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Finding interest in the ordinary

Sometimes it just happens: a simple thing you try turns into a hobby, then a passion and eventually so much more. Macro photography has taken me to places – both creatively and professionally – I neither planned nor even dreamed about. This story is about my journey into an unseen world. It’s also about a brand-new PRO macro lens that I had the privilege to test as the first photographer in the wild.

Photography provides the opportunity to freeze a moment and share it with the world. Photographers might showcase exciting moments in sports, beautiful scenes from nature or special events in people’s lives. The photos let us pause, observe and appreciate things in a way that just isn’t possible in real time.

As my journey into photography unfolded, I found myself more and more interested in the details, and I soon realised there were way more details to be interested in than I had ever imagined. Macro photography became my thing, my niche and my source of constant inspiration.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 • 90 mm • 1/40 s • F6.3 • ISO200

Macro photography isn’t just focusing on bugs' eyes. It’s finding a tiny thing of beauty and representing it in its own world. Like this little butterfly that I shot on a recent trip to Costa Rica.

Some people yell ‘Snake!’ and run the other way, but macro photographers move closer to steal a photo. This is a hognosed pitviper. From what I was told, this species is relatively uncommon in the region I was visiting. It is venomous and even potentially deadly, but I had never seen one, so there was no chance I was leaving without photos! The image on the right was focus stacked in-camera (15 shots).

The two sample photos above are good examples of how photography has changed my view of the world.

Many people regard butterflies as beautiful – much more than snakes or other reptiles – but I get excited about both. With close-up and macro photos, I can show animals’ true character in their natural environment to portray the beauty others might pass by.

Both photos were both taken with a brand-new OM SYSTEM macro lens, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO, which I got to test in the rainforest of Costa Rica. It is a marvellous lens for any macro photographer, but to understand why it suits someone like me, let's first start from the beginning.

It's the little things

On 11 May 2016, I shared a photo on Instagram with the following caption: “I’ve decided to shoot more macro photos.” I had no idea how much that post would change the path of my life moving forward. For starters, it wasn’t the best photo. It also wasn’t an insect or a spider. But it gave me a small peek into a fascinating new world of detail.

This photo might not be my best one, but it is very significant to me. With this photo, I started actively looking for smaller subjects and eventually found a deep love for macro photography.

Just a year later my Instagram feed started to show a clear theme. I was totally hooked.

With every macro photo I made, I fell deeper and deeper in love with the genre. Everywhere I looked, I found something new. With every shot I took, my photos got better. But there was always room for improvement. And I desperately wanted to improve.

Macro opportunities are EVERYwhere

Soon after entering this new world, I started to gravitate toward miniature wildlife. Wherever I searched, I found all kinds of insects, spiders and other tiny critters that I had previously overlooked. And in macro photos, they looked amazing! I was captivated by them and wanted to share what I found with the world, so others might share in my fascination.

I could go on and on about why I love macro photography, but my favourite thing has to be accessibility. Amazing macro photos can be made inside the house, in the garden, at a local park or in an exotic location. Sure, exotic locations can provide a sense of adventure and excitement (more on that in a minute), but the magic of macro is in the details.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 • 90 mm • 1/100 s • F6.3 • ISO200

With macro photography, you never need to worry about where to find new or interesting subjects. This froghopper seemed to welcome me with a wave on the first day of my recent trip to Costa Rica.

E-M1 Mark II • M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro • 60 mm • 1/50 s • F8.0 • ISO200

And these little guys were photographed in my garden in Pennsylvania. From the photos alone, it is hard to tell where they were taken.

With macro, you don't have to travel to faraway places, since a hidden world can often be found in your own garden, at a local park or in a nearby meadow. Most of my photos are made within three miles of my home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. That's not something people focusing on other photography genres often get to claim.

I am regularly astonished by this world I would never know without macro photography. Ordinarily, it’s quite difficult – or even impossible – to recognise the smallest subjects, but with macro, we can dive into very small sections of the world to discover amazing details and moments.

For seven years, I have lived and breathed field macro. It never bores me. I’m always itching to see what I can discover next or how I can showcase something in a new way.

