Lympa_2006_04

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Lympa Log - Leica R lenses on Olympus E-330 DSLR

Apr 12, 2006

A Big Stick in the Woods

With the 90-250/f2.8 lens on loan from Olympus, I was neglecting to use such a remarkable optic often enough. At home after lunch, a high, bright overcast made for perfect lighting in the redwoods off our deck. (A visiting acquaintance from the Leica User Group (LUG) had not called me "Tree LUGger" without good reason!) With the sun directly overhead and softly filtered by clouds, the 90-250 zoom and Olympus 1.4 extender on the E-330 made a serious-looking combination. I took a couple steps outside, but let the big zoom do most of the walking.

Olympus E-330, 90-250 with Zuiko 1.4 Extender, 1/30, f8, Aperture Priority, on tripod.

Some calculations on focal length: 250mm x 1.4 = 350mm, giving the 35mm equivalent of a 700mm lens, racked out here to maximum zoom for best framing of the rhododendrons in the shaded woods.

700mm of telephoto needs a sturdy tripod, along with mirror lockup to avoid camera vibration. When I first used the Olympus "Anti-shock" setting (Camera2 menu, move "back" one arrow-click to Anti-shock and select time up to 30 seconds), I wondered why anyone would ever need a lockup time of more than five or six seconds before the shutter fired. Here was why.

Looking through the camera, just my standing on the wooden cantilevered deck made vibrations I could plainly see while focusing at 10x magnification. Rather than trying to stand really still and slow down my heart beat, it was easier to set the Anti-shock for15 seconds and walk off the deck.

This setup was certainly different from the Lympa combo with the Leica 100/4 Macro and Bellows R for the cherry tree blossoms focused at three inches. I felt almost astronomical, peering at flower constellations 100 feet away.

The tripod with quick release is a Dynatran AT-858 from amovona.com.

The ball head is adjusted by a hand grip.

In Live View Mode B, rhodies are a pink blur above the camera and the Cala Lilies are to the right. This photo of the camera is by a Casio Exilim EX-Z50, always handy in my pants front pocket.

A bug climbed up the stamen of the center Cala Lily, trying to make this an action photo. When I switched to the 10x magnification in Live View Mode B, the stamen filled the LCD screen. The bug could be easily seen moving up the yellow stalk. On non-moving objects, focus with the 10x magnifier is very accurate. At 700mm of telephoto, I adjusted the framing of the photo for precisely filling the screen with a somewhat imprecise soft kick at the back leg of the tripod.

Cala Lilies. 1/125, f4 (wide open with the f2.8 lens and extender), ISO 100, RAW.

700mm (35mm equivalent) with the 1.4 extender on the 90-250mm zoom.

For the above two photos, I could have used the optical finder, just like any pre-revolution DSLR.

(Note to Olympus: Forget the Evolt name attached to the E-330. Just change the whole name to "Revolt-1".)

Even with the autofocus of the Olympus lens, I wanted to make sure the focus was on a particular blossom, especially when limiting depth of field with wide lens apertures. So I set the E-330 to Live View Mode B, which provides the 10x magnification capability on the LCD.

(Direction notes on the E-330 for 10x: In Mode B, press the bottom left Info button until the green rectangle shows up on the LCD. Use the arrow keys to move the rectangle to your focus point, focus the lens manually, then press OK again to move back to full-frame on the LCD. I wish you could just touch the shutter button to return from the magnified screen to the full view.)

When manual focused and zoomed in with the green box magnifier, one rhododendron blossom filled the whole screen for very precise focus.

Learning a camera as complex as the E-330 takes time, lots of reading the manual, and practice. The hour spent with the flowers was valuable time to get familiar with some of the controls in conditions where my subjects were neither impatient nor likely to run away.