GH4 - Nauticam Macro Lens/Port Thoughts

According the CMC page with the 14-42PZ frame widtg 24mm in 4K that becomes 20mm and working distance 49mm

49 mm

One thing that I am a bit worried about with such a strong lens is the working range. So 49mm is the minimum distance with the camera focussed at the closest but what is the distance with the camera focussed at infinity? If this is equivalent to a +15 diopter the range is 49 to 63mm which is really small

So there could be many situations where you go out with this lens and you are not able to get anything in focus.

...If this is equivalent to a +15 diopter the range is 49 to 63mm which is really small...

That wouldn't surprise me at all. You don't get that much magnification without some compromise. Users of that lens might be advised to take a weaker diopter as well.

To be honest unless you go to specific destinations there are generally not many subjects of that size. The CMC main purpose seems to address new compacts with short focal length I don't think this lens adds much to a 4:3 video shooter

Just ordered the CMC, might not be too much for video, but for stills with the 14-42 I think it will be good?

Just ordered the CMC, might not be too much for video, but for stills with the 14-42 I think it will be good?

For stills I think the 60mm is the way to go if you want to shoot small stuff 17.3x13 mm seems pretty good.

Obviously if you don't have that lens a close up lens like this is pretty good.

I have tested the 14-42PZ for stills and with a +10 the frame width is 3cm so at 3:2 aspect ratio this is 3x2 cm with the Inon UCL-100. With the CMC you are at 2.4x1.6 cm better have some pygmy sea horse or bobtail squids or skeleton shrimps to shoot

I got the 30 extension for the Olympus 60mm but until I go again to Lembeh or Philippines am not going to buy the lens for Red Sea or other mediterranean.

One interesting option for stills is the fisheye converter for the PZ14-42 that gives 120 degrees diagonal good for things that you can't get too close to and less expensive than the 7-14mm plus port, I will post some examples when i can

Done, much more fiddly than I first thought.

Will post up the .STL file for others to use.

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Apologies for cross-posting with the editing forum but I thought this was highly relevant to this thread.

This video is shot entirely with my Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 EZ lens, and no diopters.

The wide shots are in normal 12-50mm mode. The slow zooming was done in post. The close shots are all in the 43mm macro mode. The most close-up shot here (at 0:43) is just a straight crop down to 1080p. I added quite a bit of sharpening.

I'm really enjoying the panning/cropping/zooming capability that the 4K gives me when publishing in 1080p.

Would love to get my Oly 60mm macro and a CMC on some clownfish eggs.

thetrickster, how is the gearing for manual focus? How many full turns of the knob does it require to move across the full range of focus?

thetrickster, how is the gearing for manual focus? How many full turns of the knob does it require to move across the full range of focus?

Interested in how the focus is going too. My guess though is that since the focus is electronic with this lens, it's similar to the zoom control in the focus changes in either direction with a slight twist of the knob in either direction.

Howdy All, sorry for the lack of response. I'm in the middle of moving house. So diving kit and 3d printer all packed away for a couple of weeks. 'no diving, no life' :-(

From the brief test I did with it, you hold the knob either forward or backward to enable the focus. Just like you would with the zoom.

ScubaBob, once the printer is unpacked. Ones in the post! [emoji106]

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I'm sorry, I should have studied the lens before I asked my daft question. I was under the mistaken impression that the lens had a conventional manual focus ring.

I'm interested to know how easy/difficult fine focus is with this gear.

I am not sure I understand the logic but you have replaced the zoom with the function keys and now using the knob for focus?

I am not sure I understand the logic but you have replaced the zoom with the function keys and now using the knob for focus?

Yes. The result being an IL stabilized 14-42 lens, with full zoom control. With the flip diopter you should have a slightly better setup as the Oly 12-50 is not stabilized and no other mid-zoom lenses allow for manual focus (behind a flat port).

I have the 14-42PZ lens however in my macro land experiments I have not found the manual focus lever of any practical use with this lens so I was wondering about the ergonomics.

Yes. The result being an IL stabilized 14-42 lens, with full zoom control. With the flip diopter you should have a slightly better setup as the Oly 12-50 is not stabilized and no other mid-zoom lenses allow for manual focus (behind a flat port).

I accidentally ended up in Raja Ampat with all my camera gear except the Nauticam lens gears for the 7-14mm and the 14-42PZ lenses. Focus was not a problem as I use the AFL lever for most shots anyway. For the 7-14mm, I just left it set at 8mm and that was fine for most WA shots. For the 14-42PZ lens in the flat port, I remembered this thread and set the Fn1 button to zoom control. Worked just fine for all the macro shots. Thanks guys!

Regards

Peter

So Richard (and Bob?), how is the 14-42PZ manual focus modification actually working out in practice? Is it good for fine focus adjustments? Do you use it much or do you still use auto-focus and the AF/AE LOCK button?

Although I've refined my focusing procedures with the Oly 12-50, I'm still badly missing manual focus.

Wow. I'm going to admit I've forgotten about this - probably due to the fact I haven't unpacked the printer!!

Months run away so fast these days...

Will have to dig out the printer...

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I thought you'd already made a focus gear for your own use???

By the way, if you have the 3D-printer file I would love to get a copy on file. I don't have that lens yet but may do in the future.

I made one for myself - used it once to confirm it worked but since then been using my 7-14mm. It was a great challenge mainly to see what I could do with the printer.

The printer issue was/is to get one to bob. :-)

I wanted to make a trigger for my NA-Gh3 too, alas haven't got around to that either. :-(

When I get back in front of my laptop I'll give you the file for the focus part.

Apologises to all for the lack of progress!

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Nick if you are interested am selling my power zoom 14-42 plus nauticam gear used once and the add on fisheye lens (goes in the 3.5" done with 30 extension) ping me if you are interested