Macroing with a Flektogon: the beginning ...

One of the most sought Zeiss lenses is undoubtedly the MC Flektogon 35 f/2.4.
Widely available a few years ago, it has actually reached a cult status (and the related stellar price), mostly because of the increasing number of people using manual lenses on their digital cameras. Nevertheless, its IQ cannot be questioned anymore, excellent sample pictures are widely available on the internet. Sharpness, color rendering, "painting-like" bokeh make this lens a true jewel.



In one of my previous posts, i listed some of the advantages of using such lenses on APS-C cameras, so i won't talk about it again. Instead, i will show some of the amazing results that can be reached by this jewel with a little trick ...

The Flektogon 35/2.4 is a very fine lens, with a shortest focusing distance of 19cm (about 7.5in). Apart from the fact that such a short focusing distance is not common between this kind of lenses (most of the 35mm lenses, whether MF or AF, focus up to 30cm about), this suggests the fact that the lens may have been optimized for close focus operations (sorry, i don't have any Zeiss-based contact to confirm this). So, i got one of my orchid phalaenopsis and a 5mm extension tube and gave it a try ...

Because of the extension tube, the infinity focus is lost, but the closest focusing distance is shortened to about 10cm (4in, but i didn't make a precise measurement). This is enough to take a closeup of the central portion of the phalaenopsis flower.

At first, a sample at f/2.4, focused on the little "hair" from the "nose" of the flower (yes, there is one and you will see it clicking on the picture and displaying the full res image):



Then, at f/8 (usually, the f/stop value giving the best results):



Last, at f/22:



Undoubtedly, this lens is not only an excellent performer at longer distances, it is great for some macro work, too ...

Thus, i decided to setup a new set on my Flickr photostream containing only pictures shot with this lens and extension rings or bellows and, hopefully, i will get some more spare time during this summer vacations to enjoy it.

More to come ...