Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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MarkSturtevant
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Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by MarkSturtevant »

The Opteka 15mm f/4 1:1 wide angle macro lens is an inexpensive but I think pretty good lens. It is apparently a clone of the pricier wide angle macro made by Venus/Laowa. There is a review of the Opteka lens, with some pictures taken with it, in the Macro and Micro Techniques section. Here are more pictures taken with the same lens. The camera was the Canon 5d miii (full frame). Generally, the apertures used here were in the f/16 - f/32 range. All of the pictures are un-cropped. I hope you like it! You can of course see larger versions from the Flickr pages.

The nursery web spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) is scary-big. But when the females are on their "nursery" web to guard their hatchlings, they will not leave their web. So its ok to stick a lens right up on them.
ImageNursery web spider. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

I think this picture would be improved by cropping.
ImageEbony jewelwing damselfly. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

ImageChinese mantis. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

ImageCrab spider. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

ImageFrog. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Focus stacked from 4 pictures.
ImageUp-a-tree wide angle macro by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Focus stacked from 4 pictures.
ImageUp-a-tree wide angle macro by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

I had to clear away a lot of tall weeds and stand in water to take this picture.
ImageBlack and yellow argiope. Wide angle macro. by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Thagomizer
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by Thagomizer »

Great results! Looks like a fun lens. I'll have to look into this lens at some point myself. Right now I'm cobbling together a WA relay rig to experiment with. The Opteka would likely be easier to use, but I already have, or have on the way,the ingredients for the relay, so I want to give it a go first. Thanks for sharing and reviewing!

EDIT: The Opteka does not appear to be available in Pentax.... :?

Chris S.
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by Chris S. »

Capital images, Mark--I can see how that lens would be fun. You're definitely creating images that most other photographers would neither envision nor be able to make.

I wouldn't crop the damselfly shot--like it as is.

I wonder how you got so close to that frog--did you sit very still and wait for him to come to you? And the vegetation around the frog looks unusual for Michigan--was this in an arboretum or other area planted with exotics?

Pity about jerks carving graffiti into the poor beech tree.

--Chris S.

MarkSturtevant
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Chris S. wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:19 am
Capital images, Mark--I can see how that lens would be fun. You're definitely creating images that most other photographers would neither envision nor be able to make.
I wouldn't crop the damselfly shot--like it as is.
I wonder how you got so close to that frog--did you sit very still and wait for him to come to you? And the vegetation around the frog looks unusual for Michigan--was this in an arboretum or other area planted with exotics?
Pity about jerks carving graffiti into the poor beech tree.
--Chris S.
Thanks, as always. This lens has got me really "hunting" for new angles for taking a picture. Definitely calls for shooting the subject off-center for one thing.
Here is a crop on the damselfly. It has less of the wide angle look, but what I value of it is that it shows the special highlights you can get off of the wings when the light is exactly right.
EbonyJewelwingCropped&Reduced.jpg
The frog is taken from a neighbors backyard. They have a koi pond, and the frogs (either 'green' frogs, or related bullfrogs, I can't tell) are amazingly tame. This one is larger than your fist. I was laying prone at the ponds' edge, resting the camera on a rock, and the frog is only a few inches away from the front of the lens although it does not look it. That's one of the big challenges with shooting w.a.m., which is that the distances perceived on the screen are very different from how they really are. The plants were planted. I think they must cover them for the winter or something.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

hayath
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by hayath »

Tastefully done and presented!
Love the environmental portraits showcased

Sippyjug
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by Sippyjug »

Excellent series. =D>

u/zerosapte
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Re: Having Fun With the Opteka f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Post by u/zerosapte »

Brilliant stuff!
What makes photography such a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time.

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