ELPRO 52 Macro with Q/Q2

[nicci78]

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Coming from great APO-Macro-Elmarit-TL 60 and awesome APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 100mm you can understand what I consider good enough and too bad for my taste.

Call me spoiled child, if you want. 😌
 

ELPRO 52 is quite good in a pinch. But proper macro lens is the way to go 

Edited January 22, 2022 by nicci78

[Dave in Wales]

75mm + Macro = good results.

[T25UFO]

The face in a small stone . . . 75mm + Macro = good result

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[PhotoCruiser]

Am 22.1.2022 um 08:14 schrieb Dave in Wales:

75mm + Macro = good results.

105mm macro = better results on living things as focus distance is longer and will less scare critters.
The longer focus distance helps also to work with ambient light as it may throw less lens  shadows.

Backdraw of the longer min focus distance can be air pollution but particularly suspension particles creating backscatter in underwater macro photograph

However, back to the question!

As I wrote in my review and the posted pictures show clearly that the ELPRO 52 is useful for macro photograph using the Q Series.
The from me detected distortion will show on straight lines but is invisible for natural, not straight motive.

The real backdraw is the extrem short focus range making natural illumination in the field almost impossible.
Hotshot mounted traditional strobes will not work as they throw shadow from the lens, 
the only reasonable lighting will be a small ring light or strobe, preferably a strobe as lights are much less powerful and scare critters when on.
It should be the smaller ring strobe available, otherwise the lens point straight or upward as she rest on the ring light/strobe.

Im back in Costa Rica and as soon tackled down some things I may start again to do some tests with the ELPRO52

Chris

[Serryth]

Have been reading about the Macro capability of the Leica Q2 and wondering about a comparison between the Leica Elpro 52 and the Marumi achromat lens (200 & 330 which many people seems to also like). My Leica Q2 (reporter edition) finally arrived, and I am happy to show some comparison photo. (These are not the greatest macro photos, and by no means a scientific comparison.) 😅

The Marumi DHG 330 is (+3) and the DHG 200 is (+5), whereas the Leica Elpro 52 is (+7). I also did a shot using stacked Marumi lenses (which give +8). So you can see the progression from No Close-Up lens (+0), to (+3), (+5), (+7), and (+8) (stacked).
 

 

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[PhotoCruiser]

Great comparison and much better than mine!
I believe that the ELPRO 52 is a good and useful tool for any macro photography who has no straight lines or a non distorted photo is not necessary
as the ELPRO 52 create visible distortion.
Quality wise it looks as the Marumi does his job well too - al test in the images above - and is much cheaper.
Interesting would be the same comparison with object filling the frame to see distortion and resolution of the Marumi

Chris
 

[Serryth]

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12 minutes ago, PhotoCruiser said:

Great comparison and much better than mine!
I believe that the ELPRO 52 is a good and useful tool for any macro photography who has no straight lines or a non distorted photo is not necessary
as the ELPRO 52 create visible distortion.
Quality wise it looks as the Marumi does his job well too - al test in the images above - and is much cheaper.
Interesting would be the same comparison with object filling the frame to see distortion and resolution of the Marumi

Chris
 

I posted more comparison shots here, and here. Even tried stacking the lenses together (ELPRO + Marumi), to some not-so-nice effect... Ha! 

(I agreed with your assessment.) I think the lens all distort to some degree... the heavier the dioptre, the heavier the distortion... it is to be expected as they are 'magnifiers', after all.

The Marumis (330, 200) are indeed much cheaper and can do their job reasonably well. However, individually, they are weaker (+3, +5) than the ELPRO (+7), and if combined (+3+5=+8), can became darker than the ELPRO (only).

The Leica close-up lens is indeed way over-priced for just a Close-up lens, but images taken with the ELPRO is bright (for +7, at least), (brighter than Marumis stacked +3+5), perhaps because the Marumi are only singles (that's what I read). The Elpro may have been a doublet(?) -- (if true), doublets are better design for close-up lens compared to singles.

In any case, the way over-priced Elpro did let through more light and "compliment" the 'way-over-priced' Leica cameras, even the Q2. 😁

As I was able to get my hand on a used ELPRO at about half the price, I have decided to return the two Marumi's.

People looks for different thing in their photos, so each of our mileage will vary. (I learned a lot through this little exercise/experiment.)