Help with makro shooting

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Name
Anthony
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Good evening folks

Im new here and have been into photography for the past few years. Me and my wife recently bought canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro usm lens to go on our 760D. We are new to macro photography and its something we are both interested in, im not sure if we are doing something wrong. I like taking pics of miniature items while my wife likes taking pics of flowers and wild life, when we use the lens on AF we can only get so far into the subject, which isn't far enough. When we turn to MF its just blury all the time no matter what we try. Are we doing something wrong ?

Thanks for reading :)
 
100mm f/2.8 macro


Have a look on the left side of the lens,
maybe yours has a limiter… like ∞ to 1 m.
Just set the AF limiter to a proper position.
 
Hi Anthony, i also have this great lens. In MF If you turn the ring as far clock wise as possible and rock back and forth until in focus that's as close as you will get without adding extensions. You probably know this anyway. If you can't focus it at all in MF it may be faulty.
 
When we turn to MF its just blury all the time no matter what we try. Are we doing something wrong ?

In MF If you turn the ring as far clock wise as possible and rock back and forth until in focus that's as close as you will get

And that is about 6 inches from the subject to the front of the lens.
 
You need to learn how close you can focus on an object

Set the camera on a tripod indoors and see if you can focus maully on a subject like a flower or coin and try some shots preferbly using a cable realeae

Are you sure they are out of focus not suffering motion blur as the increased magnification will increase motion blur

Have you read this https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/we-need-you-in-draft-want-to-get-into-macro.551944/

Macro is not easy at all however you do it.

Here is a shot of my lens and camera and the car infront of the camera is at the minimum focus distance of just over 0.3m but remember that distance is from the sensor. mine is an old lens at extends as I focus closer many do not. I do not use a tripod for macro usually.

EM1 sigma 105 Mk11 by Alf Branch, on Flickr
 
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Are you sure they are out of focus not suffering motion blur as the increased magnification will increase motion blur
Definitely something you need to check, do you know what shutter speed you are using?

Andy Johnson what aperture and shutter speed you use, as you use this lens.
 
Definitely something you need to check, do you know what shutter speed you are using?

Andy Johnson what aperture and shutter speed you use, as you use this lens.

F8-10 and 1/160/200/250 I nearly always use flash, not clever enough for natural light..:)
 
Thanks for all the help and info :) just took some practice and the lens is fine

As suspected it is most often user error especially with macro it is not easy. If you achieve 1 out of 100 shots that are any good handheld to start with you are doing ok.
 
As suspected it is most often user error especially with macro it is not easy. If you achieve 1 out of 100 shots that are any good handheld to start with you are doing ok.

It is indeed, very hard to get the right shoot and lots of practice is needed! Still im enjoying the challenge
 
The lens you have is exceptional - ultra sharp and perfect for macro.

This shot was taken with the same lens fitted to a Canon 450D, hand held with a flash situated on the camera:


Can't remember the aperture used but it was probably around f22.
 
Wow that's a great shot. I needed more practice as I took a macro of s lady bird and it was no where ad detailed as yours
 
Wow that's a great shot. I needed more practice as I took a macro of s lady bird and it was no where ad detailed as yours

Well macro does take a great deal of practice but my technique can be boiled down to a simple method - take loads of shots and bin the bad ones!:LOL:

Seriously though I have had days when I've gone out and taken loads of shots and binned them all due to OOF, blurred, just missed the shot, it flew away etc etc!

But macro is extremely addictive and in the end well worth sticking with.

It is also worth getting a set of extension tubes which will allow you to get even closer and thus get a larger image on the sensor.

BTW that shot was taken indoors after I found it crawling across my carpet on evening - it seemed a bit lethargic so I put a slice of apple on the window sill and got the wasp onto it.

You can see a bit of the apple in its mandible.

One it had regained it's strength I put it outside.

If you are taking pics of flowers etc it's always worth while to get some small ones and bring them indoors where there's no wind etc.

That way you can practice to your heart's content!:)
 
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Well macro does take a great deal of practice but my technique can be boiled down to a simple method - take loads of shots and bin the bad ones!:LOL:

Seriously though I have had days when I've gone out and taken loads of shots and binned them all due to OOF, blurred, just missed the shot, it flew away etc etc!

But macro is extremely addictive and in the end well worth sticking with.

It is also worth getting a set of extension tubes which will allow you to get even closer and thus get a larger image on the sensor.

BTW that shot was taken indoors after I found it crawling across my carpet on evening - it seemed a bit lethargic so I put a slice of apple on the window sill and got the wasp onto it.

You can see a bit of the apple in its mandible.

One it had regained it's strength I put it outside.

If you are taking pics of flowers etc it's always worth while to get some small ones and bring them indoors where there's no wind etc.

That way you can practice to your heart's content!:)
Thanks for the info. Was that picture taken using extensions? I know what you mean about the wind as it was playing havoc trying to take pics of flowers last week !
 
Wind ,,,the biggest pain in the arse and i'm not talking about farts. o_O What i have been doing lately is getting some stiff electric wire and attaching a crocodile clip to one end. I push the other end into the ground and attach the clip as close to the flower end as possible. As long as it's quite short it steadies the plant a lot.
 
Wind ,,,the biggest pain in the arse and i'm not talking about farts. o_O What i have been doing lately is getting some stiff electric wire and attaching a crocodile clip to one end. I push the other end into the ground and attach the clip as close to the flower end as possible. As long as it's quite short it steadies the plant a lot.

I sometimes go out with some plastic containers and a pair of snips and bring flowers home ( not from anyone's garden) and photograph them indoors - much easier and I can set up the lights etc to suit - and NO WIND!:)
 
I have the same lens if it out of focus get used to turning the collar till in focus and move the camera closer when it blurs turn the collar again till in focus keep doing this till it stays blurry then you know your limit which is around 6 ".
The image below was taken this afternoon hand held with a canon 7D using the built in flash at ƒ/11.0 -100.0 mm - 1/250 - iso 1250

IMG_0245.jpg
 
I sometimes go out with some plastic containers and a pair of snips and bring flowers home ( not from anyone's garden) and photograph them indoors - much easier and I can set up the lights etc to suit - and NO WIND!:)
Yes there is that but i fear there would be no Bee on the flower by then :)
 
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