Up next in 10
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a thorough, real world review of the new AstrHori 25mm F2.8 2-5x Ultra Macro lens | Read the Text Review: | Visit the Image Gallery: |
Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/
Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at:
B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge
Adorama: https://howl.me/cjU0LKdp3LN
Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan
Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d
Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18
Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay
Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off
Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI
=============================
Table of Contents:
=============================
0:00 - intro
0:54 - Build and Features
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott. Lenses that reach up to 5x of macro magnification are very, very
0:18
rare and the new AstroHorror E 25mm F2.8 2-5x macro or ultra macro lens immediately becomes
0:27
the cheapest way to achieve a 5x level of macro magnification. Now ultra macro photography
0:33
is pretty challenging, but it certainly helps when you can jump into it for just $249 US
0:40
dollars. So that makes this lens intriguing on that premise alone. So the question is
0:46
is the AstroHorror E 25mm F2.8 2-5x macro lens worth it? Let's find out together
0:55
Now this lens comes in a variety of lens mounts. It comes in Sony E-mount, which is what I've
1:00
tested here. You can get it in Nikon Z, Canon RF, Leica L, and then Fuji X-mounts. Now obviously
1:07
it's designed for full frame sensors. However, it can also be used on APS-C where that 1.5x
1:14
crop factor is going to give you a approximately 37.5mm effective angle of view. This lens is all
1:22
metal and it does feel fairly dense in the hand. It weighs in at 474 grams or right over a pound
1:29
Part of the reason why it feels so dense in the hand is the fact that it is going to extend
1:35
and almost double in length when you get it out to the 5x magnification level. And so that means
1:41
all of that extra lens when it's actually retracted is all there. And so it feels fairly
1:47
dense in the hand. So when you zoom it out, so to speak, to the 5x level of magnification
1:53
the lens grows from about 95 up to 174mm in length or about 6.5 inches
2:01
Now one thing that's really important to know about a lens like this is that this is actually
2:05
a fixed focus lens. What that means is that this is a purely macro lens. You are only going to be
2:12
able to operate from the 2x to 1x to 5x to 1x or the 2x to 5x macro range. Nothing outside of that
2:21
No one-time magnification, no portrait distance, and definitely no infinity. It is fixed focus and
2:27
that means you're always going to be operating at a very close focus distance when using this
2:33
Now obviously because the lens becomes quite long, the minimum focus distance figure will be a little
2:39
bit deceiving, but we're at how it practically works out. And so all the time you're going to
2:44
be working really closely with this lens. And that becomes really relevant in just a moment
2:48
and something else we'll talk about. Now I did encounter an unfortunate and very serious issue
2:54
with this lens. I hope that it's copy specific, but the problem that I have is that if the lens
2:59
is facing down, you can immediately see that it starts to creep down. Now very often you're going
3:06
to be shooting macro photography in this kind of reverse vertical position, which means that
3:12
because it extends so far that if you don't find a way to stop that creep, if you're trying to work
3:17
at say a 2x magnification level, it won't be long before it creeps down enough to actually run into
3:22
your subject. Now I know that in some reviews I've read, I haven't actually used, Laowa also makes a
3:29
2.5x to 5x magnification lens that looks very similar to this. And I read in the reviews that
3:36
the actual zoom operation is very stiff. Now obviously that makes this lens more nice to use
3:43
if you're just zooming out like this. But the reason why that the Laowa's ring is so stiff is
3:48
to prevent this. And so obviously the compromise here was to make it smoother to operate, but it
3:54
does unfortunately run into a very serious issue. And basically the only way you're going to solve
4:00
that is you might want to have just a piece of something like electrical tape on hand that if
4:04
you're wanting to operate in a certain position, you just slap a bit of electrical tape on it to
4:08
hold it in that position. Otherwise it's going to keep creeping on you. So just be aware that
4:13
that is a serious issue. Now the secondary ring here at the front is the aperture ring. Aperture
4:19
runs from f2.8 to f16. It is just full stop clicks there. The one thing to be aware of that's true of
4:26
any macro lens when you're working at this close of focus distances, that physics does mess with
