| Author |
Message |
Barry Miller
Member
|
# Posted: 15 Dec 06 17:29
Reply
Due to the oncoming inclement weather and a reluctance to wonder too far from home in the depths of another wet English winter, I have decided to invest in a close up set and dabble a little bit into the fascinating world of the Macro men and women and try a bit of tabletop photography and general Macro stuff (I’m never sure if I should use a capital ‘M’ for macro or not) . I have long admired their diligence, patience and skill in the work that macro photographers produce, whether it be the stunning detail of a bumble be or the petal of a tiny flower, so I have dipped my toe in the water so to speak.
Having played about with the +1, +2,+4, and +10 filters/lenses and practiced on stamps and coins plus the odd blade of grass with the obligatory water droplets, I am now well and truly hooked on this wonderful miniature world. However I seem to be getting conflicting advice from friends and some fellow photographers regarding macro focus setups, so I am asking the worldly wise Woophy clan to help out with their advice and contributions.
I am confused regarding two separate issues.
1) should I use the cameras own macro mode when I attach a external macro filter and 2) should I use the AF (auto focus) mode on my Fuji 6900Z or use manual focus. Also does it matter which method I use or can I obtain equal results using either method. I tend to setup using object to lens distance focus and then fine tune with the AF on the camera. I have already experienced the culture shock of a extremely limited depth of field and of course the problems of focus that this brings, so any help is welcome. Please bear in mind I have limited experience regarding macro photography so explanations using the “Painting By Numbers” method would be good. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help and all contributions will get a £1000000 Christmas shopping voucher, well, no they wont really, but my heart is in the right place.
Whilst thinking about focussing, I saw this quote on another site and it has just stuck in my mind.
"You can't depend on your eyes
if your imagination is out of focus."
Mark Twain
Barry
PS...Dear Santa, please can I have a Hassleblad for Christmas? The Ixpress CFH would be good but any model will do.
|
Bunny
Member
|
# Posted: 15 Dec 06 18:03 - Edited by: Bunny
Reply
Hi Barry
I'm quite new to this subject too, but very faciated by it! just like you
well, i use a macrolens (accually a microlens... and a Nikon D70s) and work with the aperture automat modus. i choose the aperture and the speed is the camera setting for me. the manual focus doesn't work for me, i dont choose it sharp enough ;-) so i work with AF. the best thing is to take a lot of pictures, in different modus and ways and then figure it out what works the best for YOU! (that is what i did and it works fine, i think)
that what works good for me doesn't mean it works for you too
if you wanna see some macro i made:
imagografie
have fun by taking pictures!!!
greetings
|
|
Barry Miller
Member
|
# Posted: 15 Dec 06 19:21
Reply
Bunny, I am very impressed by your pictures in your 'Makro' section, I love the focus fade off that you have managed to achieve effectively in some of the macro shots, I will try this for myself. I don't have any crystal or mined gold but I do have a small rock and pretty pebble collection I could use so I am inspired to experiment. Naturally with the D70s you have a greater advantage in so much as it is a far superior animal in every way than my humble Fuji 6900Z as I can only open up to f2.8 and a maximum shutter speed of three seconds. However you will notice I have requested a Hassleblad from Santa..........I wish eh?
The other thing is, do you use the cameras own macro mode or normal shooting mode when you are doing close-ups such as 1 to 1 sizes and closer ?
Thanks
Barry.
|
|
Bunny
Member
|
# Posted: 16 Dec 06 01:02
Reply
thank you barry for the compliment ;-)
when i put the macrolens on, i don't use the cameras macro mode anymore. i use the aperture mode.
if you have the option to go till f2.8 you can make interesting pictures, where only a little part will be focused and sharp, and the rest goes to background. with my macro lens i can go till f3.5, not lower. so the pictures you've seen on my homepage had in general a apperture between 3.5 and 10.... just tri it out! you can change the aperture and do the same picture again and again. then you will figure out what mode is the effectivst for you. if you use the macro mode in your camera, then the camera will choose what it needs. just try everything... you'll see, it will be easy! ;-)
|
Ruud~
Member
|
# Posted: 10 Jul 07 02:07 - Edited by: Ruud~
Reply
A very late reply...
Hello Barry,
I use a raynox dcr 150 macro converter that snaps on to the front of my fuji camera. Such lenses are intended for use with the camera lens in the longest telephoto setting. That's 300mm for my camera. The result is an enormous magnification with a very shallow depth of field of 5mm.
I normally fix the focus and move the camera in and out to find the right focus for my subject.
To increase the dof I sometimes zoom out to about 200mm. That reduces the magnification but increases the depth of field to about 7mm.
To get even more dof I use a trick. If you zoom even wider you'll get an even lower magnification and a dof that is centimeters deep , but a very obvious vignette appears, as if you're looking through a porthole.
Here's the trick. Turning on the digital zoom removes this vignette, brings back the magnification and preserves the dof that belongs to the shorter focal length that you're using.
I hope this was helpful (even if it is a bit late).
Cheers, Ruud
|
Online now: Guests - 1 Members - 3