 Tammy Scott |
Macro Lens I have a (hopefully not dumb) question. I recently bought the Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro Lens. I went out this weekend to test it and couldn't quite figure it out. Whenever I turned the lens out to 1:1, I had to move in extremely close on my subject. That is great if I want to get a close-up of the inside of a flower. But when I tried moving farther away from the flower (to get the entire flower at 1:1) it went out of focus. I had to move the lens in to the 1:2 setting. How can I get the entire flower itself at 1:1?
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Kerry L. Walker |
The only dumb question is the one not asked. You can't get a 1:1 on the entire flower because the flower is larger than the capture medium (film?) you are using. A 1:1 ratio means you are photographing something life size. To photograph something larger than your capture medium you must change the ratio.
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Tammy Scott |
OK - I think I understand. The ratio is based on the size of the film and not on...say a 4x6 print?
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Kerry L. Walker |
Exactly. You can blow it up and crop it any way you see fit. The finished print will actually be larger than life size - how much larger depends on how big you blow it up. The macro lens just lets you get in tight in the first place.
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Tammy Scott |
Whew!!! Thank you so much!! I was starting to get frustrated!!!! A friend of mine (Bobbie Davis) is going to be posting a question on this as well. She used my lens on her digital Rebel and in most of the shots there were parts of the flower in focus and parts of the flower out of focus. She is going to post a photo with her question. It would be great if you could take a look and figure out what we did wrong. Thanks again for your help!!
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Bobbie Davis |
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Bobbie Davis |
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Jon Close |
Depth of field shrinks with magnification (ie the closer you get). The most you can do to get more of the object in apparent focus is to set a very small aperture (larger f-number) - at least f/16, f/22 or f/32 would be better. The Sigma 50 f/2.8 can be stopped down to f/45. At these small apertures you'll have long shutter speeds and need to have the camera rigidly mounted on a tripod. You'll also have to guard against subject movement (block wind, rigid clamp on flowers, etc.).
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Bobbie Davis |
Thank you! With the flowers I used a f/22 and there was alot of wind that day and I hand held it....I'll use a f/32 next time and make sure there is no wind and I put it on the tripod. For the worm, I can't remember, so I probably didn't do that right at all! ;) I'll try it again! Practice makes perfect.
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Kerry L. Walker |
I am sorry I am just now getting back with you but you got a good answer. I have seen many of Jon's posts and he knows his stuff, believe me. One other thing you need to remember is that not all of the photo needs to be in focus. In macro photography, you need to focus on a certain part of the subject (flower, etc.) and let the rest fall where it may. For instance, a single drop of water in focus with the rest of the flower out of focus, will make a good photo. It will draw your attention to the droplet, rather than to the whole flower. Keep it up and you will make many beautiful images.
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Andy |
I would also like to add when taking macro photography, you may have to turn off the auto focus on your camera and use manual focus. The area you want to be in critical focus may not be right at the focusing point of the camera. Hope this helps.
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Bobbie Davis |
Jon, Kerry, and Andy thank you for your wonderful answers! I will be going out to practice this weekend again and will try all of it! Kerry, I was trying to just isolate that dew drop but my eyes are shot and I couldn't tell if I had just that one or not.....doesn't look like it in the picture. Guess I have to wear my GLASSES for macro huh? LOL Oh well, I want to get an awesome shot so I will just keep trying! Again, thank you everyone for the quick responses, they helped greatly..... :)
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Kerry L. Walker |
We are glad to be of help. If you only have to use your glasses for Macro photography, you are better off than I am. You are probably younger than me too.
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Bobbie Davis |
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Andrew Laverghetta |
I love that picture! Personally I think you got it. It'd be cool if there was a little bit more light in the depths but I still love it. I don't mean to hike a ride on your thread but I have a questions about macro and stuff as well. I do not have a picture as of now but I just recently got some of those close up +1, +2, and +4 filters that screw on to the lens and I've been experimenting with macro through them. My only problem is that sometimes the images through the viewfinder look really dreamy or as if I had a very drastic soft focus filter on the lens as well. For example, a drop of water from rain on my window when focused on, isn't in sharp focus but rather it's more cloudy (still the best I can get in focus). I've noticed it's mostly like this when I use my canon ef 80-200 4.5-5.6 lens at 200mm. Could this be because of so all the additional glass I'm using? Sometimes the viewfinder image is perfectly clear so I don't know what's going on. Thanks!
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Kerry L. Walker |
Bobbie, I LOVE that photo. I even like that there is darkness in the depths. It gives a feeling of depth greater than there is, like it is dropping off into nothingness. Andrew, I am afraid that is a problem you will have with close-up filters. They will degrade the image a bit. However, it can give a dreamy feeling to the photo. Do try it with a prime lens though. See what you get.
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Bobbie Davis |
Thanks Andrew and Kerry for assuring me that I have the macro touch down! Andrew, I'm sorry but I've never used the close up filters...was going to buy one or two but then decided to go with the lens itself....the one I have is a Sigma 50mm and it is very reasonably priced...go to abesofmaine.com or ritzcamera.com and you can find it for a little over $200. Again, I wish I could help...but Kerry, Jon, or Andy will be of more assistance I think than me on this issue! :) Good luck!
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