https://www.instagram.com/p/DK_xxybR0oS/

Edited July 29Jul 29 by Chris Ross
The product was given a different name when launched

Already second version? That was fast.

1 hour ago, Sokrates said:

Already second version? That was fast.

Totally different product. It magically turns a 90mm lens into a 60mm. 🤔

Edited June 18Jun 18 by Dave_Hicks

Then why not use a 60 (or a 50 for Sony)?

Use a dome to calm the aberrations!

Much smaller and lighter rig than what is illustrated....

7 minutes ago, dentrock said:

Then why not use a 60 (or a 50 for Sony)?

Use a dome to calm the aberrations!

Much smaller and lighter rig than what is illustrated....

in one of the last shows of the underwater photography show, Alex and Matthew talked about this lens:

Probably nice if you shoot 105 often, but at times you wished you brought a 60 macro for slightly bigger stuff.

1 minute ago, Dave_Hicks said:

Totally different product. If magically turns a 90mm lens into a 60mm. 🤔

14 minutes ago, RobinD said:

in one of the last shows of the underwater photography show, Alex and Matthew talked about this lens:

Probably nice if you shoot 105 often, but at times you wished you brought a 60 macro for slightly bigger stuff.

Then change lenses and do another dive!

But i think this was made for camera systems that don't have great lenses options. Which one could that be??

I asked Nauticam to look into designing such a lens specifically because of the limitations of only having a one "decent" focal length macro lens on Sony FF (90mm) and Canon FF (100mm) camera systems. The MFO-2 basically converts the Canon 100mm into a 60mm macro and the Sony 90mm (or Tamron 90mm, I used today) into a 50mm lens - while keeping the fast AF (arguably helping it focus faster) and high quality optics of these popular lenses (and adding some water correction for good measure).

These are simple test shots from toady. First a coral: left - 90mm alone, right - 90mm + MFO-2 - I am sharing screenshots straight from Lightroom without processing:

Note it is hard to do an exact and exact comparison on real subjects because the MFO-2 requires refocusing. But it really makes a big difference to the field of view - I'd say at least the difference between the macro lenses many of us have spent years choosing between.

Such shorter focal length macro lenses are very valuable for those that dive in poor visibility, for those that like some of the larger macro subjects (octopuses, frogfish, seahorses etc) and for blackwater photographers. And the lack of good options is a frustration. I made the request for this lens after my blackwater trip in March and it is exciting to see it already - I expected it to be more of a niche product for these specific users...

I was surprised how long the lens is, which left me concerned it would be hard to aim and could unbalance the rig. The lens needs to be this size to perform well optically, but it is surprising lightweight for its size - and just a little negative underwater. However I was actually surprised that adding this lens makes the rig very comfortable and it feels very natural to shoot through it on a dive. Being noticeably wider than the standard macro lens it is actually even easier to aim and compose than the standard lens. I passed it to a friend during today's dive and he just got on with shooting it (I had to demand it back)!

The image quality with the MFO-2 is very good. It is impressively sharp across the frame, with some mild CA creeping in at the corners. I'd like to test back to back to be sure, but I feel it is better in the corners than a Sony 50mm or Nikon 60mm behind a flat port, but behind how these lenses before behind a curved port. Anyway - it is very, very good.

This shot shows corner frame detail at 100% on unprocessed RAW file (50MP camera)

And here is another more central in frame - this time 200% zoom in on a 50MP file.

It also focuses right to the front element - although like a port this starts to limit lighting options. Here is my finger (uncropped) to show smallest subjects it suits (same as 50/60mm on full frame, really).

Now I have dived with it, its great strength is that it is light and easy to carry on all macro dives. Meaning that macro dives are no longer a decision between 105 or 60mm, you can now have both options, always. So when you see a great macro subject you can get two totally different macro shots of it very quickly.

Before I used it underwater a serious M43 user (OM-1) on the trip asked me if he should order one. I said "No! You have the option of 4 macro focal lengths already, this isn't really for you." After the dive I said "Try it - if you do you will want one - it is so nice having the option of two macro primes with every subject."

The MFO-2 is quite long - but this makes it light too - which makes it very comfortable to dive with and very natural to shoot with (contrary to what you might think with the length) - I really can't see me doing many macro dives without it. It was designed for FF Sony and Canon FF users frustrated with a lack of macro options. But others may be interested too, may turns to will if you get to try one.

Hope this is helpful.

Edited June 18Jun 18 by Alex_Mustard

Hi Alex

Thanks for the explanation I'm using the Canon RF100 and YES a lot of time i was frustrated having a to big magnification.

Did you have some indication of the price?

6 minutes ago, CaolIla said:

Did you have some indication of the price?

No idea.

The normal rule in underwater photography is think of the maximum amount you can possibly justify or afford and then double it!

On 6/18/2025 at 8:42 AM, Dave_Hicks said:

Totally different product. It magically turns a 90mm lens into a 60mm. 🤔

Yes i see that now, and after Alex's explanation.

I didnt even think in the photo that it would be that big, thought the SMC-3 in the photo was the new MFO-2 🤣

But is MFO-2 appropriate name for it? Its not really mid range focus optimising anymore? More like VMC (Voodoo Magic Converter).

The maximum magnification of Sony 90mm plus MFO-2 remains 1:1?