Stepping into the rainforest with the 90mm Macro

Until recently, my main workhorse lens for macro photography has been the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro, which I’ve utilised to make thousands of photos. It’s been incredible. But in September of 2022, when OM SYSTEM announced a new lens roadmap showing the development of a new PRO-level macro lens, the M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO, I grew giddy with anticipation.

And soon after that, I got a call to go on a trip of a lifetime. I was invited to test the new unreleased lens on a 4-day macro adventure – as the first photographer in the world – in the rainforests (emphasis on ‘rain’) of Costa Rica. Who could resist that?

Costa Rica was wet. Really, really wet. At times I needed to protect myself from the weather, but luckily my camera and the new lens don't mind the rain. Nor did my subjects. The lens is IP53 rated for weather sealing and has a nice fluorine coating to make cleaning the front lens easy.

My excitement for the experience was off the charts, but I wasn’t prepared for the photographic opportunities that the new 90mm Macro would unlock.

I fully expected the new 90mm Macro to perform well. I already knew the weather-sealing of Olympus and OM SYSTEM cameras and lenses could handle whatever weather I’d encounter. I expected to get a higher magnification than what I got with my 60mm Macro; I wanted the highest degree of image quality and hoped for an enjoyable shooting experience. The new lens delivered all that and more.

And some aspects of the more were quite surprising.

More magnification equals more freedom

Each genre of photography has a need for special lenses. In many cases, there is a technical limit that photographers in that genre push against: “If only my lens had just a little more of X”. For some, the limiting factor is aperture. For others, it’s telephoto reach. In macro, the limit is usually magnification.

Like I said, my previous workhorse lens has been the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro, which offers true 1:1 magnification. This means that an object that is the size of the camera’s sensor will fill the frame at the lens’ closest focusing distance.

The 1:1 magnification of the 60mm Macro has been excellent for most of my photography. Actually, comparing that lens to macro offerings from other brands, it compares quite favourably. Due to sensor size differences, the 1:1 magnification of the Olympus 60mm Macro is actually equivalent to 2:1 magnification in 35mm systems. And lenses above 1:1 in 35mm systems are very rare, so with just the 60mm Macro I’m getting shots that users of other brands might need special extra equipment on their lenses to get.

But, many of my favourite photos are made at or near the 60mm Macro’s 1:1 magnification limit. Even though 1:1 is great, autofocus works right up to the minimum focusing distance and image quality is gorgeous, I sometimes want more magnification. “If I could just get a little bit more …”

The 90mm Macro is similar in size to the 12-100mm f4.0 PRO. It’s bigger than the 60mm Macro, but by no means a BIG lens. When I first fixed the lens to my camera, the build quality and balance were immediately apparent.

How about a lot more? When it comes to magnification, the new 90mm Macro is next level.

For starters, it offers 2:1 magnification (which equals 4:1 in 35mm systems) and by using a teleconverter, magnification can reach up to 4:1 (equivalent to 8:1). This is insane! It’s hard to describe how amazing it is to look through the viewfinder and see magnification so far beyond the previous limit of 1:1. If I’m shooting near 1:1, I still have plenty of room to move closer and fill my frame with even more of my subject. When I add a teleconverter, I can get even more magnification and capture even smaller details.

And since the lens has optical image stabilisation which works together with the sensor-shift stabilisation (with Sync IS-enabled camera bodies), I can shoot handheld at high magnifications that would typically require a tripod.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 + MC-20 • 180 mm • 1/100 s • F8.0 • ISO200

Getting closely acquainted with a wolf spider. If you have ever tried to shoot a tiny friend this close, you probably did not have the luxury of doing it handheld and/or using autofocus. Now you can!

In Costa Rica, I didn’t use a tripod for any of my photos (in fact, every field macro photo I’ve ever made has been handheld). I could freely move in, out and around my subjects to find the best angles. I could get true macro magnification from greater distances or get insanely high magnification without adding adapters or worrying about excessive cropping. And autofocus worked flawlessly from any distance.

