macro quandry

Brendan Mulachy

Brendan Mulachy

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dave
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im due some knee surgery hopefully in the next month or 2, im forward thinking ways i can occupy myself whilst i recuperate and ive got some extension tubes in the cupboard so i thought id do some macro photography in the house, what kind of lens are most suitable to add to it, ive had a wee go of them in the past and found a bog standard kit lens worked fairly well, but i was wondering if a better lens would give me better results, im sure a dedicated macro lens would be better than the extension tubes but i cant see myself doing it much after i get back on my feet more and would in all honesty be a waste
 
What kit do you have at the moment Dave?
 
If you've already got the tubes something like a "Nifty Fifty" would get you going with what should be good image quality...Shouldn't we all have a nifty fifty anyway? (y)
I would be inclined to avoid using a kit lens image quality wise (Huge genaralisation I know.)
With macro, auto focus isn't the bennefit it is with other photography, so perhaps you could pick up an old but high quality manual focus fifty...dunno what camera you're using.
Good luck with the knee thing.
 
Tubes are less effective on longer focal lengths. If you really want to mess around with macro, then I would suggest getting a reversing ring rather than a dedicated macro lens. Or maybe a Raynox diopter attachment... those are surprisingly good for what they are.
 
Norkie said:
What kit do you have at the moment Dave?
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I've a 5d mk 3, I was thinking of using my 24-70 or ,1.4 50mm but I still have an old kit lens and 50mm 1.8 knocking about if they work better, I've a 70-200 but I've discounted that already
 
Personally, I’d get a reversing ring for either of those 50mm lenses, I think you’ll get better results than extension tubes.
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
I've a 5d mk 3, I was thinking of using my 24-70 or ,1.4 50mm but I still have an old kit lens and 50mm 1.8 knocking about if they work better, I've a 70-200 but I've discounted that already
Click to expand...


If you were a Fuji or Nikon user, I would have offered you a 105 Micro Nikkor or a Fuji XF 80 Macro for your "confinement".

In your position, I would see if I could find a (second hand) Sigma 105 or Tamron 90 Macro in your Canon fit - you should be able to resell it at little loss once you're back to fighting fit.
 
I do "Still Life" and "Product" type shoots quite frequently when no other work is coming into my studio, on a table that's about 34" square. Most of the time I use a lens with a 24-70 mm range, but recently bought a 24 mm Tilt/shift lens to use for this as well. I also recently gave myself a birthday present of a micro adjustable 3 axes tripod head to use for this work too. You can get by with the 24-70 or so lens and a regular tripod that has a crank up center pole, but having this micro adjust head makes a big difference in precise positioning. The tilt/shift lenses are really expensive (Canon = $ 1,900 new) and I've wanted one for over thirty years. I just could never justify a new one at that kind of price. I recently found a "used" one in near perfect condition that was well within my budget and bought it.
I also use a 50 mm lens and extension tubes sometimes.

If just starting to do this, you can get by with a 24-70 mm kit lens and speedlites and a good stable tripod that's easily height adjustable. Stable and easy small adjustments are needed. You will need a few light stands, some 3' long 1/2" diameter dowel rods, some A- clamps, various sizes of black felt, some black and white matting board pieces of various sizes or black and white pieces of foam core cut into various sizes. These card pieces get used as reflectors to soften and redirect or block light to fill or create small shadows, etc. I also bought a large piece of diffusion material, but a white cheap bed sheet is almost as good for diffusing the light to make it softer like a soft box produces.

A great YouTube Channel to watch for this kind of photography is "Camera Club Live". Barbe Moorings shows you step by step how to set up and take this type of photography and has been creating a new video every week for his channel for the past 3 years. Reproducing his setups will take your knowledge of photography lighting to a whole new level, no matter what kind of photography that you do, if you use any kind of photography lighting equipment. Scaling it up for portrait shots becomes much easier once you understand good lighting. Though I have about 65 years of photography and lighting, including stage lighting experience, Barbe has shown me some new tricks for achieving better results. Don't be intimidated by his high dollar cameras and strobe lighting. I'm a Godox user and still using Canon DSLRs. This can be done with most any DSLR or even a 35 mm film camera and some lighting, even the old photoflood lights and disposable pie tin reflectors will do for starters. Props for your shoots can be found at dollar stores, already in your home, or borrowed from friend's homes. Start small and look around, there is plenty available for this type of photo shoot.

Think about the days when you really want to use your cameras, but it's raining, snowing, too cold, or too hot outside, or you just don't have the energy or money to go on a photo shoot trip.

I used to do this kind of photography in the middle of my living room. I even did portrait photography there, by pushing everything aside, setting up a card table or back drops and dragging my photo gear out of the closet. I would do this every time the photo bug hit me and the Weather wasn't cooperating. Then I'd put it all back in the closet and the living room furniture back in it's place again. Now I'm very retired, but still living in the large home, and my children are all grown and married, so five years ago I finally built my own small studio. I built it upstairs in my home, in what had been a former 2nd Master Bedroom Suite that we no longer used as a bedroom (we have 2 Master Bedroom Suites). The 8' ceiling up there is a bit limiting, but I have learned to live with it. The shooting room is 19 X 26' and there is a full double bath and also a walk-in closet off the shooting room. The hair/make-up and break area is in the large hallway at the top of the stairs, but we usually end up taking breaks while sitting in the shooting room after getting coffee, soft drink, and sweet roll from the hallway. It has also become my "Man Cave" where I spend much of my free time experimenting with light and photo shoots.

