ROBIN WONG

The second part of my test with the NiSi 49mnm Close Up lens was using it on my own Olympus 60mm F2.8 Macro. The Olympus 60mm macro lens alone can achieve 100% magnification, and by quick ruler measurement, by attaching the NiSi 49mm Close Up Lens, I can take the magnification further to a whooping 158%, which was incredible! I took this opportunity to shoot smaller critters, or go even closer to the bugs revealing more details on their eyes, and I got to say, the image quality coming out from this combo was nothing short of amazing. All images were shot on OM System OM-1 using wireless off camera flash, and I have also made longer explanation in my latest video here (click). I am just throwing the images I got from this macro lens + close up lens combo around in this blog entry. 

NiSi contacted me and asked if I were interested in testing their Close Up Lens and I immediately said yes. It is not an every day opportunity to collaborate with a company doing insect macro photography, something I am quite passionate about. I did tell them that if I don't like the product, I will continue with the review, but it turned out that I was quite impressed by what the  Close Up Lens can do. Basically, the NiSi Close Up Lens is a simple attachment that you mount onto another lens to reduce the minimum focusing distance, bringing the lens closer to the subject, increasing magnification. This can turn a non-macro lens, like the Olympus 45mm F1.8 into a macro-like lens. Based on my simple calculation (you can check in video) I estimated the maximum magnification of Olympus 45mm F1.8 was boosted from 0.11x to 0.56x with the NiSi Close Up Lens attached. I have talked about my experience using it in my latest video, you can check it out here, but in this blog entry I am sharing all images taken with OM System OM-1 with Olympus 45mm F1.8 + NiSi Close Up Lens 49mm. Teaser - I will share images taken with the Olympus 60mm F2.8 macro + NiSi Close Up Lens in the following blog entry, with insane magnification going super close to the bugs!

One of the amazing things about Micro Four Thirds system is the collection of really awesome compact sized, portable lenses that are excellent in optics design and can deliver great results. Sometimes it still puzzles me how something so tiny-ly built can render astoundingly sharp and beautiful results. Even the lowlist kit lens from Micro Four Thirds is no slouch either, they are impressively sharp. I compiled a list of 5 best budget lenses for Micro Four Thirds system under USD150 (used or new) with autofocus - the lenses are Panasonic 14mm F2.5, Olympus 45mm F1.8, Panasonic 12-32mm F3.5-5.6, Olympus 40-150mm F4-5.6 R and Yongnuo 17mm F1.7. I made a video to further expand on my explanations, you can view it here (click).