Photography (Macro lens)

[jon r]

I have got the Canon 400D Digital SLR camera and want to buy a macro lens for it. wondered if you wildlife photographers out there could help me.

Im looking at buying this one at the moment(Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM). I have seen some excelent reviews on the internet and i hear its really sharp.
http://www.jessops.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?SkuId=2239

On the Jessops website it says:
"A minimum focusing distance of just 20cm gets you super close to your subject" I dont get what it means by this. Will i be able to get almost microscopic pictures if this is the case or not?

Also will i be able to Take photos of butterflies with this without frightening them away?

 

[bikething]

in order to photograph small things (i.e. macro photography) you need to get close, or use a high magnification so that the thing you're photographing doesn't become a tiny speck in the overall picture.
The specifying of the minimum focusing distance is the closest you can get the lens to the object before the focussing won't work.. this is the closest point in the picture that can be in focus... the maximum point you can focus on is probably infinity,,, though you won't be able to focus on both at the same time... this is when you start getting into depth of field...


and yes you should be able to take pictures of butterflies.....

from the brief look around the web i've had it looks like a good lens

HTH
Steve

 

[jon r]

so at 20cm away i could fill the view finder with a fly?

 

[British Red]

jon r,

nope, not fully, but close to. The 400D though has a massive resolution (10M pixels). So you could certainly crop to the fly and achieve a lovely 5x7 or 10x8 print. This is the lens you need for close up work, insects, flowers, etc. But you do need to be very close to get that pin sharp, microscope look. Thats said, if you approach quietly (or better still focus on a nice teasel or similar) the insect will come to you. Insects really seem untroubled by people - its movement and sudden shadow that scares them. Be a tree and they will ignore you!

Red

 

[jon r]

you say i have to get really close to get sharp images but if the minimum focusing distance is 20cm how can i get close

Im still confused!

Thanks for your help so far!

 

[British Red]

20cm is what....8 inches. I guess thats as close as you are realistically going to get. I guess what we are saying is "that's a good lens for photographing insects". The caveat is "you can't do it from the other side of the garden". Not sure as to exactly how frame filling a fly will be but it'll be an awesome picture for certain. A good macro lens on a 10M pixel SLR camera should give stunning close ups

Red

 

[jon r]

thanks for the advice! I think i might go down to my local Jessops and ask them if i can have a look through this lens with my camera. This way i can get a perfect understanding of its capabilities

Cheers!

Jon

 

[bikething]

so at 20cm away i could fill the view finder with a fly?

errr not exactly.... you'd need bigger magnification for that.....the jessops site says

With its ability to focus life-size images onto the image sensor

Which i think means that a 10mm long fly will be 10mm long on the sensor.. so will be roughly 10/35 or about a third of the picture (i think... it's been a while)
I have to admit macro isn't really my thing, but here's a thread about that lens on a very good site dedicated to canon cameras: http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=243042 with some example photos posted.

there's a lot of good knowledge on there... hope it helps

Cheers
Steve

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Jon, not any expert on macro photography myself. but if you have a look on the wild about Britain forums http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/ you will get any questions answered by some top photographers, many being professional. If you do a search on macro lenses, there is a lense (can't remember the make of it) that just about everyone on there raves about, but I remember its not cheap.....One of my favourite photographers goes on there...Check out his stuff http://www.thelewiss.co.uk/gallery2/main.php How anyone can get a super sharp shot of a kingfisher in flight is way, way beyond me..

 

[jon r]

looks like its the one for me! that link is very helpfull! thanks!

 

[JonnyP]

looks like its the one for me! that link is very helpfull! thanks!

Say hello to them all for me, I havent been on there for quite a while....Must try to remember my password on there....

