50mm Macro Lens Question

[Manuel Sam]

IÃÎ hoping that some of you who have shot the Zuiko 50mm macro lens and know what the heck youÃÓe doing can offer me some advice.

I recently used the 50mm with the E330 in Lembeh, and while some my results were not too bad, I had a lot of trouble and am still trying to figure out the lensÃÔ behavior.

First, the lens seems to have a mind of its own in deciding whether to shoot at 1:1, 1:2., 1:3, 1:4 when I half-press the shutter release button. I am sure that there is a perfectly logical explanation to this, but it has eluded me thus far.

Second, after firing a shot, the focus seems to lock up at its present setting and doesnÃÕ seem to want to budge. Let me explain.

IÃÎ shooting a pygmy seahorse, letÃÔ say. Upon powerup, the Liveview screen is blurry when aimed at the seafan containing the pygmy. I half-press the shutter release and the fan and pygmy come into focus. I wait for the right moment and shoot. So far so good.

I reposition and try at a slightly different angle. The pygmy is no longer in focus maybe slightly off. I aim and half-press the shutter release. The little red dot in the middle of the screen that signifies that the sensor has found the subject blinks once which usually indicates to me that the subject is in focus. In reality it is still a bit off-focus. I try again, I get the little red dot again, but the lens will not budge.

To get it to work again (ie, to focus correctly), I either shut the camera off and start again, or I aim elsewhere (like on the bottom) and further away and fire a shot which now causes the lens to budge from its original setting and refocus. Now I can go back and shoot the pygmy again.

None of this makes any sense to me. Hopefully some of you can figure this out. Either that or please share with me what you do that is different.

Thanks.

 

[AndyT]

Seeing as no one else has responded I will offer my thoughts.

The 50mm macro battles to focus in low light - you do not mention whether you are using a focus light or not. In shifting position you change the distance to the subject and the camera will need to hunt to get focus again. You will see this most in subjects that have little contrast, especially in low light conditions.

To resolve this find something that has better contrast than your subject does at the samer distance, 1/2 press the shutter and hold it and then move back to the subject. Or get a focus light if you are not using one.

The best way around the 1:1, 1:2 issue is to use manual focus. I don't know if this is an option on your housing/port combo.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Andrew,

You are right - now that I think of it, I can't recall this happening when I was shooting at night (because I had a light to point at the subject). More often than not it happened during the day. Perhaps due to depth or overcast skies, there wasn't a heck of a lot of light.

What I found screwy, altho hard to explain, was that the lens did not appear to hunt. Upon repositioning and half pressing the shutter realease, it would refuse to budge and would give me the blinking red light on the subject - which I interpret to mean that it has found the subject and it is in focus , which in reality it wasn't. I guess bottom line is that for future shooting under less than ideal lighting conditions, I ought to bring a light.

No, my housing does not have a knob to turn the focusing ring.

Thanks again.

 

[AndyT]

What I forgot to add is that even with the E-3 the 50mm sometimes battles with focus in poor light, so don't feel alone ! I always use a focus light even in good lighting conditions, it makes the lens a little "snappier" to focus. Occasionally mine also refuses to budge, I just find something else nearby to focus on and then return to the original subject.

Which housing and port are you using?

Glad to have been of some help

 

[Manuel Sam]

I'm using the 10bar housing with the standard port.

Thanks.

 

[ConchyJoe]

I use the 50mm exclusively and no problems with focus.

 

[jlyle]

Blinking RED means the camera did NOT find the subject and isn't in focus; GREEN (yellow, underwater) is a "go."

Use a focus light and your problem will go away.

If the autofocus problem persists, take a pencil eraser to the contacts on the lens and the camera, being careful not to get any eraser crumbs inside the camera.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I agree with everyone else here. I have been shooting the same combo for a couple of years with pretty good results. what I notice in general with the E-330 is that once light levels dip down, the AF gives up. When I shoot macro, I ALWAYS use a focus light, I wouldn't even bother without one. As far as the lens goes, I noticed the same you did: If you only shift the frame ever so slightly, the lens tries to refocus immediately, and sometimes that results in the focus being set in a plane where you don't want it. This happens especially when conditions keep you from holding the rig very, very steady. The best way around it is to use the manual focus instead. Also, I wonder if you might have set your AF to automatic metering, meaning the camera decides what to focus on? Probably not, but just wanted to mention it anyway. Focus mode has to be on "centered," the other options don't work satisfactorily IMHO. Hope this helps!

 

[Manuel Sam]

Thanks to all for your feedback.

I will add a focus light for shooting macro during the day.

AbyssalPlains: Thanks. Yes, I do have my E-330 AF mode set to center; as for manual focusing, unfortunately my 10bar housing does not have a focus ring on the port for manual focusing.

 

[Ardy]

You may also want to consider a light that can act as the fill light. I have just been in Lembeh and someone had a Fatasea 44 as a focusing light and it worked will as a slight fill flash. There is a 36 but this switches off when the flash goes off.

The downside to this light is it takes 5 AA's very unusual and tricky to recharge.