Macro photography has developed into a hobby (or profession) for numerous photographers in the previous handful of years because of to better quality equipment obtainable at reasonable prices. This posting was originally published on my Nature and Travel Photography web site and shares my thoughts regarding what to purchase if you are interested in shooting macro photos. I recommend the The 123 Digital Imaging Suite for additional information, a FREE sample is available.
Macro Photography Equipment
* dedicated macro lenses
* extension tubes or bellows units
* reversing rings
* close up lenses and
* macro zooms (that are pushing the limit of what we are talking about)
Dedicated macro lenses are the ultimate way to go if you are serious at all about doing this style of work. It does not have to end up being pricey, I bought a fantastic 50mm Sigma Macro lens used for all of $120 (new about $270) and it really is tack sharp and produces amazing images. My main macro lens is a Sigma 150mm Macro and cost a whopping $700, the best money I have ever spent. This presents you an idea about the price range available and the sky’s the limit with some highly specialized Nikon macro lenses in the $1,600 range. Why the difference in focal lengths? I’ll get to that soon in another article that I’m working on! If you are serious about macro photography purchasing a lens specifically created for the purpose is the best way to go. The lens designs are generally optimized for close focusing and the lenses are also generally flat field (focus in a flat plane) producing crisper corners on flat objects such as pieces of timber or slabs of rock. Flat field may be a term that many have not heard of and I’ll elaborate in the future on this as well.
Extension tubes or bellows units are pieces of gear that put space between the camera body and the lens thus allowing the lens to focus closer. They can work well with certain lenses, for example, if you have a 50mm prime lens this may well be a great option to get into macro work at an reasonable cost. Extension tubes often come in sets of 3 of different lengths (high quality tubes tend to be sold individually) that can be employed singly or combined to get the close focusing distance required. Bellows units work on the same principle but are expandable like a “bellows” allowing a good deal of flexibility. The real downside is the expenditure and they are bulky and heavy as well. I expect most individuals use bellows units for studio work only as they aren’t terribly practical in the field. One area where extension tubes really shine is for helping to make long focal length camera lenses such as a 400mmfocus closer, great for photographing skittish dragonflies and other critters.
Close up lenses are transparent “filters” that screw onto the front of your lens permitting the lens to focus nearer. Quality varies from mediocre to quite acceptable dependent on the quality of the filters. This is likely the least expensive way to start shooting macro photos but does have its drawbacks. A huge factor that has to be looked at is the quality of the camera lens you will be using. Inexpensive zoom lenses will most likely produce less than stellar results while high quality prime lenses can produce excellent results but none of these will produce tack sharp results like the dedicated macro lenses. The biggest advantage? As these are just fancy filters they are very light, no extra tubes or additional lenses to bring.
You don’t hear much about reversing rings anymore and I expect that’s because most people are using zoom lenses that likely wouldn’t work very well. Reversing rings make it possible for you to install a lens “backwards” on the camera body. When employed with great quality primary lens the results can be beautiful and if you reverse a wide angle lens usually you can accomplish a high magnifications on the order of 2x or more. For individuals fascinated in substantial magnification shooting this is frequently the way to use, particularly if you happen to be on a spending budget.
What about the macro zoom lens that you presently possess? Several of the brand-new lenses that are provided as acomponent of a kit are labeled as macro zooms and although they do focus a bit closer than normal they are definitely not true macro lenses. My past experiences has been that almost all of them are extremely questionable in terms associated with sharpness because these types of lenses are not specially designed for this sort of job application. Of course in a pinch they will function but to get in truly close to your subject one of the above options would be best.
What are you presently using? Are you thrilled with the results?