Help!

[Brian J Moody]

Evening all. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good, inexpensive mf lens for macro work to use on my panny dmc g3. Something I can get in real close with. Sharp IQ is good but also like the dreamy look.
Thanks,
Brian.

[luisalegria]

Most any lens will do if you want a close-up "dreamy" look.
Very sharp and close up is rather more difficult.

Put any lens on a cheap extension ring/rings and you can get very close indeed.

If you want to experiment, any decent brand 50mm/55mm/58mm f/1.7/1.8/2 SLR lens will work, on extension rings.
Decent brands are the usual Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Zeiss, but also Yashica, Mamiya, Ricoh, Sears, Cosina, Chinon, Helios (Russian), Konica, Olympus, etc. ad infinitum.

Good brands cover a very wide range - "normals" back in the day were very good indeed, distinguishing among them in quality is tough.

Personally I would go for condition and low price, plus whatever you think looks good on your camera.

Bonus is you will have a great regular normal lens with a much larger aperture than any Panasonic kit lens.

Get the extension rings to match the mount of the lens. Get an adapter to match the mount of the lens. Extension rings for M42 are probably the cheapest and easiest to find, so that may be a consideration. Conversely bayonet mount ones (Nikon, Pentax K, etc.) are quicker to assemble and change. Some mounts may be harder to support with extension rings. Have a look at which types you can get cheaply from China.

Wide angles get you closer and more magnification, but with limited working distance, telephotos further but with more working distance, etc.

[dnas]

My go to lens is the Minolta MD 100mm F4. On FF, it's 1:2, but I guess on Panasonic, it's 1:1

I also have the matched extension tube, which gives 1:1, but even closer on the Panasonic.(2:1)

[Rick1779]

You can try with the Volna-9 Macro 50/2.8 or its poor brother the Industar 61 L/D 50/2.8

[Aanything]

[Aanything]

As for the topic, the two russians mentioned above are excellent bang for the buck.
Also, the minolta macro rokkor 3.5/50 often goes for extremely reasonable prices (around €70).
Then there are many excellent but slightly more expensive choices, such as the tamron 90/2.5 etc.

[Oldhand]

If you can get an adapter, the Canon FD 50mm f3.5 macro is outstanding value. It consistently sells below AU$50 or c. 35 Euro.
Brilliant lens
OH

[Brian J Moody]

Thanks for the replies! I've got a vivitar komine 28mm f2.8 wide angle and a Minolta 50mm f1.7 already but I'm waiting for the adapter to arrive which is taking an age as it's coming from China! Will either of those do though?
Thanks,
Brian.

[caspert79]

I would recommend the Vivitar 55mm f/2.8. It's a brilliant lens, goes to 1:1, can be found relatively cheap, and is available in many different mounts.

[tao]

Maybe not. The close-focus version of Komine Vivitar 28/2.8 has MFD of 23cm at 1:5, not a true macro lens by any standards, perhaps except marketing. The Minolta 50/1.7 is a normal lens so if you want to use it to shoot something small you better get a set of extension tube (a cheapo one from ebay will do) or a closed-up lens (the Canon doublet is highly regarded but probably costs more than some of the real macro lenses suggested above).

I am baffled why you would want a dreamy look in macro works.

[hoanpham]

double tube sets, and a reverse lens...

[caspert79]

Here are two pictures I took with the Vivitar 55mm macro:

Good if you like dreamy......



And if you like sharp good as well....

[luisalegria]

The "dreamy" narrow DOF picture is easy to do with any lens with extension tubes, or with a closeup diopter lens for that matter.

The sharp high-magnification macro (excellent job on the flies btw) is much harder and is where the proper macro lenses prove their worth. Also requires skill, planning, proper lighting, etc.

[luisalegria]

I guess it al depends on exactly what sort of pictures you want to make. How small do you want to go ?

As said above, neither of your lenses will go very close on their own. The Minolta is a fine lens of its type, and the Vivitar/Komine should be competent, at least when focusing close (the real test for wide angles is corner performance at infinity).

