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- Susan Jane Allen

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Macro Switch on Telephotos


A few months ago I tried out a friend's 18-200 Sigma lens which has a macro switch. I really liked the background effects it produced and also liked the idea of being able to use it for landscape and not have to carry around another lens. Still to date, some of my best macro images were shot with that lens. I finally ordered it online, and when I received it, discovered there was no macro switch on it! I had no idea that the lens had both with and without and I couldn't exchange it. I did try it anyway for macro, and the background effects are still pretty good, but I'd like to know just how much difference this lack will make. And I wonder if anyone can help me understand exactly what those macro switches do.


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September 19, 2006

 

Ariel Lepor
  The macro switch, I assume, has the lens zoom in a lot, with a wide aperture, and changes the focus to be able to focus real close. Maybe your friend is willing to trade their old macro sigma for your new one? ;) If you can still take good macros, that's all that matters. Switch or no, a clear and large subject with a blurred background is great. (Say, when you zoom in all the way, what is the closest your lens lets you focus? With the widest aperture?)

Ariel
ScrattyPhotography.com
ScrattyPhotography Blog


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September 19, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  He wouldn't part with it...":^) And he's in China anyway. I took a bunch of photos today to see the closest my lens lets me focus, but no time to download and look. Will let you know tomorrow. Oh, just noticed "widest aperture"...didn't try that... I also just wrote to him to find out if it really was an 18-200.


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September 20, 2006

 

Ariel Lepor
  Okay. You DO have an LCD though, don't you, to see your pictures right away? Maybe it would be possible and easier to look through the viewfinder, focus as close as possible at high zoom, and see how far away you need to be for it to be clear in the viewfinder. Keep me posted, and I look forward to some more great macros!


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September 20, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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Yes, you're right, I do have a viewfinder! Just thought I'd upload the photo at the same time. Actually, two. These were taken at about 5 inches away, the closest I could get with a relatively clear focus. Depth of field isn't great, but haven't mastered that yet. Not sharp as I would like, but I guess that's me, as those taken further away weren't any better. I've magnified them 80% for a clearer view. The bug is quite small, perhaps a quarter of an inch long.


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September 21, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  PS: Apart from answering the question of about how close I could get without the macro switch, I wouldn't mind some advice about how to acheive greater clarity and depth of field. For example, I can almost never get really clear raindrops, though I have done better when I decided to use flash. I have one of those miniature bonsaied Japanese maples in my yard which is SO beautiful, especially in the rain, and those lovely leaves that I want to get in macro are a study of frustration to me. Even with flash, after taking hundreds of photos, I can't get enough of them in focus to be effective. I have one photo that I love, in fact it's one of my favorites, entitled Dream Seeker in my gallery, but that's just because of the effects.


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September 21, 2006

 

Ariel Lepor
  Yes, I see. 5 inches at 200mm isn't bad, you know, but I see the lack of quality. You can achieve a larger depth of field at smaller apertures - like f/22. Sometimes, at close focuses and wide apertures and high zooms, the the DOF is so small, it can't include the whole subject. You might even need to move the camera based on the viewfinder to get the fine focus instead of using the autofocus twice! I told you to use a wide aperture because you wanted the blurring effect. That's caused by narrow DOF. If it's too narrow, and the subject isn't clear enough, raise your f-number. A diffused slave flash is a good idea for shooting with small apertures, fast shutters, and low ISOs, by the way. If you want to get closer in, also, you can get an add-on macro lens like a magnifying glass. I use HOYA's set of 1+, 2+, and 4+. (Higher numbers mean more magnification.) This allows you to still use the high zoom while still being close to the subject and it also magnifies the subject, so it's really big. The only problem is SUPER narrow DOFs, so you you need to really fine tune your focus and/or set to a smaller aperture.


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September 21, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  Thanks Ariel, for your time and effort. My camera only has a view finder for focusing, by the way, and for macro I usually focus manually. I've had the Sigma 105 macro lens next on my list for a while, but a few moments ago, I decided to take a close look at what people were actually using to get those superb macro shots and went to photo categories and selected the insects. The Canon 100 mm macro seems to produce some real beauties with my camera. I really, really love the extreme macro on bugs and found that quite a number of them were taken with extension tubes. By add-on macro lenses, do you mean extension tubes? Sharon D was telling me about reversing lenses, but need to ask her more about that, as I have a hard time visualizing what that means. I know I've got to pay more attention to aperture which means going more manual--I usually shoot in the XT's P mode. I still don't have a polarizer for this lens, as they don't sell Hoya in Japan, and I really don't like Kenko, their preferred brand. In this small town the two camera shops don't even cater to digital cameras and accessories, and both of them swore up and down that Hoya doesn't make filters! I finally ordered from abroad and the polarizer and UV are on their way!