4:32
the aperture. So what you're controlling here is the physical size of the aperture. And so you can
4:36
see the aperture closed down as you move from f2.8 towards f16. But as light enters into it
4:43
the close focus distance does change the physics of things. So basically just understand that at
4:49
five times level of magnification, even an f2.8 aperture, it behaves more like f12. And when
4:56
you're shooting on a very high resolution body as I am using the Sony a7R Mark V, which is 61
5:02
megapixels, that means that already diffraction is starting to take a hit even at maximum aperture
5:09
And if you stop it down, particularly towards f16, you're really going to see a softening of the image
5:14
as a byproduct of that. It also means that this kind of photography, you have to have a lot of
5:19
light. And so you need to find a way to get a lot of light on your subject because you're going to
5:23
be working with very small effective maximum apertures, not a lot of light reaching the sensor
5:30
Now the aperture iris itself has eight blades. These blades are not curved. So what that means
5:36
is that when you're stopped down in some situations, you will see a slight octagonal shape
5:41
to your specular highlights. It's not a huge deal because the blade count is relatively high
5:46
but just know that it won't be perfectly circular in shape. Now a lens like this, there are no electronics. That means that while most things operate fine
5:56
there are certain information that won't be communicated to the camera, namely the lens
6:01
designation, the aperture that's chosen. So some of those things you're going to have to guess at
6:06
in post if you're looking for that information or make notes otherwise. And if you're wanting
6:11
to use something like in-body image stabilization, you'll have to manually set that
6:16
but know that this is not a lens you can use handheld basically under any circumstance
6:21
Depth of field is just too tiny and it just isn't going to work. So you're going to need a good
6:26
steady tripod and some good technique. Now, while there is a front cap that is included here
6:31
there is no lens hood, there is no filter threads, nor is there any kind of light included. So if
6:36
you're going to want some kind of macro light assembly, you're going to have to deal with that
6:40
separately. So before we jump into the image quality breakdown, let me just give you a few
6:44
quick tips on if you've never done this type of photography. Depth of field is incredibly tiny
6:49
when you're operating at these kinds of magnification levels. So for example, this
6:53
shot is the edge of a knife and this shot is the threads on just a tiny little screw. In other
6:59
words, depth of field is really, really small. And so you're going to have to probably use some
7:04
focus stacking. For example, this result here, just to get all of the word five, this is from
7:10
an American nickel, five cent piece. To get all of that word five in focus, I had to use five
7:16
different shots and then combine them in actually editing software to get enough depth of field to
7:22
even have all of that in focus. And so just know that you're probably going to need to do that
7:27
And also because focus is fixed, it means that you're not going to be able to change the distance
7:33
to your subject through just focus. It means you're going to have to move the camera. And so
7:39
you're going to want an effective way to do that. And that may include something like focus rails
7:43
Very likely you're probably going to want to have the ability to have a horizontal extension on your
7:48
tripod. And so that you can actually move the camera closer to the subject, because otherwise
7:53
it gets really complicated to try to get your subject in the position you need to be to get
7:58
close enough to actually focus on it. And the other thing that I think is important to know
8:03
with this kind of photography is to be patient. This is not the kind of photography you do quick
8:08
and it takes a little bit more effort. But of course the results can be pretty astounding if
8:12
you take the time. So when it comes to the image quality from the lens, I'll give you a quick
8:16
overview and then there'll be a detailed image quality breakdown at the end of the video if you
8:20
want to jump ahead to that. It is time stamped in the description below. So actually there are
8:25
10 elements in 7 groups, a fairly simple optical formula. And the good news is that there really
8:31
isn't much in terms of optical flaws here. There is very very low vignette. I never actually saw
8:37
vignette to be an issue with any of my images. Distortion is basically non-existent. And you can
8:42
see actually from this shot of a $2 bill, here's the $2 bill, here is the In God We Trust section
8:50
that we're looking at. And you can see however that all of those lines are nice and straight
8:55
no evidence of distortion there. Now really important for this type of photography is that
