Thread: Macro

If you just want to dabble at macro, without a flashy and expensive macro lens, just find a good quality close up lens to fit whatever zoom lens you are using (55mm filter thread?)

Nikon make their own.....but I think Canon have a better range of filter diameters.

Google Canon 500D Close Up Lens for more information.

Results are amazingly good, even on zoom lenses !

Nioce Jewel Beetle.

Hi Artme

Is that what he is? I thought he was rather beautiful and I nearly stepped on him in the late afternoon!!!

I am incredibly inspired by a MarkB on the Aust Photography forum who shoots the MOST incredible macros of insects. I've never seen anything like it.

It makes me realize what a wonderful field this is, and just how much I've got to learn. Macro, along with high dynamic range landscape photography seem set to become my latest addictions with the new camera.

Cheers
Lili

Hi Mr Brush

Your advice is interesting, however, there's just one thing - I have a Nikon camera.

I'd still like a lens that fills my viewfinder with the object, so I guess I'm looking at something longer than a 50mm. I really know nothing about macro lenses, and it looks like this is going to be a new area to research.

Cheers
LiliB


"Looking to become more than just a happy snapper"

Originally Posted by LiliB

Hi Artme

Is that what he is? I thought he was rather beautiful and I nearly stepped on him in the late afternoon!!!

I am incredibly inspired by a MarkB on the Aust Photography forum who shoots the MOST incredible macros of insects. I've never seen anything like it.

It makes me realize what a wonderful field this is, and just how much I've got to learn. Macro, along with high dynamic range landscape photography seem set to become my latest addictions with the new camera.

Cheers
Lili

Insectsare wonderful photography sujects. There is such a rang of them and even ones of the same species can vary greatly with colouring and markins.

Uears ago a young fellow I taught brought a jar of Harlequin Bugs to school. He had picked them from a bush at his home. We counted 23 and no two were identical.

Originally Posted by LiliB

Hi Mr Brush

Your advice is interesting, however, there's just one thing - I have a Nikon camera.

I'd still like a lens that fills my viewfinder with the object, so I guess I'm looking at something longer than a 50mm. I really know nothing about macro lenses, and it looks like this is going to be a new area to research.

Cheers
LiliB


"Looking to become more than just a happy snapper"

I think what Mr. Brush was talking about is a thing called a diopter. It is like a magnifying glass that fits over the front of the lens that you have. The quality varies enormously - some of them are just not worth bothering with. If you can get one from Nikon, Canon or a quality third party supplier such as Hoya or perhaps Kenko you should be fairly safe. Google something like " nikon diopter " and you should find out a lot .

Of course getting close to your subject, particularly moving subjects, presents a whole new range of difficulties to overcome - but that's what makes photography so interesting.

Oh, thanks for the bug photo - loved it.

LiliB - sorry, I should have elaborated a bit more.....thanks Avery

The item I am talking about is generally referred to as a ''close up lens". They come in a variety of strengths, or diopters, e.g. +2, +4, etc. depending on the extra degree of magnification.

Its basically a simple single or (better) double element lens that looks like a filter you screw onto the front of your Nikon lens. When buying one it doesn't have to be Nikon - any good quality brand will do. All you need to know is the strength of lens you want (e.g. +3, or +4), and the physical filter diameter to fit your lens. The filter diameter will be inscribed in the end of your lens...e.g. 55mm or 58mm is typical for a zoom.

As Avery suggested, Hoya is probably one of the better ones around at a reasonable price. This page shows a set from Hoya which can be combined to give different magnifications - and some photos to show the effect.

Hoya 37mm Close Up 1+2+4 Filter Set - Digital Camera Warehouse Australia

Best to use just one at at time to give better quality. The results, even when used on the end of a standard zoom lens, can be very impressive. Your working distance (from the front of the lens to the critter) will reduce - so I'd leave the snakes alone for now. The only way to increase working distance is with a longer focal length lens, e.g. 100mm or 200mm. I'm not sure exactly what Nikon zoom you got with your camera.

The other beauty of these things is that they are small and light, so you tend to take them with you..........

