Macro Lens

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Hi beautiful people!
I'm currently using Raynox snap on small lens for my macro shots. I haven’t tried any real macro lenses, but my Raynox doesn't seem to give me wider depth of field that i want, it's very very shallow. I wanted to be able to capture more things in focus. So was wondering if other macro lenses will be able to do that? If so, I wanted to upgrade for something better but within the budget of maybe under 1000$. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance [emoji5]
 
Very shallow depth of field is always a problem with macro photography. A macro lens won't help as such, the only solutions are to stop down a lot and look at getting some decent lighting on the subject, stacking or get a camera with a small sensor which gives a lot more depth of field to start with.

Lighting is key with macro photography though so look at that first along with a decent lens if you think it's necessary.

What system do you use?
 
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Just to echo what Mike P says, download a Depth of Field Calculator (dofmaster.com) plug the numbers in for your camera and various lenses and see what happens with DOF , in some ( usually a lot) of cases its miniscule so to get anything decent you are working at high f numbers hence the need for light.
Have a look in the macro section on here for advice

best of luck
 
Hi beautiful people!
I'm currently using Raynox snap on small lens for my macro shots. I haven’t tried any real macro lenses, but my Raynox doesn't seem to give me wider depth of field that i want, it's very very shallow. I wanted to be able to capture more things in focus. So was wondering if other macro lenses will be able to do that? If so, I wanted to upgrade for something better but within the budget of maybe under 1000$. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance [emoji5]
Hi ... if you are using the Raynox 250, an inexpensive option - maybe worth trying - is a Raynox 150. The DoF is less shallow, but still shallow.
 
If you want to get serious about it about macro photography you'll want a dedicated macro lens. Depending on what system you're using there are plenty of good options and you don't have to spend anywhere near your budget. Many go for the latest and greatest autofocus lenses but the fact is, with macro subjects, you'll rarely use AF, if at all as you'll want to pro-actively select your exact area of focus and that's quicker to do manually.

I use a Nikon system so my knowledge tends to lean towards Nikon lenses. If you're photographing small objects in a studio type setting, objects that don't move, then I personally tend to pick up around a 60mm lens. If outside with insects that can easily scare then a 100-200mm lens would be preferably.

When choosing a lens, however, forum recommendations are not always helpful as you'll hear a multitude of recommendations for the latest Nikon 105mm VR or 60mm G when there are other lenses that are as sharper or sharper that can be had for less. One such lens is the Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro (Komine). That lens is razor sharp and if you can find a good one you'll normally pay £80-150 depending on condition and mount. It's a lens not so many know about but is used by some of the best macro photographers out there. The Nikon 60mm and 105mm f/2.8 AF-D are both tack sharp and can be found reasonably priced, as can the 55mm f/2.8 AIS.

Finally, the Laowa Venus range of macro lenses offer you 2 x life-size straight out of the box. Most good macro lenses offer 1:1. The Laowas are very sharp but they take some getting used to as they require a lot of lightened are not always ideal for shooting live insects outside, at least without plenty of practice and added flash lighting.
 
The depth of field (DoF) for any lens/camera combination is governed by the laws of physics which essentially means that the closer you get with macro photography (magnification of the subject) the smaller the DoF. I regularly shoot at 5x magnification + wherein the DoF is a very small fraction of a millimetre! The way to increase the apparent DoF is to use focus stacking - which is a subject in itself - either using a combination of multi exposures and software to combine the images or using one of the modern cameras that can do it in camera - a search on the 'net will reveal such cameras.
 
Very shallow depth of field is always a problem with macro photography. A macro lens won't help as such, the only solutions are to stop down a lot and look at getting some decent lighting on the subject, stacking or get a camera with a small sensor which gives a lot more depth of field to start with.

Lighting is key with macro photography though so look at that first along with a decent lens if you think it's necessary.

What system do you use?
I have Nikon D5600
 
If you want to get serious about it about macro photography you'll want a dedicated macro lens. Depending on what system you're using there are plenty of good options and you don't have to spend anywhere near your budget. Many go for the latest and greatest autofocus lenses but the fact is, with macro subjects, you'll rarely use AF, if at all as you'll want to pro-actively select your exact area of focus and that's quicker to do manually.

I use a Nikon system so my knowledge tends to lean towards Nikon lenses. If you're photographing small objects in a studio type setting, objects that don't move, then I personally tend to pick up around a 60mm lens. If outside with insects that can easily scare then a 100-200mm lens would be preferably.

When choosing a lens, however, forum recommendations are not always helpful as you'll hear a multitude of recommendations for the latest Nikon 105mm VR or 60mm G when there are other lenses that are as sharper or sharper that can be had for less. One such lens is the Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Macro (Komine). That lens is razor sharp and if you can find a good one you'll normally pay £80-150 depending on condition and mount. It's a lens not so many know about but is used by some of the best macro photographers out there. The Nikon 60mm and 105mm f/2.8 AF-D are both tack sharp and can be found reasonably priced, as can the 55mm f/2.8 AIS.

Finally, the Laowa Venus range of macro lenses offer you 2 x life-size straight out of the box. Most good macro lenses offer 1:1. The Laowas are very sharp but they take some getting used to as they require a lot of lightened are not always ideal for shooting live insects outside, at least without plenty of practice and added flash lighting.
Thank you so much!
 
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