 

[leon-b]

i just went on there but i forgot my password so i reset it, great link
leon

 

[singteck]

There's two things to look at:

1: magnification
2: focal length

They are not the same and should not be confused. The manification will tell you what's the final image reproduction on the CCD. So if the magnification is 1:1, you will get the same size of object reproduced on the CCD as the original object. The focal length will let you know who close to the object you will have to be. If the 60mm requires you to be 20cm from the object, you have to make sure the object is dead or imobilised If you want to take photos of butterfies, then get the longest focal length that you can afford. It will let you have the 1:1 magnification but at maybe a 1m distance.

Of course if you go further away from the object, the image reproduced will be smaller. The magnification ratio shows the largest magnification you can have with the lens. If you want to go higher in magnification, you can always use a bellow or extention tubes, but you will never be able to add to the focal length.

I use a smith cassegrain telescope with an adapter for my close up of wildlife. Can't afford the expensive lenses.

singteck

 

[ArkAngel]

How anyone can get a super sharp shot of a kingfisher in flight is way, way beyond me..

A few of the setups i have seen (and attempted at college...unsucessfully ) was to use a beam trigger. 2-3 flash units at seperate locations covering a "target" area <checked out in advance, finding out where the birds are , flight paths etc> then the camera is left normally in a hide with the beam cutting accross the middle of the target area.The beam acts like a remote shutter release.
Then it is just a question of waiting for said birdy to be helpful and fly straight through the middle of the target area.
I tried it on owls....didn't work though....did manage a blurred shot of a bat! (dopey left the autofocus on intead of prefocusing ) only had the equipment on loan for one night

 

[JonnyP]

A few of the setups i have seen (and attempted at college...unsucessfully ) was to use a beam trigger. 2-3 flash units at seperate locations covering a "target" area <checked out in advance, finding out where the birds are , flight paths etc> then the camera is left normally in a hide with the beam cutting accross the middle of the target area.The beam acts like a remote shutter release.
Then it is just a question of waiting for said birdy to be helpful and fly straight through the middle of the target area.
I tried it on owls....didn't work though....did manage a blurred shot of a bat! (dopey left the autofocus on intead of prefocusing ) only had the equipment on loan for one night

Sounds like it would be good to have for a while to play with......

 

[Mikey P]

Like everything in photography, it's a compromise. A lot of the new lenses on the market will claim to have a 'macro mode' but it's not really true macro.

True macro lenses (1:1 or better, with very short focal lengths) are expensive, the alternative is to use higher magnifications. This, however, means that you need to address shutter speed (camera shake and available light) and, because you are using a higher magnification, depth of field will reduce. So, you have to balance depth of field against shutter speed.

The bottom line is that you will be able to take pretty reasonable 'macro'-type shots with a modern high-magnification lens with 'macro' feature. What you will NOT be able to do is fill the sensor with a fly! I have used a Tamron 28-300mm lens with 'macro' feature and a Nikon D50 quite successfully. You just have to remember to use a tripod or adjust ISO settting, etc, to get the pictures. You won't get the sort of pictures that grace the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' awards but they are still pretty decent if you accept the limitations.

Also remember that proper macro lenses will require special flash techniques/equipment (ring flashes and off-camera mounts) otherwise the lens shadows the subject.

 

[bikething]

Good job it's a dedicated Macro lens then

 

[Bushman_Brett]

Decent results as above can be obtained with a telephoto lense with macro mode and or macro tubes, just move slowly and try not to cast a shadow, but for that extreme close up as below u have to get a bit more indepth, a live subject will be tricky if it moves and focusing/DOF is miniscule and limited to tripod/macro heads, this particular shot is several photos each to focus at a different point on the subject then all edited and combined to make one. Only problem with a true macro lens is the cost, myself i use the reverse mounted lens technique

 

[mikehill]

If you go to Jessops to try the lens out take a look at the Tamron 100mm macro. Seriously good, and are usually a fair bit cheaper than Canon's. Lots of pro's use them
Mike.

 

[jon r]

how higher mm would you need to take photos of butterflies and things that easily scare?