Macro Macro Macro!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Macro Macro Macro!

Helen Highwater: Feb 19, 2014; And furthermore; Grimey Drawer

Pikal posted:

I posted in SA mart looking for a used macro and someone replied suggesting a 40mm pancake and expansion tubes. I was wondering if I could do this with my nifty fifty and what am I looking for in terms of the expansion tubes?

This would be a learning experience so I'm not looking to spend $500+ on a lens at this time. I'm using a Canon T3i and depending how this takes off may upgrade to a full frame body.

Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions. If this is better in the gear thread I can repost there.

I have done this with my nifty-fifty on a 70D and it works fine. Mine were this set of 13, 21 and 31mm tubes.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 12:41

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# ? May 14, 2024 21:36

Pikal: Jun 18, 2004; College Slice

Thanks jeez and Helen. I'm gonna look into both, I appreciate it. The extension tubes are sounding pretty good, especially the price tag.

# ? Mar 2, 2017 02:04

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

honey bee

# ? Mar 30, 2017 10:15

Graniteman: Nov 16, 2002

Raikyn posted:

honey bee

Nice! That shot must have been a pain to get.

# ? Mar 30, 2017 13:58

Finger Prince: Jan 5, 2007

I just found out that Panasonic has new firmware for my camera that adds focus stacking to the post focus function. It's limited to 4k (8Mp) resolution, but still, that's pretty great. I haven't installed it yet but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. With that, I can keep the f-stop low and still get everything I want in the focal plane. It doesn't work on moving subjects because it uses the 4k video function, so it wouldn't have helped me with the army ants I was mostly failing at taking shots of on vacation, but plant parts, inanimate objects and stationary bugs should be perfect subjects.

# ? Mar 30, 2017 15:04

InternetJunky: May 25, 2002

Finger Prince posted:

I just found out that Panasonic has new firmware for my camera that adds focus stacking to the post focus function. It's limited to 4k (8Mp) resolution, but still, that's pretty great. I haven't installed it yet but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. With that, I can keep the f-stop low and still get everything I want in the focal plane. It doesn't work on moving subjects because it uses the 4k video function, so it wouldn't have helped me with the army ants I was mostly failing at taking shots of on vacation, but plant parts, inanimate objects and stationary bugs should be perfect subjects.

Wow, that an awesome feature.

# ? Mar 30, 2017 15:59

mAlfunkti0n: May 19, 2004; Fallen Rib

Just received my Olympus 60mm macro today, liking it so far but it will take a lot of practice and patience.

Just out in the yard shooting and I am impressed

Dandelion by jarredsutherland, on Flickr

# ? Apr 13, 2017 19:00

Bubbacub: Apr 17, 2001

Horseshoe crab embryo by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr

Camponotus castaneus by Jason the Hutt, on Flickr

# ? Jun 17, 2017 00:00

spookygonk: Apr 3, 2005; Does not give a damn

July 06 by Spookygonk, on Flickr

Candy-stripe Spider or Comb-footed Spider (Enoplognatha ovata)

Spider came with a free tomato plant. Turns out I had left all my tripod gear at work so got this by balancing the D7000 and Tamron 90mm on a box, hitting 10 second timer and waving a LED torch about.

# ? Jul 6, 2017 21:26

Pikal: Jun 18, 2004; College Slice

I picked up the extension tubes as recommended and have tried it out quite a few times. Thanks again to ugh whatever jeez and Helen Highwater for helping me out and the recommendations. I ended up picking up the Fotodiox suggested by Helen and have been loving it.

Butterfly by Pikal, on Flickr

Froggie by Pikal, on Flickr

IMG_3481 by Pikal, on Flickr

Puppy Nose by Pikal, on Flickr

# ? Jul 8, 2017 07:07

-CHA: Jun 21, 2004; State-of-the-art
home video technology

Spider by cha_reckoning, on Flickr

Been getting into macros more recently. Trying out focus stacking and I'm fairly happy with how it came out.
looking to pick up some extension tubes and a macro rail shortly so I can get even closer.

# ? Jul 26, 2017 21:03

spookygonk: Apr 3, 2005; Does not give a damn

July 31 by Spookygonk, on Flickr

Nikon D7000, Tamron 90mm f/2.8 + LED head torch

# ? Jul 31, 2017 21:44

Orions Lord: May 21, 2012

https://flic.kr/p/WjbMu1

Nikon D3400 with Tamron AF 70-300mm and Raynox 250 macro lens..

# ? Aug 11, 2017 07:45

ugh whatever jeez: Mar 19, 2009; Buglord

Hiding from the rain inside pink rose flower

# ? Aug 13, 2017 15:53

drowningidiot: Sep 27, 2014

Took this with my phone and an olloclip.

# ? Aug 20, 2017 06:55

Finger Prince: Jan 5, 2007

Lizards!

P1040555 (2) by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040454 (2) by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040346 (2) by King Dugga, on Flickr

A snake!

P1040706 (2) by King Dugga, on Flickr

A pretty flower!

P1040484 (2) by King Dugga, on Flickr

# ? Aug 20, 2017 22:26

Alpenglow: Mar 12, 2007

I feel quite pleased with this shot from the other day. It's a 3-image stack, but shot by hand, so I was very impressed by the automatic alignment and such actually cobbling together a coherent image. Needed a tiny bit of layer adjustment and cloning to fix a few hairs, but overall I don't think it's obviously altered.

Also, drat the Olympus 60mm is a convenient macro setup. I think the e-M5ii stabilization also performs much better than the Canon 100L for natural light shots too. 10/10 can fit legit macro setup in wife's purse.

