly moving bugs - is the 60 paired with e-m1.3 autofocus good enough near 1:1? Thanks.

I 've only used it with the lowly E-M10 and never use manual focus anymore, AF is so good with this lens. Just set the focus limiter, give the limiter a quick nudge and it zips straight to 1:1. Then just keep half pressing the shutter release to keep it in focus until you get the composition you want. The only problem is that it obviously doesn't focus past 1:1 so you will often get not quite 1:1 and of course if you get closer than 1:1 it won't focus. If you must have 1:1 I suppose manual focus would always be the best solution. I would of thought it would be even better with the E-M1 mk 3. Plus I have to agree with the other poster about focus stacking which is so easy with this lens.

A couple of examples of very flighty insects.

That is excellent sharpness / depth of field. Doubt this was focus stacked as the insect was probably not staying put. What aperture did you use and how far from the subject?

olyham wrote:

It can be a little titchy, as it inly takes a small movement to put it out of focus. I get over this by using CAF, but the best results are using the em1.3 built in focus stacking I have ended up using it all the time for macro.

I agree.  When you get the focus stacking settings right, it's magic but that's the trick isn't it.  Don't expect Oly to be any help there.  Your are on your own.  Not exactly, there are plenty here to give good advice.

Have a look at this video from Olympus, an excellent presentation on what can be done and how to use the 60mm for macros. It’s an hour and 20 minutes but afterwards you want to go out and get creative.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wtjDIhMbt_c

Cheers,