Improving the Macro Capabilities of the Fuji F30 / F31
Intro
You've probably already seen the Wide Angle conversion project we've created for the F30?
If not, you'll need to construct the adaptor detailed on that page. You'll also need a Sea & Sea 2T (or 3T) macro lens designed for the Motormarine
2 camera system.
This test came about as a result of a conversation with Stephan Hoenig. Until this conversation I hadn't considered even trying the 2T macro lens (another
I had lying about gathering dust) as I had thought that the F30 macro capabilities were OK as they stood.
In macro mode, the F30 will focus at a minimum distance of 5cm when fully zoomed OUT, or about 30cm when fully zoomed IN. The greatest magnification
was always achieved with the zoomed out option.
The Tests
First and foremost, these aren't accurate scientific tests. It was a hastily conceived test scenario in falling early evening sunlight. If I'd tried
to get some ruler / tape measure to provide a distance scale then time would've defeated me. I may re-visit this with a more regimented approach in
future, but as this was a proof of concept, I probably won't be arsed and will leave it at this.
Dustbin of water in the garden provided the liquid. A spare contents gauge provided the subject.
This first photo shows the gauge as shot at full wide angle, using macro mode, close to the minimum focusing distance (determined by the AF! error message
on the camera)
This second photo is shot with the 2T macro lens attached and the camera at full zoom...
The minimum focusing distance was about 3cm!
To try to put some numbers to the magnification depicted above, the distance from the centre of the needle to the centre of the 0 of the 250 is:
F30 standard = 237 pixels
F30 with 2T = 523 pixels
The real world measurement is 17.5mm
Therefore, rough equivalents of the F30 in 'best' macro mode and with the 2T are:
F30 standard = 13.5 pixels / mm
F30 with 2T = 30 pixels / mm
So we can see that with the 2T lens, we are getting an extra 2x magnification compared to standard.
Not sure what you can get with the 3T (the lower magnification of the 2 Sea & Sea macro lenses) as I don't have one of those lenses.
Some more shots....
First set is a tiny blenny. Taken in St Brides Haven on 12 Sept '09. Viz was about 10m. The first shot is the standard F30 macro shot, with full wide
angle to get closest focus distance to subject. The camera to subject distance was more than the minimum 5cm.
The small snail type thing in the centre is about the size of UK 20p piece.
Here's the same baby blenny with the 2T attached and full zoom
Both photos have been cropped, but the crop amount is identical in both (about 75% of the original)
In use
Whilst the addition of a macro lens allows you to get higher magnifications, actual use is tricky. The depth of field, when fully zoomed in, is very
narrow. With the shot of the blenny above, the range of the image in focus is literally 3-5 mm, so your focal target is critical to get right.
To capture that shot, I had the camera firmly wedged on the rock to minimise camera movement. That was the only shot I got with the 2T as the fish legged
it after the image was captured.
Another thing noticed was that the maximum focus distance was about 7cm. I had removed the framing guide thing from the lens to prevent it getting in
the way, although this may get re-attached to assist with distances etc.
Clearly, the 2T (or 3T) significantly improves the macro capabilities of this camera and makes a very worthwhile addition to the arsenal.
| v1.02 |
15th Sept 2009 |
additional notes re 3T added |
| v1.01 |
13th Sept 2009 |
extra example added |
| v1 |
11th Sept 2009 |
Page created |
|