9:00
longitudinal chromatic aberrations are very low. With such shallow depth of field and the need to
9:05
get a lot of light on your subject, there will often be shiny reflective surfaces that pretty
9:10
commonly would show a color fringing of some kind if this was not well controlled. Fortunately it is
9:16
well controlled here and you can see in these shots that there's even on very shiny surfaces
9:21
that there's really no fringing to see. And here in a series from f2.8 to f16, we can see that
9:28
throughout that whole range that the chromatic aberrations are well controlled. So great stuff
9:34
there. There's also fairly good sharpness from f2.8 on. It's not the sharpest macro lens that
9:40
I've used and diffraction of course is softening because the magnification is so high here. So the
9:46
contrast is not amazing but at a pixel level. But overall the images do look detailed, they look
9:53
contrasty. You know at the way that we actually look at images, they look just fine. The bokeh
9:59
is also quite good and by the way very easy to get with these levels of magnification. You can
10:04
see in this shot for example of a needle and thread that just a little bit of curvature of the spool
10:09
of thread means that it's already completely defocused and that just shows you how easy it
10:15
is to defocus things and get nice bokeh with a lens like this. So overall the image quality
10:21
performance is actually quite good. I have no real complaints to give about that. In conclusion
10:27
this is the type of photography that feels really restrictive at first. You have to do extra things
10:33
you're not accustomed to doing in other types of photography. But it's something that gets
10:37
increasingly fun as you get into it. And as I've done this review it might feel kind of off-putting
10:43
some of the extra attention to detail that you have to give. But there's something about that
10:47
that really does give a a sense of fulfillment when you really nail an image that just sparkles
10:53
as a byproduct of using this. It's right in the dead of winter right now here in Ontario, Canada
10:59
and this is actually a great type of winter photography option. You don't need a whole lot
11:05
going on. You can take very small objects and create a little tiny working space and you can
11:11
explore tiny worlds indoors. And so it's maybe a way to stir up those creative juices during the
11:16
long and otherwise maybe non-photography months of winter for you. Now obviously that zoom creep
11:23
focus creep issue is a major issue that you're going to have to resolve if you're wanting to
11:29
shoot in that downward vertical position. Otherwise this lens is pretty great bang for the buck. And
11:35
the more that I used it the more that I enjoyed using it as I begin to work around some of the
11:40
limitations and be able to get the kind of unique images that frankly you just can't get any other
11:46
way. I'm Dustin Abbott and if you want more information you can either look at the text
11:50
review that is linked in the description down below. There's an image gallery link there along
11:55
with some buying links. And if you want more information about the optical performance stay
11:59
tuned right now and we're going to jump into our deep dive. So first of all here we have an image that has not been corrected any way and so this shows that
12:17
vignette is really not an issue. You can see that in the corners the corners look nice and bright
12:22
so no issue there. As noted previously this is a very close-up shot of a two dollar bill, American
12:29
two dollar bill. And in this section you can see there's lots of vertical lines going across the
12:34
bill and if we look towards the edges here you're not really seeing any curvature of those lines
12:40
No distortion really to see here either. So to give you a little bit of perspective here is a
12:45
look at that overall two dollar bill. So those vertical lines we were looking at is actually in
12:49
this zone right here. Now we're going to take a look at what two times magnification looks like
12:56
of this group of gentlemen here and then what five times magnification looks like. So obviously I took
13:02
that previous shot with a different lens as we can get no further away than this and still have any
13:08
kind of focus. So that shows us with this group at two times magnification and then this is what
13:14
it looks like at five times magnification and that is obviously an extremely high level of
13:20
magnification on that single bill. So let's take a look here for those longitudinal chromatic
13:25
aberrations that are obviously going to be something that's really important to be controlled
13:29
in a macro lens and particularly one that gets in this close because every bit of fringing is just
13:35
going to be exaggerated because the pixels are just so close. So we can see in even these places
13:41
where there's highlights of light kind of bouncing off there that there is no fringing to be seen