Nice, but I still would prefer an add-on lens that would convert my 30mm macro into a 50mm macro (without decreasing or even increasing the minimum focus distance)

A point worth raising is that it is difficult to do really precise test shots with and without the MFO-2.  I just wanted to highlight this issue – as surely many with and without shots will be shared in the coming months and you should look at them bearing in mind the difficulty in having a consistent methodology.  

The problem is two fold. First, the addition of the MFO-2 requires the camera lens to refocus (because of the Focus Optimizing stuff). For test shots this means you can’t simply use a fixed focus on the camera to do a with and without shot. And second the MFO-2 is a macro lens and is very long.

 

I have been doing with and without shots keeping the camera a constant distance from the subject. Theoretically, you might think that it is best to keep sensor to subject the same for both shots. However, because the MFO-2 is so long (and we’re shooting macro here) the front element ends up much, much closer to the subject, than the bare lens. So it has been suggested that it would be a better test to keep the front element of the bare lens and the MFO-2 the same distance from the subject – as this is often the limiting factor in underwater photography – both when approaching as subject as closely as possible and also for shooting through as little water as possible. But doing makes the MFO-2 looks a lot, lot wider than the straight macro lens (because the camera has to be moved further back from the subject). The MFO-2 is already a lot wider!

 

There is no perfect way to show/shoot with and without MFO-2 images. All I can say is that when you put it on it does make a really significant change.

 

This test shot was done with the keeping the sensor the same distance from the subject (keeping the camera in the same place) – although I accept this means that the front element of the lens of the MFO-2 is much closer to the subjects, than the standard lens (so for some this underestimates how much wider it makes the view).

Without MFO-2

With MFO-2

Would be interesting to see some blackwater examples when able. Trying to optimize a FF Sony always seems to be a challenge.

If this drops the 90mm down to 60mm, can you then use the MWL-1 on the end of it to take wide angle with a 90mm? That might be a step too far 😂

2 hours ago, Yorkie88 said:

If this drops the 90mm down to 60mm, can you then use the MWL-1 on the end of it to take wide angle with a 90mm? That might be a step too far 😂

Or add an emwl!!

Does anyone know if the mechanical interface is the same as the MFO-1?

Normally yes as Nauticam is very consistent to offer bayonet and M67 on their macro lenses. On the initial picture, it is mounted on a M67 flip system.

Just saw some additional info.

Its actually called MFO-3, ships early August and costs 550-600USD.

Machine translation from Chinese:

Nauticam MFO-3 plug-in black water close up lens

100 macro lenses for all brands, effectively reducing the focus distance to 0-1.5m (can't focus infinitely)

And make the field of view a little wider

More biosize when shooting blackwater creatures

No longer limited by the narrow field of view of 100 micro lenses

Simply put, you can turn a hundred microscopes into 60 microscope

Focus distance can be applied to super close

Finally no need to wait for brands to come out 60 macro mirrors

fyi its also posted on the nauticam website:

https://www.nauticam.com/collections/water-contact-optics-for-nav/products/mid-range-focus-optimizer-3-mfo-3

Edited July 2Jul 2 by RobinD

2 minutes ago, RobinD said:

fyi its also posten in nauticams website:

https://www.nauticam.com/collections/water-contact-optics-for-nav/products/mid-range-focus-optimizer-3-mfo-3

Aha, couldnt find it from there when i saw the Facebook post.

Bit pricier there than the Taiwanese price i saw quoted.

Very interesting product.

However I wish that Canon will give us a FF 60mm Macro RF lens some day. The space has been unoccupied for too long. So I expect something to happen.

Also noteworthy for the Canon RF shooters is the highly overlooked, interesting and underestimated RF 35mm f1.8 Macro which will allow 2:1 and can be utilized behind a curved macro port (small dome).

Thoughts and images from MFO-3

On 7/10/2025 at 4:20 AM, Alex_Mustard said:

Thoughts and images from MFO-3

Thanks @Alex_Mustard , certainly seems like it would be useful for the type of shots I take locally (and for a forthcoming trip to Lembeh!!) The question I have is will it work with micro43? The Olympus 60mm macro is a nice lens and works very well, but it's a bit too long at 120mm equivalent, unless you are on quite small subjects. Switching to a ~30mm macro when I come across a weedie or Eastern Blue devil fish or even a red indian fish and other similar sized subjects would be perfect. I can't think of a reason it wouldn't work except perhaps I'm mostly working at f8-10.

Which flip adapter are you using? Is it the one for MWL-1?

On the brighter image question I would say if adding a 1.4x TC loses one stop of exposure, then adding the inverse of that - about a 0.7x converter would gain you a stop of exposure. You probably need to add into the equation that the lens is focusing a little closer and this may lose some light. What you actually end up with probably depends on exactly how the optics were designed.

3 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

On the brighter image question I would say if adding a 1.4x TC loses one stop of exposure, then adding the inverse of that - about a 0.7x converter would gain you a stop of exposure. You probably need to add into the equation that the lens is focusing a little closer and this may lose some light. What you actually end up with probably depends on exactly how the optics were designed.

It seems that the MFO-3 is working similar to a "speed booster", e.g. the Metabones 0.71x Canon EF to MFT. I used it with Tokina 10-17mm on MFT and it not only "speeds" up the aperture, but also improves IQ (better sharpness). I wonder whether the MFO-3 also has an impact on IQ?