If you want to get closer you will want extension tubes. Diopter adapters are also an option (the lenses marked +1, +2, +3, +10, etc.) that screw on as filters. Personally I prefer extension tubes as you are not adding any extra glass to make trouble.
You will want those that match your lens mount.

Something like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macro-Extension-Tube-3-Rings-Set-For-Micro-4-3-M4-3-EP3-GF1-E-PL1-GF2-G1-EPM1-G3-/300862507768?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item460ccd8af8

This would go on your camera body, Minolta adapter on that, and then your lens.

You could also get Minolta MD extension tubes that would go on your 4/3-Minolta adapter, but these would only be usable on Minolta mount lenses.

[tao]

Ouch! Good jobs but not something I would want to see on a 25" monitor at bed time on Fri. 13th.

[Brian J Moody]

caspert79, those 2 shots were taken with the viv 55mm macro? They're pretty impressive.
Am I right in saying that by using extension tubes, you lose some of the light?[/quote]

[luisalegria]

I guess it al depends on exactly what sort of pictures you want to make. How small do you want to go ?

As said above, neither of your lenses will go very close on their own. The Minolta is a fine lens of its type, and the Vivitar/Komine should be competent, at least when focusing close (the real test for wide angles is corner performance at infinity).

If you want to get closer you will want extension tubes. Diopter adapters are also an option (the lenses marked +1, +2, +3, +10, etc.) that screw on as filters. Personally I prefer extension tubes as you are not adding any extra glass to make trouble.
You will want those that match your lens mount.

Something like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macro-Extension-Tube-3-Rings-Set-For-Micro-4-3-M4-3-EP3-GF1-E-PL1-GF2-G1-EPM1-G3-/300862507768?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item460ccd8af8

This would go on your camera body, Minolta adapter on that, and then your lens.

You could also get Minolta MD extension tubes that would go on your 4/3-Minolta adapter, but these would only be usable on Minolta mount lenses.

[Brian J Moody]

Looks good, and cheap too but what mounts fit on the lens end?

[DR.JUAN]

My macro lens is the minolta 3,5/50 with the 1:1 tube and the reverse adapter ring. I add nother extension ring, and 2x TC if neccesary.

Very good. It's OK.

If you want, try an inexpensive industar 50-2 with extension tubes. Only to try, in the forum teher are some very good pics taken with this lens in macro mode.

[DahakaNishoba]

Nikon EL NIKKOR 50 2.8(has m39 mount or reverse) + tubes/bellows/helicoid

really cheap and one of the best price/performance lenses you can buy, maybe sharper than a lot of other 50/55 macro lens when over 2/2.5x

[luisalegria]

Those tubes go on your camera body, on its lens mount.
On the other end they have the same Panasonic lens mount.
On that you would put your Panasonic-Minolta adapter
And on that goes your Minolta lens

i.e., -
Camera - extension tube - adapter - lens

Alternately, you can get Minolta extension tubes

Camera - adapter - extension tube - lens

Note that these are a set of extension tubes - usually three of different lengths. Use long ones or short ones, or stack them together, depending on how close you want to focus. Note - important - when you add an extension tube, your lens will only have a narrow range of focus and will no longer reach infinity until you remove the tube. An extension tube is a crude but effective device.

Proper macro lenses have an extended focus mechanism that permits very close focus without extension tubes; though some macro lenses also come with one, in order to get even closer focus beyond what their mechanism permits. Macro lenses are a more convenient way to do close focus, but more expensive. Also, if you care about getting the highest resolution in macro, they will also generally outperform normal lenses.

[Brian J Moody]

Thanks guys.

[caspert79]

The Vivitar 55mm macro is perfect if you want to avoid the use of extension tubes.

[visualopsins]

Distance to subject can be important factor.

Lens Diopters (1X, 2X, 4X, etc.), give a fixed distance to subject.

Extension Tubes decrease distance to subject.

Longer focal length lenses increase distance to subject.