A few super macro samples with the Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens

After my last post regarding the Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens I have purchased a revers mounting ring for micro four thirds. It’s a 55mm to M4/3 mount mounting ring, which is too large for the Cosmicar. I have therefore attached the lens to two step-up rings – a 40.5mm to 52mm and a 52mm to 55mm. It’s not an ideal solution, but I wasn’t able to find a reverse mounting ring with a smaller filter thread. Anyway it works and surprisingly well at that. I haven’t calculated the maximum magnification ratio, but it puts all my other macro setups to shame. See the anthers in the following photo which was shot with the reverse mounted Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 on my Olympus OM-D E-M10?

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 C-mount lens (reverse mounted)

The anthers belong to the tinny flower between my fingers. This photo was shot with the Ricoh GR Digital III, just to illustrate how small the flower is.

Shot with: Ricoh GR Digital III

The following is a single rolled together petal of a not fully developed Tagetes erecta (Mexican marigold) flower. It has a diameter of around two millimeters.

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 C-mount lens (reverse mounted)

And last shot I want to show you is a very small part of my index finger.

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 C-mount lens (reverse mounted)

This is what the setup looks like.

Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount

Now a few words on the ease of use or more precisely the lack thereof: With such a huge magnification ratio it is very hard to get things into focus. Depth of field is literally razor-thin. You have to rock the camera back and forth, stop at the right moment and try to not move the camera too much while pressing the shutter release button. You also need a flash and a powerful one at that. I shot all of the photos with my Meike MK320 attached and set to full power (!). This should tell you that the lens doesn’t let much light through, when it’s reversely mounted. With a DOF as thin as this, this setup is best suited for photographing very small static subjects (like very small plants). To avoid frustration due to an enormously high reject rate it’s best to use a tripod. Doing focus stacking seems almost mandatory, unless you are going for an artistic look with super-thin depth of field.

As for buying this lens, it seems to be hard to find. But you can always try your luck at ebay US and ebay Germany.

Stay tuned for more shots with the Cosmicar 8mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens. 🙂

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Ivan Written by:

2 Comments

  1. 12/08/2016
    Reply

    WOW, now that is close! You might want to try it on snow flakes and frost this winter. What about some moss? Butterfly wings – if you find a dead one. You can have some interesting fun with this setup.

    • Ivan
      12/08/2016
      Reply

      Yes, I’m considering doing all of that. But for now, while the weather is still nice, I will be using my other setups more.

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