What Mr. Brush said

Also, but not only, if you have a SLR camera, you can get devices that fits between the body and the lens, simply a tube with no optical elements that has the effect of reducing the minimum focus distance of the lens. They come in various lengths to give various effects. It means that your standard 50mm lens may be able to focus correctly at just a few millimeters from your subject. As there are no optical elements you maintain all the qualities of your original lens as well as all of the auto features.

You can also get a device that allows you to mount the lens backwards on the camera body. This will also get the the subject close to the front element but they are very difficult to use.

Lots of options.

Here is a photo I took a few years ago with a 40+ year old Nikkor 55mm Macro lens. Manual focus, manual exposure. It cost me $20 on Ebay. I post it to show that you don't need expensive stuff to get results (I hope that is what I am showing ). I still use the lens but not often enough.

Avery - never mind the hairs on the plant stem, you can just about see the bug leg hairs in that pic.....

I have a 3 year old 100mm Micro Nikkor, and it is far and away the sharpest lens in my collection. Too sharp for portraits in fact, as it makes everyone look a bit wrinkly...

Extension tubes are a great way of maintaining image quality at closer distances, especially with prime lenses. Reversing the lens also works well for some lenses - things like 28mm wide angles tend to work well for this, although life is often complicated by losing metering couplings, etc.

There's a guy on one of Nikon forums who produces awesome results using a Nikon 6T close up lens on the (relatively cheap) Nikkor 70-300VR zoom lens. For someone wanting a quick dabble at close up using the kind of zoom lens supplied with many modern DSLRs, close up lenses can be a lot of fun.

Another option for macro that Avery reminded me of with this

You can also get a device that allows you to mount the lens backwards on the camera body.

is to use two lenses front to front...check out this YouTube video for the details

Hi Mr Brush, Avery and Brown Dog

You've really given me some excellent ideas. I like the Hoya option, because it's so easy and judging by the results, should be a good way to start off. And I know Hoya products are really top stuff.

The You tube video is another easy alternative, and really worth a try. It's fascinating, and easy enough to set up.

I don't have a prime lens for the Nikon. I purchased a 18-200mm VRII Nikon, and of course the focusing distance is not nearly what you get with a macro lens. But it's a beautiful lens whose optics are considered above average.

There was some opinion on the Photography forum that using tubes was a bit hit and miss, but I don't see how that could be.

I remember ordering a wonderful Nikon SLR for forensic use for my police officers, and the kit came with tubes and all the gear needed for close up work. And that was determined by the forensic gurus in Sydney. It's a bit hard to know who to believe in this world!!!


Now, along with learning all about the wonders of my new camera, I can indulge myself on many an afternoon in the garden 'shooting' the myriad of insects that inhabit it. I can see my way clear to purchasing the Hoyas, and I'll see where that takes me.

Thanks again, so much.

LiliB

I have two macro devices for my SLR. I have a Sigma 70-300 mm zoom with a macro setting that will go to about 1/2 life size at the 300mm end. That means that you can get the object you are photographing to be about half the size on the negative (yep, I only have a film SLR). Of course, once you make a print from said negative, it will be much larger than life size. The advantage of getting the macro setting at the long end of the zoom range is that the lens is a relatively long distance away from the object you are photographing still, so you don't run as much risk of frightening insects etc.

I also have a set of bellows for this camera. From memory, I can get to about twice life size on the negative with these. Brilliant magnification, but the lens ends up a lot closer to the object.

If you are looking to do macro photography, it is also a good idea to have a way of shifting your flash off the camera's hot shoe. A camera mounted flash will pretty much always be shadowed by the actual lens, or just not angled well enough to illuminate a macro scene. you need to be able to take it off and use a cable or remote set up to control the flash and aim it accurately.

Specific to insects, I have read that going out early can be useful, as they are less active when it is colder. I believe that some people even cool them in the fridge for a small period before taking photos.

Hi Everyone who loves bugs up close and personal (As I do)

I just have to share this site with you. This is the sort of genius I aspire to.

Nature’s Place

Cheers
Lili

Hi Peter

You have raised another aspect of macro photography that has been floating about in the back of my mind - the subject of light.

I had already thought that you had to remote the light from the camera, in order to control shadows, and that will have to be an aspect that I put on the back burner, because at the moment, I only have the DSLR flash, and not even one on a hot shoe. However, it is a major factor that I will have to take into consideration if I want truly good results.

Cheers
LiliB