Having the benefit of reliable, fast autofocus can literally be the difference between nailing a shot and missing an opportunity altogether.

Close, closer and then really close. When I was working with animals, I didn’t just capture portraits. I was able to work the scenes to capture full-body compositions and high-magnification close-ups, all with one incredible lens.

I shot tiny mushrooms, a variety of insects and spiders, venomous snakes, loads of frog species and more. And the increased working distance of the 90mm focal length meant a reduced risk of scaring my subjects, which increased my overall success rate. I was having the time of my life!

I suspect this freedom will make many macro photographers using other brands or lenses ever-so-slightly jealous. And with good reason.

In-camera macro magic

I also need to mention how much I love OM SYSTEM’s in-camera tech for macro. If the features of this lens alone will not make macro photographers feel in awe, then try wrapping your head around this:

With the OM SYSTEM OM-1 and many of its predecessors from Olympus, you can create focus-bracketed and focus-stacked images with a large depth of field in-camera, out in the wild!

For those who aren’t familiar with macro photography, here’s a quick explanation of the problem: Depth of field (the range of space within a photograph that appears to be in sharp focus) decreases as distance from subject decreases. In macro, this means that even when stopping down the aperture of your lens, it can be difficult to get your entire subject in focus. The most common solution is to ‘focus stack’ by merging the in-focus areas of several photos with special computer software, but shooting focus bracketed series is neither easy nor fast.

As I’ve honed my own techniques for macro, I’ve been using in-camera Focus Bracketing most of the time. This feature leverages the camera’s autofocusing engine to capture a series of images with set steps of incremental focus. I would then review the photos on my computer, choose appropriate groups and use specialised software to focus stack what I like. This process can be a labour-intensive undertaking.

The Focus Stacking feature of OM SYSTEM cameras has automated this process to deliver the benefits with none of the stress.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 • 90 mm • 1/100 s • F5.6 • ISO200

This image of a tiny spider was shot as a 16-image focus stack and composited on my computer with Helicon Focus.

Since the convenience of in-camera Focus Stacking is unmatched, I figured I’d give it a try with the new lens. With it, the camera can process up to 15 focus-bracketed shots into a finished, focus-stacked JPG. And if the results aren’t as desired, it’s no cause for concern. Each of the bracketed RAW files from the series also get saved.

Here’s a simple example for illustration purposes. The left is a single shot of a weevil whose body will not fit within the depth of field. A very common problem in macro photography. On the right, you see a 15-image composite made with the automatic in-camera Focus Stacking feature.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 • 90 mm • 1/80 s • F8.0 • ISO200

This adorable little face would not have been captured in full without stacking a bunch of images together to broaden the depth of field. This shot was done using the in-camera Focus Stacking feature.

I don’t know if it was the beefier lens barrel or the in-lens stabilisation that helped me to better steady my camera, but I was nailing in-camera stacks left and right. And even when I missed, the convenience of on-the-fly adjustment was unbeatable. If I missed my desired focus or didn’t achieve enough depth of field, I’d just change my settings accordingly and re-shoot. The in-camera stacks provided me with instant results and visual confirmation.

New adventures ahead

The 90mm F3.5 Macro IS PRO has ignited a spark for my love of macro that I didn’t even realise I needed. I still can’t believe the versatility and overall performance delivered by this lens. I was showcasing details before, but the 90mm Macro is opening a whole new world of magnification and freedom.

I couldn’t be more excited to hit the field with my new lens this macro season.

OM-1 • M.Zuiko 90mm F3.5 • 90 mm • 1/100 s • F8.0 • ISO200

Symmetry, geometry and reflections. All things of beauty that are plentiful in the world of macro.

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About the author

ChrisMcGinnis

Chris McGinnis is a macro photographer based in Bethlehem, PA. Since 2016, Chris has been getting up close and personal with tiny creatures as he aims to showcase the wonder and beauty of their existence that often go unnoticed.

CONNECT WITH CHRIS
Website: Chris McGinnis
Instagram: @innis2winnis
Facebook: Chris McGinnis Macro Photography

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