Raynox DCR-150 or 250
thanks woof woof.....? I'll probably go for close up filters, I'd sort of narrowed down to them or extension tubes, and given they are half the price of even budget tubes, that's probably the way to go (budget is key here as once lockdown is over I may never touch them again)
Any recommendations for a brand?
Quite a few old lenses only go to half life size and need a tube to go to 1:1 so I think it's worth thinking about what's really needed, half life size may be enough and there's the possibility of cropping, maybe.
I used to like my Sigma 150mm on my DSLR's and 50mm seems a bit short for me on MFT but may suit others perfectly so maybe a 50, 80 or 100mm may be worth thinking about if going for a manual film era lens?
I remember using an old film era 135mm f3.5 + tubes once, it focused close and the depth was more than razor thin. Good fun though but really just about impossible to use handheld, a geared head helped.
Well, there you go then
I'm sure I've read that there's a Vivitar somewhere in the 80 to 100mm range that's very well thought of.
The only thing wrong with my Sigma 50mm is that although there's plenty of focus movement for close up there's next to none for further distance which can be irritating. Other than that it was £60 (I think...) well spent as I've used it a lot.
And a PS.
One thing with good macro lenses is that they tend to be good lenses for other uses too.
Thanks folks, you've gone beyond both "beginner" and "budget" in the last few posts but interesting stuff
I've ordered extension tubes from amazon with prime delivery, will be here sometime between 9th april and 1st may........
1:2 will be plenty for now, as I said this is a bit of an educational exercise as I've never explored macro, never really having had any interest. If that interest develops then I'll invest in better and more appropriate kit but for now tubes seem to be the best cost/simplicity/results combination.
Now a focus rail, as you've posted above, to me would be very tricky - in fact I've never used one as I don't tend to do stacking - that seems complicated to me and I've been shooting macro for a long time. I think if you can manage to get good results using that you're well beyond beginner
If I use the rail (and it's a big IF) it will be to fine tune composition of (very) static subjects , not intending to go down the stacking route at that point, staying well away from that rabbit hole for the forseeable
I am fascinated sometimes by stacked images, especially ones of live bugs - it puzzles me how they actually accomplished stacks of 20+ images where one micro movement by the bug would throw it off. I just don't have the patience, it's get it in one or nothing for me - I also never use a tripod for macro unless it's a specific set up in the kitchen, doing water splashes or going beyond 1:1 for an interesting texture close up where hand held is nigh on impossible. Most macro I shoot is one handed, manual focus using my body to adjust, with an off cam flash with diffuser in my left hand - sometimes I'll stick it on the hot shoe, actually doing more of that atm because the lens I have is pretty hefty - with some form of DIY/makeshift diffuser
Unfortunately some photographers go down the road of putting the bug in the fridge to slow it down
get yourself a olympus high end model and a 60mm macro and you can stack in camera Keith . its a fast process and really works well i.eI am fascinated sometimes by stacked images, especially ones of live bugs - it puzzles me how they actually accomplished stacks of 20+ images where one micro movement by the bug would throw it off. I just don't have the patience, it's get it in one or nothing for me - I also never use a tripod for macro unless it's a specific set up in the kitchen, doing water splashes or going beyond 1:1 for an interesting texture close up where hand held is nigh on impossible. Most macro I shoot is one handed, manual focus using my body to adjust, with an off cam flash with diffuser in my left hand - sometimes I'll stick it on the hot shoe, actually doing more of that atm because the lens I have is pretty hefty - with some form of DIY/makeshift diffuser
FWIW I bought a cheap set of FOTGA tubes for my Olympus ages ago.
They worked fine and allowed me to discover how little patience I have for fiddling around at that scale
Some results are here
https://flic.kr/s/aHskypyDQ2