13:47
and as we look here this is being our plane of focus is so we look before and then after the
13:52
plane of focus just not really seeing any fringing there. Now this shot is at f 2.8 which would be
13:58
the aperture that we would be most likely to see fringing. You can see there are some really bright
14:02
points and on these really really bright areas I can see a little bit of fringing and as you begin
14:09
to stop the lens down that's f4 they're reduced by f 5.6 here they are basically gone and so no
14:18
longer an issue and that honestly was the worst that I could find. You can see in this shot of
14:24
all these shiny areas that there's just no evidence of any fringing there so a really
14:30
strong performance when it comes to controlling longitudinal chromatic aberrations. Now because
14:35
diffraction will come so early on a high resolution body like this which is 61 megapixels
14:41
what I found is that I've got f 2.8 on the left I've got f4 on the right and frankly I don't
14:49
really see much difference in terms of sharpness here. Depth of field obviously is going to be a
14:55
little bit larger with f4 and so maybe that's one reason to consider. I do think there's a little bit
15:01
better contrast if you look at the fibers that make up the paper here but overall really not
15:06
much of a difference. I've stopped down now to f 5.6 on the right side and if we continue to examine
15:13
again depth of field is going to increase so there's going to be more that's in focus
15:18
and there's a little bit better contrast in some of that writing. There's also some areas where it
15:23
feels like diffraction has made the image a little bit softer and so there is some give and take as
15:28
you stop down. On down to f8 there on the right side and what you can see is in the upper part of
15:34
the image definitely diffraction has reduced contrast somewhat. Now there is again there's
15:40
more that's there's detail that's present because of the depth of field increasing and so that may
15:46
be one reason if you just want you really need to increase that depth of field but you can see that
15:51
there is some give and take in other areas of the image due to the effects of diffraction just
15:57
softening the image just a little bit. Now here's our minimum aperture of f16 and you can see just
16:03
side by side there's not a tremendous amount of difference but you are going to see a difference
16:08
in areas near the edge of the frame and that's just largely because there's more in focus and
16:13
it allows the sharpness thus to be more consistent across the frame. Though you can also see some
16:19
areas near the center of the frame like this where diffraction has softened the image where it frankly
16:24
doesn't look anywhere as good as what f2.8 does here on the left. Now one oddity that I observed
16:31
is that the if I use the metering in the camera it metered correctly so we start at 1 30th of a
16:38
second for f2.8 but what we should end up with is a one second exposure at f16 which I manually
16:48
shot here on the right you can see that it's pretty dramatically overexposed. The image on the left is
16:52
what the camera metered which is actually two stops less at and so this is metering more like
16:58
f8 rather than f16. I'm not quite sure what to make of that it could be just the the effects of
17:05
the physics on the close focus it could also be that this aperture doesn't have as much variability
17:12
as what it shows and because you can only focus at minimum focus distance then there's really no
17:19
other kind of way to test that and so this is what it is and so it's not a huge deal but just
17:26
note that you may not get all the way to f16. It seems like there's less variability in the aperture
17:32
range than what maybe there should be. So in conclusion let's talk about the bokeh here and
17:37
you can see that f2.8 on the left and then f5.6 on the right. Obviously there's some trade-off here
17:44
f2.8 has such a shallow depth of field that very little is in focus but the bokeh is very soft and
17:51
more round. You stop on down to f5.6 a little bit more is in focus so the image has a little bit
17:56
more punch in one sense but at the same time you can see that you're seeing that octagonal shape
18:01
of the aperture iris and so the bokeh isn't quite as soft or as pleasing. There's always trade-offs
18:07
when you're shooting images and you just have to kind of determine what is most important to you
18:12
As I noted in my intro you know this isn't the sharpest macro lens that I have used but for 250
18:18
bucks it's it's pretty great and obviously being able to get such high levels of magnification
18:24
really give you a lot of versatility in the kinds of things that you can capture
18:29
So thanks for sticking around to the end and as always thanks for watching. Have a great day
18:34
and let the light in
#TV & Video
#Online Video
#Camera & Photo Equipment