Is more mega pixels better for macro?

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Adamcski

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Hi folks, just wanted to ask the above.

My current cameras are 24 MP FF and 20.1 MP M4/3rds.

Is it generally better have have a camera with more mega pixels for macro photography (which it think is where my journey is heading)?

The Lumix S1R although older can be obtained for about £1,500 and has 47.3 MP.

Would this be better to trade up to?

Am I right in thinking it would allow more detail and therefore the cropped images would be more detailed?

On another note, my cameras have this ability to do 80-100 MP images. Has anyone used this in camera ability on Macro stuff? I'm thinking, still things like flowers? I could try these in camera hi resolution images and then stack them? Only issue I see here would be the use of flash for these hi res photos, I suppose you'd have to use continuous light or some model lamps?
 
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Twenty-four megapixels is all you really need for anything. And you tend to stop down well into diffraction territory for macro so you just record more blur.

The only reason for going above 24MP is if you make a habit of cropping heavily, but you shouldn't make a habit of cropping heavily!

That said, these multishot modes bring significant advantages in noise and acuity, so if your subjects are static then why not! I'm using an S5 and S5II at the moment, and the image quality in high res mode is sensational. I only use them in mode 1 though. On mode 2 I find I get artefacts because the camera mistakes things like out of focus blur for motion and bad things happen.

But in the last analysis - long story short - 24MP is all you actually need. I think people tend to forget that that's actually a lot of resolution.
 
Cheers @alexcarnes

I'm going to have a go at some high Res images, in macro world, and then see how they stack. I can manually adjust the EV for bracketing between each shot. Just need the rain to go away and some flowers :)

Not sure it will work with live insects but I did watch a video yesterday where a chap took 100 images of a dead wasp and it was amazing. I'm not however going to harm or kill anything just for some images. I can wait until I see some dead bees or wasps later in the year and just pick a couple up.
 
It's good to experiment, although some of these multishot methods can be very time consuming and really only work for perfectly still subjects. The image quality can be incredible but I honestly don't bother with it much. The S5s produce excellent image quality in standard single shot mode and I don't carry a tripod unless I really have to!
 
To be honest, 12MP is all most people need.

The trouble is, people rarely print these days, and tend to view their photos at pixel level, at close range, on large computer screens. I think they forget just what an insane amount of magnification they're looking at!

Printed at the same size and viewed from ~ 2x the diagonal, you'd have a very hard time seeing any difference between a 12MP imagine and a 50MP image.
 
I shoot Macro stuff occasionally using my S5 and now S5ii. I find the 96MP stack mode to be super effective because it allows me to increase ylthe distance from subject to give me a bit more depth of field with an eye on cropping in slightly later.

It's a balancing act of course but it's a great option to have. Also, there's automated focus bracketing in the menu system somewhere if stacking is your thing.
 
@Tulipone

I have the Laowa 100 mm F2.8 2:1 macro and from Monday will also have the sigma 105 mm f2.8 DG DN Art.

On my micro 4/3rds I just have the Lumix 30 mm F2.8 which is pretty decent given it's price. Had some lovely images from that this week.
 
So a quick play, I have used the same theme / idea as my DPOTY entry for water.

Red rose, sprayed with some water to create droplets.

This was 6 RAW files ranging 172 - 175 MB files (WOW) stacked. I altered the Ap value for each shot and changed the exposure.

There is a lot more detail in this image:



A crop to similar scale:



Than this one from my DPOTY entry:



And this is a post focus stack from the G9:



So not a complete and 100% accurate scientific test as the positioning, light and settings are somewhat different and I have only applied a quick 5 minute edit, but to me there is a lot more detail in the crop of the main image than the other two, especially the G9 post focus mode which I suppose is to be expected given its processed in the camera and a JPEG only file (18 MP) taken from 6k video footage (I believe).

So, what do you think?
 
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Tulipone said:
May I ask what lens(es) you S5 users have for macro? Was thinking of the Sigma 105mm.
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The 105/2.8 is really good, although I preferred the earlier 70/2.8 that's basically an adapted SLR lens. It's cheaper and I prefer the wider angle of view for a bit more context.

It depends what you shoot. If you're into insects then obviously the 105mm is the better choice, but I personally find it a bit long.
 
I will add that I have the 24-105 and the 70-300 which have 0.5 macro and so far I think they are great lenses. So if you wanted something that had some macro capabilities and wider use, then the 24-105 is a cracking lens (again in my humble opinion).
 
