Mid range lens recommendation

[vitaly]

Hello,

Considering to add a fish-portrait lens to my collection (8mm fisheye, 7-14 and 60 macro). Looking at 14-42, 12-50 or 30mm macro. Any advice?

Thanks a lot,
Vitaly

 

[tursiops]

My starter lens was the 12-50mm macro. Good lens, not great. More flexibility than image quality, and not fast. Still using it on land. the 43mm macro setting just didn't cut it for me.

The 14-42mmEZ outshines the 14-42 II kit lens, and is a great all-purpose lens, but not for macro. Excellent for fish. With the WWL-1 it is dynamite.

The 30mm I'm still trying to love. Sharp, easy to use, not the incredible image quality of the 60mm, and not wide enough for anything much.
I find myself only using the 30mm in situations where the 60mm won't work...like larger subjects in crappy water.

 

[fisheater]

I make rather constant use of my 14-42 kit lens for my EPM-1. It works very well for "fish portraits."

 

[Chris Ross]

If you have a 7-14 in a dome I would suggest the olympus 12-40 - very sharp and flexible, as well as fish you can get medium macro down to about 1/4 life size when zoomed to 40mm. The other option might the Panasonic 12-60mm (the f2.8-4 OIS model) I get a lot of use out mine and much of this part of my website is shot with the lens (or a 60mm macro) Bony Fish Almost anything at Oak Park is with the 12-40mm,

The 12-40 can use the same dome as the Pany 7-14 and needs 10mm more extension than the Oly 7-14 at least in Nauticam ports.

 

[WS007]

Hello,

Considering to add a fish-portrait lens to my collection (8mm fisheye, 7-14 and 60 macro). Looking at 14-42, 12-50 or 30mm macro. Any advice?

Thanks a lot,
Vitaly

In case you want best IQ, I only can support the suggestion of Chris: Zuiko 12-40mm with the dome you use for the Pana(?) 7-14mm. I use Zen DP170 (N120 version) for both Zuiko 12-40mm and Pana 7-14mm (with the Nauticam N85-N120 60mm extension). The results with 12-40mm give outstanding IQ and are very well suited for fishportraits. Eventually the Pana 12-60mm will allow to zoom in further, but I did not try this lens.

I would not go for the 12-50 behind a planport, IQ at 12mm is bad, not worth the effort...

Wolfgang

 

[vitaly]

If you have a 7-14 in a dome I would suggest the olympus 12-40 - very sharp and flexible, as well as fish you can get medium macro down to about 1/4 life size when zoomed to 40mm. The other option might the Panasonic 12-60mm (the f2.8-4 OIS model) I get a lot of use out mine and much of this part of my website is shot with the lens (or a 60mm macro) Bony Fish Almost anything at Oak Park is with the 12-40mm,

The 12-40 can use the same dome as the Pany 7-14 and needs 10mm more extension than the Oly 7-14 at least in Nauticam ports.

Interesting idea. I already has 12-40 for land use so it might be cheapest option. I have a couple concerns:
1. My 7-14 has sharp center but pretty soft corners inside the dome so I wanted to try something behind the flat port.
2. Nauticam Port Chart says that 12-40 needs 180mm glass dome or 7" acrylic. Will 12-14 work well behind my 7-14 6" dome?

 

[WS007]

Interesting idea. I already has 12-40 for land use so it might be cheapest option. I have a couple concerns:

1. My 7-14 has sharp center but pretty soft corners inside the dome so I wanted to try something behind the flat port.

At 12mm center AND corners will be tack sharp, while behind a flat port you get pincushion distortion and all kind of lens abberations the closer you come to the corners. The corner problem is only for extreme rectilinear WA, like 7 or 8 mm, not 12mm..
Also at 40mm the sharpness is very good, the difference is, that you do not get the 33% magnification effect of a planport. So 40mm behind domeport will be similar to about 30mm behind planport...

[/QUOTE]=2. Nauticam Port Chart says that 12-40 needs 180mm glass dome or 7" acrylic. Will 12-14 w, ork well behind my 7-14 6" dome?[/QUOTE]
For my domeport (Zen DP170-N120), Zen recommends the same extension for Panasonic 7-14mm and Zuiko 12-40mm (i.e. 60mm). You should look in the port charts, what extension the manufacturer suggests for the 7-14mm Panasonic and your dome. The same extension will be the right one for the 12-40mm. Better even, when you ask directly at the manufacturer, this is their job...

Wolfgang

 

[tursiops]

Interesting idea. I already has 12-40 for land use so it might be cheapest option. I have a couple concerns:
1. My 7-14 has sharp center but pretty soft corners inside the dome so I wanted to try something behind the flat port.
2. Nauticam Port Chart says that 12-40 needs 180mm glass dome or 7" acrylic. Will 12-14 work well behind my 7-14 6" dome?

LOL. When you said mid-range I kind of assumed you meant in price as well as magnification!
The 12-40mm PRO is dynamite; I wish I had one!

 

[Chris Ross]

The 6" port might be problematic due to the size of the lens and zoom gear - it depends on what type of bayonet that Nauticam uses on the 6" dome port - the 12-40 won't fit through the back of the the flat port for the 60mm macro for example due to the plastic bolt on bayonet used. It will fit through the ZEN DP-170 N85 type II port which I have and in that port it is sharp to the corners - this is due to the machined metal bayonet - it's just big enough for the 12-40 zoom gear to pass through. Even if it does fit it would probably need some extension as the lens gets longer as you zoom.

Your 7-14 is soft in the corners in the 6" dome as it's a compromise - the 7-14 is "OK" in the corners at 7mm in the DP-170 dome as it has a larger radius of curvature than the 6" dome it improves quite a bit by 8-9mm. The 12-40 is fine at all focal lengths. A flat port is not a cure for poor corners, your 60mm macro works in the flat port due the limited angle of view. You can use a 30mm macro behind a flat port but the corners are not as good as the 60mm. Manufacturers will sell and recommend up to a 12mm lens (24mm full frame equivalent) behind a flat port but the corners are pretty ordinary - it's a budget solution.

To house the 12-40 your options if the 6" dome doesn't work are the ZEN DP-170 - either N120 with adapter or the Type II with built in 60mm extension . The Pany 7-14 will fit in both ports and have better corners as a result. You could also use the Nauticam acrylic dome or the 180mm glass dome for both lenses. The Nauticam acrylic dome is quite bulky and will tend to float up.

This shot is with the 12-40 and Zen DP-170 type II dome at 12mm - full frame: Old Wives 18

 

[vitaly]

This shot is with the 12-40 and Zen DP-170 type II dome at 12mm - full frame: Old Wives 18

Nice shot. Thanks for details. You don't use any zoom gear with your port and shoot at fixed focal distance, right?