I went to Reef Photo tested my theory that the 14-42mm standard lens might work in the Zen macro port for the 45mm lens. THANKS, Ryan, for allowing me to work this "experiment" which I had high hopes would eliminate the bulky OLY original port and allow a much more compact rig.
Unfortunatly, the zoom does NOT work in this port. The port is just a hair too short and the zoom "bumps" at each end of the range (where the lens is physically the longest), giving a pretty useless small useable zoom range in the middle.
That is a shame. If the Zen port were just 1/8 inch longer, both lenses would work, and it would give a much more compact solution than the standard port. It would allow "standard" range scenic shooting, with macro available by using a diopter, plus a "pure" ultra-macro solution with the 45mm. That would be a $400 no-brainer for me, but with the port limited to just one specialty lens, not so much.
Zen, are you listening? How about revising this port to be just a hair longer and work with both lenses? Then, you would have two killer solutions: a standard/macro solution with the flat port, or an ultrawide/standard solution with the dome port. Two ports would cover it all, and we could trash the standard bulky compromise OLY port entirely and just the use the two optinum solutions.
Unfortunatly, the zoom does NOT work in this port. The port is just a hair too short and the zoom "bumps" at each end of the range (where the lens is physically the longest), giving a pretty useless small useable zoom range in the middle.
That is a shame. If the Zen port were just 1/8 inch longer, both lenses would work, and it would give a much more compact solution than the standard port. It would allow "standard" range scenic shooting, with macro available by using a diopter, plus a "pure" ultra-macro solution with the 45mm. That would be a $400 no-brainer for me, but with the port limited to just one specialty lens, not so much.
Zen, are you listening? How about revising this port to be just a hair longer and work with both lenses? Then, you would have two killer solutions: a standard/macro solution with the flat port, or an ultrawide/standard solution with the dome port. Two ports would cover it all, and we could trash the standard bulky compromise OLY port entirely and just the use the two optinum solutions.