Adamcski said:
I will add that I have the 24-105 and the 70-300 which have 0.5 macro and so far I think they are great lenses. So if you wanted something that had some macro capabilities and wider use, then the 24-105 is a cracking lens (again in my humble opinion).
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Zoom lenses are against my religion, but I am nonetheless tempted to grab a copy of the 24-105.

If I buy another 50 people are going to think I've got issues! Although that new Sigma 50/1.4 is calling to me...
 
I purchased the 24-105 new from wex at the photography show at a hefty discount and the 70-300 recently when Wex were doing them for £799 new. I have the 50 mm and 85 mm prime also, but don't use them all too often. My 20-60 pretty much lives on my S5 and the 24-105 on my S1. I have a 10 mm fisheye from 7artisans which is good fun also.
 
Adamcski said:
I purchased the 24-105 new from wex at the photography show at a hefty discount and the 70-300 recently when Wex were doing them for £799 new. I have the 50 mm and 85 mm prime also, but don't use them all too often. My 20-60 pretty much lives on my S5 and the 24-105 on my S1. I have a 10 mm fisheye from 7artisans which is good fun also.
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I'm a nifty-fifty man through and through. I wouldn't be without a 28 (or equivalent), but most of my photos are at 50mm.

The 20-60 came with one of my cameras and it's really good! If you're a landscape shooter then honestly it's the only lens you need. If you're sensible, which obviously I'm not! Set it to f/8 and be happy, it small, light, and very sharp.
 
It seems I am the only person not so keen on the 20-60. I seem to get significant barrelling with mine and intend to trade it in towards the 24-70 2.8 when finances permit and after a macro.
 
Tulipone said:
It seems I am the only person not so keen on the 20-60. I seem to get significant barrelling with mine and intend to trade it in towards the 24-70 2.8 when finances permit and after a macro.
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Interesting as I've had no issues with mine and it's generally considered a cracking kit lens.
 
Tulipone said:
It seems I am the only person not so keen on the 20-60. I seem to get significant barrelling with mine and intend to trade it in towards the 24-70 2.8 when finances permit and after a macro.
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Barrelling as in barrel distortion? I guess you're using an open source RAW converter that doesn't read the lens profile, if you use Lightroom for e.g. then it'll correct it to perfectly rectilinear automatically.

There's nothing wrong with open source RAW converters by the way, I'm just mentioning it because all zoom lenses have significant geometric distortion, so you'll have the same issue with a 24-70.
 
taking into account you already have a MFT camera ,and that most macro is better with M/F can I suggest the often forgotten sigma 150mm macro if you can find one in nikon mount dumb nikon to MFT adaptor will give you a superb medium distance set up
 
I did some stacked flower shots, shifting the focus point from front to back, about 12 frames if IRC, and the image is now hanging on my wall. You get detail, but also increase your DoF, which when shooting Macro, tends to be very small.
 
@Jelster

Yes, that's one thing I can also do with the G9 set up, just tap the screen to adjust the focus points and then stack them. The laowa doesn't allow me to do that on my FF set up as it's completely manual, so tapping the screen does nothing. My quick test yesterday posted above was just altering the F stop to bring different elements into the image by increasing DOF.

It's was only a 5 - 10 minute test (above) but something I will play around with more now. High Res mode and shifting Fstop and focus points and then stacking them.

Should keep me busy.
 
Well I stacked the 170+ mb raw files yesterday (6 of them) it took a little while in affinity but was pretty quick in LR.

I've just purchased a new laptop, so hopefully that keeps me sorted for a few years now.
 
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Adamcski said:
Well I stacked the 170+ mb raw files yesterday (6 of them) it took a little while in affinity but was pretty quick in LR.

I've just purchased a new laptop, so hopefully that keeps me sorted for a few years now.
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Have you something to recommend? I'm going to be in the market for a new laptop soon.
 
I got a good deal on one of these from John Lewis:

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When you compare this against a 16" MacBook Pro on nano review https://nanoreview.net/en/laptop-compare/asus-tuf-gaming-f15-2022-vs-apple-macbook-air-m2-2022 it shows as a better buy, especially as it cost me about £1k less than the macbook. I also use it for steam etc so apple was not really an option for me in the end.
 
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I have steam and Xbox on there so Mac wasn't for me in the end and I have nothing apple in my house. Goggle phones, Chromebooks and gdrives. I use Amazon photos to back up my images in the cloud as it's unlimited and will back up RAW also
 
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