The flower shots are nice and sharp... that's always the hardest part when I shoot with a manual macro lens.
20250620-SDIM7095 by
Travis Butler, on Flickr
Sigma fp, Vivitar (Cosina) 100/3.5 Macro
Bokeh is also non-distracting on all but the last flower shot, unlike the Vivitar. ^^;; How do you like the Sigma in general?
Love the canyon shot and the mountain shot. Where in the San Juan mountains were they?
Thanks!
The Sigma is an excellent lens overall, with some caveats. SUPER sharp, can take a TC, and has Sigma's usual excellent build quality. On the other hand, it is relatively large and heavy, and the AF is slow. I purchased it used before the Panny 100 came out; not sure what I would do now if I were to purchase today instead. To be honest, I'm not much of a macro shooter and thus due to it's size I don't take it with me on very many trips. So from that perspective, the Panny 100 would probably be better suited for me as a compact compliment to the 20-60 or 24-60.
It's interesting you bring up the depth-of-field. I think the reason that I was able to get so much of the flowers in reasonable focus was a combination of using F5.6 and/or
not filling the frame and instead relying on cropping.
In this case, it was hard to get close to many of my subjects without stepping or sitting on other wildflowers, so I just decided to use the S1RII's resolution and crop. Now, had I grabbed the 70-200 instead of the 105, I probably would have instinctively tried to fill the frame by zooming in, but that has the (sometimes undesirable) side-effect of narrowing the depth of field. However on a whim that morning I grabbed the 105 before embarking on the walk, and as I result I learned that if I pull back a bit and then rely on the S1RII's resolution to crop, I can get some great shots that keep more of the flower in focus. One could double-down on this approach by using HiRes mode, but the flowers were moving around in the wind this day far too much to allow this (or focus stacking).
The flowers were photographed on the Molas Lake Campground on US 550. The mountain/flag shot was also along US 550, but further north, between Ridgeway and Ouray. It's a breathtaking scene that serves as your introduction to the San Juans if you approach from the north (i.e., I-70). The property owner has a little contribution box where you can help them financially maintain/replace the flag on an ongoing basis. It's massive and quite unexpected the first time you see it as you round a particular bend in the road. It's quite the sight in the wind. I also shot some video; I'll try to post here later.
The canyon scene was from Pioneer Point, which is near Gunnison. Technically, I suppose it's not actually in the San Juans, but it is close, and also close to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Pioneer Point is a nice place to see in the day, but at night it's a rather amazing astro playground. Lots of compositions and I've been there twice now at night. I will post more of these images in my astro thread.
Cheers!
Oh well. One reason I like the OM Zuiko 50/3.5 Macro a lot is that it's tiny - even with the adapter, it's significantly lighter and smaller than the Lumix 50/1.8.
