A little advice needed, please...

Barryboy

Barryboy

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Rob
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Hi.. Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong section of this site.... Mods please feel free to move it as you see fit.

I'm getting quite interested in table-top macro photography and I'm getting the age old problem of not quite knowing exactly how much of the object is critically sharp. I went to a club portraiture session where the pro photographer had his camera linked somehow to a laptop so every shot immediately showed up on a large screen. Now it seems to me that this could be the answer to my problem so I'm wondering how this is done, and what is involved in the way of equipment. I've got a 10 inch Android tablet that I'd like to use and I'm hoping that the rest is just some software and connectors. Or am I being a bit naive? Camera, byt the way, is a Nikon D610.

As always, grateful for any advice.

Rob
 
I think all you need is 'DSLR Dashboard'. I use this with my Nikon D3300 on a windows tablet (also available for android).

Chris
 
If this really is macro photography (life size or greater) then DOF is virtually non-existent, and it doesn't help enormously to be able to view an enlarged image on a computer, and anyway I would have thought that your camera would have the means to zoom in on parts of the image to view for critical focus anyway.
But there are workarounds. A DSLR camera can be fitted with a tilt/shift lens (not cheap) which to some extent emulates the movements of a large format camera, this cannot actually increase depth of field, but it does allow the plane of sharp focus to me changed so that, for example, it goes from the front to the back of the subject.
Or you can use another workaround, focus stacking, a simple technique that involves taking a number of shots, each focussed differently, and they are then combined in post processing.

But if it isn't real macro photography, just closeup photography (which many people seem to think is macro) then tethering your camera to a computer can be a help.
 
Thanks for answers, guys. It's more closeup (e.g. watches and suchlike) on the tabletop than true insect/plant macro that I'm considering. I also would like to have a bash at portraiture at some stage in the future and thought this might be a handy way of showing the model exactly what I'm getting in the camera. And as I'm on a limited income and this is just my hobby I have to consider the cost of it all so will be looking into the suggestions from Mike and Chris. Again, thanks.

Rob
 
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