# ? Aug 29, 2017 02:32

Finger Prince: Jan 5, 2007

^^^I absolutely love that lens. I went out today and did some macro shooting in the bright morning light. I'm amazed that this one lens can be just as good at capturing elephants as it is capturing tiny insects and flowers.

P1040872 by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040864 by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040806 by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040797 by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040783 by King Dugga, on Flickr

P1040780 by King Dugga, on Flickr

# ? Sep 9, 2017 21:58

Dread Head: Aug 1, 2005; 0-#01

# ? Sep 12, 2017 06:12

Orions Lord: May 21, 2012

Gitar by roland luijken, on Flickr

Played around with a guitar.

# ? Sep 12, 2017 10:48

AceClown: Sep 11, 2005

Bought the Canon 24mm pancake lens as a walkabout lens and noticed I had a reversing ring that fit the thread size...

Pretty fuckin happy with that turn of events.

# ? Sep 19, 2017 01:25

AceClown: Sep 11, 2005

Posting more macro in this dead gay thread

Crane Fly - Sigma 28-17 EX 2.8 on Extension tubes with Canon 430EX II mounted on camera
https://imgur.com/nqjC0SZ - Full size

Dung Fly - Sigma 28-17 EX 2.8 on Extension tubes with Canon 430EX II mounted on camera
https://imgur.com/0JMNrUX - Full size

# ? Sep 30, 2017 17:13

Jimlad: Jan 8, 2005

Starting to delve into the strange world of microphotography, using microscope lenses. Normally I'd use focus stacking, but I figure maybe there's more to micro than stacking.

# ? Oct 30, 2017 00:28

Sleepytime: Dec 21, 2004; two shots of happy, one shot of sad; Soiled Meat

DLP by Alex M, on Flickr

From a while back. I'm looking at getting a DCR 150 so I can use my Tamron 17-50mm instead of the Canon kit lens.

# ? Nov 3, 2017 13:02

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

I've got bees in the backyard

bee by Marc, on Flickr

# ? Nov 18, 2017 08:47

Orions Lord: May 21, 2012

DSC_1658 Gimp_pe HT by roland luijken, on Flickr

Moody macro.

# ? Dec 5, 2017 11:10

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

# ? Dec 21, 2017 09:25

Alpenglow: Mar 12, 2007

Raikyn posted:

Thank you for your blood sacrifice.

Where were those critters? I've never seen a jumper with such a flat little pancake cephalothorax. :3:

# ? Dec 21, 2017 14:49

Finger Prince: Jan 5, 2007

I only got one shot of this guy before he skittered off. Didn't have time to monkey around with camera settings.

P1050621.jpg by King Dugga, on Flickr

This one was easier but getting her(?) against green a green background so she wouldn't be just a silhouette was awkward. And she's was a bit too big to fit in the focal plane.

P1050612.jpg by King Dugga, on Flickr

tiny flower ants

P1050281.jpg by King Dugga, on Flickr

Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Dec 21, 2017

# ? Dec 21, 2017 22:10

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

Alpenglow posted:

Thank you for your blood sacrifice.

Where were those critters? I've never seen a jumper with such a flat little pancake cephalothorax.

Flat jumper species.
http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/spiders/jumping-spider-grey-holoplatys.html

# ? Dec 21, 2017 23:48

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

More blood for the mosquito gods

Mosquito by Marc, on Flickr

Spider

Jumper by Marc, on Flickr

Raikyn fucked around with this message at 10:17 on Jan 8, 2018

# ? Jan 8, 2018 09:40

Soulex: Apr 1, 2009; Cacati in mano e pigliati a schiaffi!

I want to do a little macro photography again. I had a macro lens before but had to sell it due to it not being compatible with FF. So I have 2 cameras, a nifty fifty and a 70-200L. Couple of questions:

Extension tubes and reverse mount? Any suggestions to one that will work without causing my bank to break?
Same with grey card suggestions I guess? I need to get one because I'm tired of spending so much loving time in LR white balancing. And still getting it wrong.
You stack images for macro photography? Is that the norm or is just closing up the aperture and allowing for more DoF better? I've never stacked but I can learn.
What would be better, single lens reverse or attaching both lenses?

Thanks!

# ? Jan 12, 2018 19:27

Myrmidongs: Oct 26, 2010

What do people do for cheap macro lighting? Is a small continuous LED panel fine, or do I need to stick with a strobe?

# ? Jan 13, 2018 01:17

ugh whatever jeez: Mar 19, 2009; Buglord

Myrmidongs posted:

What do people do for cheap macro lighting? Is a small continuous LED panel fine, or do I need to stick with a strobe?

Most ghetto - rig a cardboard tube from your built-in flash, add something to diffuse light to the front

Have a big flash? Rig a big diffuser to it.

Something fancier? Get flash bracket and extension cord to get flash closer to the front of the lens then make diffuser for it

Google image search for macro diffuser is goldmine of horrible contraptions people have made

# ? Jan 13, 2018 03:56

loaf: Jan 25, 2004

2 days later:

loaf fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Feb 5, 2018

# ? Feb 4, 2018 20:16

Raikyn: Feb 22, 2011

Insect sucking blood macro

Striped Mosquito by Marc, on Flickr

Insect with a face fill of food macro

mantis by Marc, on Flickr

# ? Feb 14, 2018 07:56

evensevenone: May 12, 2001; Glass is a solid.

I'm hoping to use a 50mm enlarger lens as 1:1 macro lens (actually my goal is to make a cheap slide scanner, but that's not important). Is there any way to figure out how much extension I'd need? It's a El-Nikkor 2.8 and a 6D, and I'm just going to pick up some combination of extension tubes and helicoids or bellows off ebay.

# ? Feb 22, 2018 19:41