Saturday, June 13, 2009

Coastal Optics 60mm Apo Macro: hotspot issues

****** NEWS as of June 2009 ******
It has turned out a few days ago, that this high rated lens has a  serious hotspotting issue (UV+IR) from 1:1.5 to about 1:3 magnification especially at small apertures. It hasn't been noticed before by Pro's and ambitioned amateurs, so that comes as a big suprise. Coastal Optics made this issue public and is working hard to get that issue fixed, which hopefully turns out not to be a design issue.
It will be reported here as soon as a solution has been found, so stay tuned!
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Current news (July 2009) is , that the issue has been identified and a redesign is  currently being investigated to cure that issue. Still no official statement has been made about that issue. No info is available if and when modified lenses will be available.

 ****** NEWS as of  July 2013 ******
It has been found out by users that a very narrow sunshade is able to solve the hotspot issue. The lens has not and will not be been modified in any way by the manufacturer. They recommend to use an external extension tube for the 1:1.5 to 1:3 magnification range.