Trying Macro.....

bbg404

bbg404

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Ben
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Morning all, I'm house sitting for an aunt at the moment and her garden is pristine and amazingly full of flowers!

I've never tried Macro photography before so thought there no better time to try!

Anyway these are the lenses I've got so what would you recommend

50mm 1.8
16-35 f4
24-120 f4
80-400 AF-s

Any other tips on settings?

Thanks
 
You don't give any details of which camera you've got, or which of the several variants variants of these general lens specs you have. Go out and take the biggest most image filling photograph you can of a small flower. Forget settings and image quality etc.. Just find which one at which focal length gives you the biggest image of the flower. That's the lens you should start with.
 
Easiest - get a Raynox DCR-150 (for flowers/butterflies) or DCR-250 (for smaller bugs & beetles) and pop it on you 24-120 towards the long end. About £40 on Amazon etc http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_0_14?url=search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=raynox+dcr-250&sprefix=raynox+dcr-250,popular,176

With macro, the magnification increases camera-shake so use VR and keep on eye on it. You also need higher f/numbers to get a bit more depth of field, so try to get some sun on the subject or push the ISO. Switch to manual focus and set that roughly by hand, then adjust exact focus by moving your whole body gently back and forth. You'll soon get the hang of it. A few examples here ://www.flickr.com/groups/2011238@N25/pool/

The other option is a cheap set of extension tubes - similar money on Amazon. Get auto ones, not the dead cheap manual ones - they're a PITA.

Edit: just thinking about the Raynox, the adapter only goes up to 67mm so you'll need a stepping ring to fit anything bigger. Or stick it on the 50mm - it'll be fine. Given this, maybe go for the tubes instead.
 
HoppyUK said:
Easiest - get a Raynox DCR-150 (for flowers/butterflies) or DCR-250 (for smaller bugs & beetles) and pop it on you 24-120 towards the long end. About £40 on Amazon etc http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_0_14?url=search-alias=electronics&field-keywords=raynox+dcr-250&sprefix=raynox+dcr-250,popular,176

With macro, the magnification increases camera-shake so use VR and keep on eye on it. You also need higher f/numbers to get a bit more depth of field, so try to get some sun on the subject or push the ISO. Switch to manual focus and set that roughly by hand, then adjust exact focus by moving your whole body gently back and forth. You'll soon get the hang of it. A few examples here ://www.flickr.com/groups/2011238@N25/pool/

The other option is a cheap set of extension tubes - similar money on Amazon. Get auto ones, not the dead cheap manual ones - they're a PITA.

Edit: just thinking about the Raynox, the adapter only goes up to 67mm so you'll need a stepping ring to fit anything bigger. Or stick it on the 50mm - it'll be fine. Given this, maybe go for the tubes instead.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info [emoji106]
 
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