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September 21, 2006

 

Ariel Lepor
  :) That's funny. HOYA MAKES FILTERS! Their "close-up" filters, what I was meant by add-on macro lenses, aren't really filters though. They're really great magnifying glasses that attach to the lenses like filters. What makes it funnier is that HOYA is a Japanese company!

Anyway, an extension tube is something that puts the telephoto lens father away from the camera, I think, which makes everything bigger.


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September 21, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  I know, it's really strange! One person also told me that Kenko makes Hoya's filters,which I find hard to believe. My first circular polarizer was a Kenko and it was distinctly poor quality compared to the Hoya I bought afterwards. Did you use a Hoya magnifying add-on lens for your red dragonflies?


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September 21, 2006

 

Ariel Lepor
  Yes.


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September 21, 2006

 

Sharon Day
 
 
 
Hi Susan & Ariel. I do connect a Nikon 105mm macro and a Canon 50mm 1.8 FD prime lens "in reverse" to take extreme closeups. You connect the two lenses front to front by a ring that has threads on both sides. The DOF is nonexistent. I have a shot of Queen Anne's lace that has decent DOF but they are fairly flat flowers so I was able to get a little better DOF than usual with that combination. Any subject that has depth and you'll lose the DOF real quick in macro.

Same thing with Kenko extension tubes. You can get closer but you lose DOF even at F/22. You can use the Kenko extenion tubes on a zoom lens with good results. Sometimes I do this with my telephoto zooms. Getting a set of Kenko extension tubes would be a good alternative for subjects that do not move, but not so great for shooting outdoors due to the fact with so much extension between your lens and the camera you lose light.

Lastly I do have a Nikon 4T closeup lens which is really a filter. I use it occasionally. Like Ariel mentioned they are corrected and don't have the distortion less expensive "closeup" filters do.

I have read books on macro with many wonderful photos. I have an old book of John Shaw's on nature photography and that's where I read about reversing a lens on the front of your macro. His photos have much better DOF than I'm able to achieve. He uses a little different lens combination than I have so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

Personally if I wanted to shoot 1:1 I'd just get a macro lens, but all the other things are fun too. I purchased the other lenses and equipment as accessories to my macro. I don't like any of them well enough to replace them with the macro lens.


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September 22, 2006

 

Sharon Day
 
 
 
Here are a couple of photos of my macro shots with the 50mm prime reversed on the front. I'll include a photo of the setup as well.


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September 22, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  As usual, Sharon is the great "educator"! I took note of your comment about the 1:1 and again plunged into some research and I'm really thinking seriously of waiting and saving up for the Canon 100mm macro. As great as the Sigma 105 macro's ratings are, the Canon's are better and if I'm going to spend the money, might as well wait a bit longer and get as best I can in that price range. In the meantime, those add-on closeup lenses look interesting, if they're not too expensive. Could you give me an idea of how much they are, Arial? (Sharon, I assume the Nikon won't work on my camera?) They aren't restricted to use with prime lenses, are they? I don't have any prime lenses yet, so I can't use the reverse trick with two lenses front to front.

By the way, Ariel, I'm glad your question prompted me to take a series of shots at different distances. It was terribly disappointing, but at least I learned something. I cannot get the kind of clarity in macro that I want from that lens alone. I can't get anything like what I got with my friend's lens, even though the background effects are good. My Sigma 70--300 with the macro switch is better that that.


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September 22, 2006

 

Sharon Day
  Susan, the Canon 500d closeup lens for a 58mm thread is $86.95. Here's the web address to B&H. If that doesn't work just go to bhphotovideo.com and type in Canon 500d in the search box.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=FJG7s1b7M1!-627527445!1158940219105?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&shs=canon+500d&image.x=0&image.y=0


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September 22, 2006

 
- Susan Jane Allen

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  That sounds great, thanks!


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September 22, 2006

 
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