hello im new and macro advice needed please

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shaggy

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hello folks
im new here and new to photography

my camera set up is a canon eos 400d with the stock 18 - 55 lens
i have a couple of watches & i want to take some very close up pictures of the dials etc.
i have heard about reverse rings and also dedicated macro lenses but due to cash flow can't afford £100s on a single lens.
i ordered a 10 ring macro set (10 bits of glass that screw on the lens) from ebay and also an extender tube but i cant seem to get good results.
i know i need good lighting and will buy or make a cheap a light box so i can take the flash off.
any help and advice is very much appreciated as im very confused :bang:
 
The extender tube should be all you need. Try just using it without the those lenses. What size tube did you get? 12mm or 25mm?
 
Edsport said:
The extender tube should be all you need. Try just using it without the those lenses. What size tube did you get? 12mm or 25mm?
Click to expand...
sorry im not sure
we have family staying tonight and they are in the room where it is
i will post what it is tomorrow if thats ok?
also i think it may be my settings that are all wrong

thanks for the speedy reply:D
 
Using the extender tube you can move the focus ring to make things bigger or smaller. I get lots of magnification just using a 12mm entension tube and the 18 - 55mm lens...
Post a pic so we can see why it's not turning out good. Looking at the pic should help alot to determine what's wrong...
 
You could try the Raynox dcr-250. It is a macro lens that clips to the front of the lens. Google Raynox dcr-250 and see what you get. I have one and it's great! It cost me £36 from Amazon i think.
 
i have taken some pictures and a wierd thing has happened:eek:
when i pulled them from the camera they saved twice
once as a img file type cr2 file at about 12 mb
and the same picture also saved as img file type jpeg image at around 4mb
i dont understand why this is?
im on vista.
will post pics when someone can say which to save:thumbs:

just a note i took some on iso 1600 and they were way too bright
then set the iso to 100 and they are better
all shots were taken on the M setting with no flash except the tube shots that were taken on macro auto with flash
 
the 3 watch and strawberry pics were done near window with no flash and not on tripod with large ring. i then saved them via mgi photosuite 3 as jpegs and up into photobucket

IMG_3879.jpg

IMG_3881.jpg

IMG_3885.jpg

IMG_3886.jpg



the 3 rings pic has been cropped and then saved as jpeg and uploaded to photobucket
i have 3 rings but the adapter that fits the camera side is stuck into ring 1 and wont move so i have to use ring 1 with any other ring if that makes sence
IMG_3890.jpg
 
they look ok, just need to focus better.
sounds as if your using raw and jpeg files, in your camera settings you can select large jpegs or raw files or as your doing, both.
 
The first one is suffering from shake, by the looks of it. The second is just not focussed. The third looks to be, and the fourth not quite in focus.

If you are using manual focus, here's a good tip: If I'm in doubt about getting my focus right, I fire three or more shots while I gently move my focus ring. You'll get at least one perfect image. You're on an SLR, so don't be afraid to press the button in quick succession - as long as you don't run out of buffer, the camera will take it :)
 
would i be right in thinking the longer the tube the closer in i can get?
i want to get closer than i have if possible
and thanks guys i appreciate all the help and i know its a pain when newbies ask the same questions:suspect:

also if i bought a Raynox dcr-250 as Andy suggested would it work even better with the extention tube used at the same time?
 
If you don't have a cable release for the shutter try using the timer and mirror lockup helps with camera shake. If you don't use these then you will probably get camera shake...
 
Those tubes look to be manual types, i.e. you need to manually stop down your lens, and the chances are a modern lens will not do this as it relies on the camera to control aperture. For macro you usually need to use at least F8 aperture, preferably F11 or F16 because of the tiny depth of field that you have when you get really close.
So if you use extension tubes, either get the genuine Canon extender or Kenko auto tubes, both of which have the proper connections to preserve auto-aperture. You should also keep autofocus as well, although many people prefer to use manual focus with macro work.
The already mentioned Raynox DCR250 close up lens is a three element acromat and will wipe the floor with those cheap three lens sets that you can get on ebay but to get the best results you'll probably need a longer focal length than your kit lens.
 
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