Submitter's name:	John A. Lind
Title:	Velvet Violets
Gear used:	OM-4, 18/3.5 Zuiko MC, 49-72 step-up hood, 7mm Auto Ext. Tube, tripod, cable release
Diaphragm:	f/8
Shutter speed:	1/60
Film used:	Kodak Portra 160 VC
Technical information:	This is a technical exercise to discover the bokeh characteristics of the 18mm Zuiko MC. It is all but impossible except for a macro using an extension tube, and the tube had best be a very short one! Taken on my back porch with the African Violet on a fern stand and side lit by diffused daylight. Used a sliding plate on the tripod head to slide the camera forward into the plant. The lens was 2 cm or less from the blossoms. I was surprised it turned out as well as it did. There is a slight hint of the aperture shape in the background's pinpoint highlights. Otherwise, the bokeh has a smooth texture. The 7mm Auto Ext. Tube allowed an extremely close focusing range within a few cm of the front element. The 18mm Zuiko would not be my first choice for a macro, but it does give a very interesting perspective and it's something I might try again some time.
Subject information:	One of "The Better Half's" African Violets. This one's blossoms are about 2cm in diameter. Making photographs such as this one allows rationalizing the expenditure on camera gear, at least some of it sometimes.
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Comments:

Comment left by: bbbean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

No kiddin! an 18?

Comment left by: Warren Kato (wkato@aol.com)

Depth of field seems deeper than f8 from a 50mm or 90mm. I thought that for the same image size and f stop the depth of field was the same. Anyway a very pleasing, sharp and happy portrait of a violet.

Comment left by: siddiq (siddim01@student.ucr.edu)

i keep coming back to this photo to look at the enigmatic texture of the petals: they look like what i can only describe as either sugar-frosting or glass with lotsa trapped bubbles :)

Comment left by: Keith Berry (k.berry@telinco.co.uk)

It has the nice sense of realism / involvement that you get when using a wide angle close up. 18mm eh, just when I was thinking that 24mm is as wide as I need to go!

Comment left by: Jay Maynard (jmaynard@conmicro.cx)

Interesting experiment. I would never have guessed this was an 18. The lack of the usual telltale wide-angle distortion triggers in the frame is probably what does it.

Comment left by: John A. Lind (jlind@netusa1.net)

Thanks to all who left comments. There's not much more for me to say than yep, it was the 18mm. Was thinking hard about how to squeeze bokeh out of the 18/3.5 lens. I had tried the shortest Vivitar Auto Tube (12mm). The focus is so short a throw on the 18/3.5 that the 12mm Vivitar tube was too long! Then I found and grabbed a OM 7mm Auto Tube for a good price. Even with only a 7mm extension the focus at the infinity setting on the lens is an inch or less from the front lens element. If I had it to do over again, I would stop up farther to a wider aperture. Thanks, -- John

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