Macro picture ideas?

AboutLee

AboutLee

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Just brought myself some macro lenses from ebay for only like £8.49 for a set of 4 for my canon 300D. Now i like to take close up pictures of stuff, but what are good close up objects and what not?
 
Personal favourite of mine is insects;

Just preference. Is more fun as you've got to find them first and even when you do there's nothing to say you'll be able to get anything.
 
Just Dave said:
Lenses, filters or tubes :thinking: 4 macro lenses for £8.49 :thinking:

As for subjects just look around you find something and explore it
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at that price they'll be dioptre 'filters' - the clue is in the number, tubes come in threes, and lenses and adapters are one offs,

in terms of subjects pretty much anything and everything - flowers, insects, the family pet (if it'll sit still), your other halfs eye (ditto), lego men, coloured pencils, water droplets, electrical circuit boards etc etc etc - have a look in the macro photosharing an see what pulls your plonker
 
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still not to knock it - thats how i started , I think i did about 6 months with dioptre filters (and i supose the ebay description is technically correct, because technically they are suplementary lenses not filters), then got frustrated with that - got a set of tubes for a bit, then tried a reversing ring and an old carl zeis f1.8 50mm , then finally after about two years bit the bullet and bough a 50mm 1:1 macro lens s/h

then i changed systems from pentx to canon after an insurance claim and splashed out on a tamron 90mm 1:1 and havent looked back (except that i'd really like a siggie 150mm 1:1 :lol: )
 
big soft moose said:
got a set of tubes for a bit,
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Tubes is a good way to go as you can always use them with a macro lens, I got the sigma 105mm macro fantastic sharp lens,

The filters will produce good results, but the the OP will get the bug (pun intended) and want a macro lens
 
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duttytd said:
I'm on 2 minds about my first macro lens, I'm looking at the Canon 100mm 2.8L or the 180mm 3.8L
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both good lenses - but the sigma 105 , 150 or tamron 90 or 180 are also good and significantly less wedge.

on length it depends what you want to photograph , if its flowers and other static stuff go for a shorter one like a 90, 100, or 105 - if its insects or anything skittish go for a 150 or 180

and also dont forget that these are f2.8 so you can still use a doubler or 1.4tc to get more reach if you need it
 
big soft moose said:
both good lenses - but the sigma 105 , 150 or tamron 90 or 180 are also good and significantly less wedge.

on length it depends what you want to photograph , if its flowers and other static stuff go for a shorter one like a 90, 100, or 105 - if its insects or anything skittish go for a 150 or 180

and also dont forget that these are f2.8 so you can still use a doubler or 1.4tc to get more reach if you need it
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Yeah I was thinking the 100 as I have tubes, but it also is a great lens for protraits, I want the Canon L for the IS as if I spot something quick and I have to take the shot hand held I don't want to miss it so for me paying the extra and yes I know its a lot extra seems worth it.
 
well its your money - and it is a great lens

but that said i hardly ever use a tripod with my tamron 90mm, virtually all my macro is hand held, and i'd usually try to keep the shutter speed up anyway if i'm photographing something thats moving

tbh if you are grabbing shots your real freind is the burst mode on the camera because the problem with macro is that the dof is so small that you've a good chance of not getting it right with one shot anyway - i normally fire a burst while rocking back and forth on my heels
 
Just Dave said:
I find the working distance of the 105 great for insects, slow steady movement getting close :thumbs:
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yep likewise with the 90 but last year i was doing a lot of dragons and damsels (sometimes in flight) and getting close wasnt an option unless i wanted to go paddling - i wound up using my 2xtc but i would have loved a 150 or 180mm
 
big soft moose said:
well its your money - and it is a great lens

but that said i hardly ever use a tripod with my tamron 90mm, virtually all my macro is hand held, and i'd usually try to keep the shutter speed up anyway if i'm photographing something thats moving

tbh if you are grabbing shots your real freind is the burst mode on the camera because the problem with macro is that the dof is so small that you've a good chance of not getting it right with one shot anyway - i normally fire a burst while rocking back and forth on my heels
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Burst mode ain't very fast on the 1000D :-(
 
duttytd said:
Burst mode ain't very fast on the 1000D :-(
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its probaly faster than it is on the 300D which is what i had when i started out (3fps) just rock more slowly.
 
One thing to remember with macro photography is that flowers move with the wind. So you'll probably want to use a tripod and a lot of patience. It also helps if you can reverse the tube and have the camera below the top of the tripod. You might be tempted to pick some of the flowers to shoot in a light box at home, but beware of doing this as it is illegal to pick quite a large number of wild flowers (maybe most of them). Of course, garden flowers or ones you buy from the florist make great macro subjects - especially the heart of the flower.

One other macro subject that hasn't been mentioned is anything that can be used to create an abstract - kind of a 'guess what this is' photo. Things like cheese graters, wire brushes, jewelry, etc. But you can also get some good macros from common objects like cutlery, food, calculators, bicycle cogs, etc, etc. There isn't really any limit.
 
yep those are diopre filters / suplementary lenses - not a bad way of dipping your toe in the macro water and so long as you dont stack more than two image quality will be okay.

but if you like it you'll probably want to acheive true 1:1n or higher pictures and will probably want to get some tubes and maybe a reversing ring.

I'd highly reccomend "small things big" by paul harcourt davies as a book to cover the wonders of getting in to macro - its about 15 quid on amazon but your local library probably has it
 
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