The focusing range of the Macro function on the Pro1 is actually a three-stage affair, not a two-stage as the viewfinder indicates. The manual says so, but it would have been nice if the three focusing ranges had been indicated separately. Here's how it works.
When you set the camera in Macro mode (by pushing the flower button), the zoom range is limited to 28-90 mm. The range from 90-200 mm is indicated in yellow in the viewfinder, and when you're using that range, the flower is grayed out. So tell me something I don't know?
I found in a number of cases I had difficulty getting a focus lock when I had zoomed in just short of the yellow line. The manual does give you the answer - in the zoom range from 63-90 mm, the focusing range is limited to 30-50 cm distance from your subject. This range is unfortunately not indicated in the viewfinder.
Its only when you zoom out to the range 28-63 mm that you can focus from a 10-50 cm distance to subject.
It would have been nice for the second stage to have been colored yellow and the third red, or some such difference.
The difficulty is that the 63 mm zoom limit is of course not indicated on the lens barrel. You never know where you are exactly.
My way around this, in circumstances where I have difficulty focusing because I have zoomed in, is to use the MF function and focus the camera in much the same way as I did 15 years ago before auto focus was even invented - by moving the camera instead of trying to focus the lens.
Here's how that works. In macro mode, set the zoom anywhere short of the yellow line in the viewfinder, hit the MF button and hold it. Now look at your subject in the viewfinder or on the LCD and just slightly nudge the zoom/focus ring until the focus assist loupe (enlarged middle section) appears. Now move the camera towards and away from your subject - and notice that you can now focus very accurately on details that you want to be in focus! Release the shutter and you're done. Actually, you don't even have to press the flower button when you're using MF. You can always set the minimum focusing distance for any given zoom range by pressing and holding the MF button and turning the zoom ring (now focus ring) clockwise. No need to press the flower or check the yellow line.
With this method you don't need to wonder how far you've zoomed in and in which of the three focusing ranges you're working, because once you hit and hold MF, you can manually set the lens to the shortest focusing distance available in any zoom position. Just try it out. Enjoy.
Gerard Kingma.