Charley
 
Glynn,

Some very nice shots in your blog. Thanks for posting the link.

I live on a lake with plenty of shore flowers and wildlife to photograph, but after living here for 40+ years, there isn't much new that I haven't seen or photographed before, so I rarely go there to take photos anymore. I was never all that interested in bird and wild flower photography anyway, but I do appreciate looking at the work of others.

My biggest problem now is that at the age of 82, my body is failing me due to many needed surgeries to repair/replace failing parts in me. Since 2000, I have had 8 heart surgeries and now have a pacemaker. Also now with metal knees, the result of a fall through a floor while fighting a fire and landing on concrete knees first from 11 feet up has made it very difficult for me to walk on uneven ground. My knee joints were replaced but they aren't near as good as the original, so walking on uneven ground is something that I can't do well any more. I usually end up falling when I try.

I have a restored mini truck, a Cushman Truckster, that I can use to get me down near the water without the need to walk on the lawn, but I rarely do it now. I have 3 acres of property, kind-of shaped like a pie slice with the lake shore forming the curve. My home is in about in the middle of this property and is facing the lake, so plenty of lake view with only the need to look out the windows to see it.

I still love photography after about 65 years of doing it as a hobby as well as professionally, but although I had rented studio space several times over the years, I never had my own dedicated photo studio. So 5 years ago I crossed a line off of my "Bucket List", and finally built my own photo/video studio upstairs in my house. I now spend much of my free time there, experimenting with light and photography. doing portrait work for family and friends, making videos, and doing still life type shoots. Fifty years ago, before smashing my knees in the fire, my oldest son and I would frequently go on long hikes of up to about 100 miles and of course take cameras with us. I can no longer do this, so I'm mostly confined to doing studio work now.

Charley
 
CharleyL said:
Glynn,

Some very nice shots in your blog. Thanks for posting the link.

I live on a lake with plenty of shore flowers and wildlife to photograph, but after living here for 40+ years, there isn't much new that I haven't seen or photographed before, so I rarely go there to take photos anymore. I was never all that interested in bird and wild flower photography anyway, but I do appreciate looking at the work of others.

My biggest problem now is that at the age of 82, my body is failing me due to many needed surgeries to repair/replace failing parts in me. Since 2000, I have had 8 heart surgeries and now have a pacemaker. Also now with metal knees, the result of a fall through a floor while fighting a fire and landing on concrete knees first from 11 feet up has made it very difficult for me to walk on uneven ground. My knee joints were replaced but they aren't near as good as the original, so walking on uneven ground is something that I can't do well any more. I usually end up falling when I try.

I have a restored mini truck, a Cushman Truckster, that I can use to get me down near the water without the need to walk on the lawn, but I rarely do it now. I have 3 acres of property, kind-of shaped like a pie slice with the lake shore forming the curve. My home is in about in the middle of this property and is facing the lake, so plenty of lake view with only the need to look out the windows to see it.

I still love photography after about 65 years of doing it as a hobby as well as professionally, but although I had rented studio space several times over the years, I never had my own dedicated photo studio. So 5 years ago I crossed a line off of my "Bucket List", and finally built my own photo/video studio upstairs in my house. I now spend much of my free time there, experimenting with light and photography. doing portrait work for family and friends, making videos, and doing still life type shoots. Fifty years ago, before smashing my knees in the fire, my oldest son and I would frequently go on long hikes of up to about 100 miles and of course take cameras with us. I can no longer do this, so I'm mostly confined to doing studio work now.

Charley
Click to expand...

I know what you mean Charley and although you have ten years on me, I have also fallen foul of knee replacements, heart surgery etc!

I now limit myself to a maximum of 1 mile meanders (walking, would be far too energetic! :ROFLMAO: ). - I keep promising myself to buy some lighter gear, but see it as an 'achievement' to still lug my old Nikon D500 and 500 prime around, with a large Gitzo tripod and Gimbal attached!

I love the idea of your 'Truckster' and use my Land Rover to get me as close as possible to locations.

One of these days, I am going to get down to ground level and find that I can't get up again.......In the meantime, I shall carry on 'pushing the limits' and flying the flag for us 'old gits'. :snaphappy:

Keep adapting your your current situation and enjoying your photography!

Glynn
 
Thanks for the reply, @Glynn. I am 20 years past that "getting back up without help" situation, but I have good arm strength, so if there is something nearby to grab and pull myself up with, I am good. Chairs, step ladder, etc. works best, but the truckster has saved me a few times as well.

There is a sock installer available on Amazon that I now use for pulling my socks on, since reaching my feet is very difficult now. It's a 1/2 round white PVC piece that's flared at the back end and with ropes attached. You put your sock on this and then put your toes into it. Pulling on the ropes pulls the PVC piece along the bottom of your foot and as it passes over your heal, if you then bend your ankle, it will completely install your sock, except for pulling them up tight on your legs.

Here is the US Amazon link so you can see it, but it would be better if you ordered it from your UK Amazon.

-Sock-Foam-Handles/dp/B00UNIISF8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1LN99Z2N3NSVP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DQ9wPATcUmHMTa5TFBVZWwVH02w9dfhs9cQMLdbezVommciXu_8WGbDkF7E4E0H6rZ5sWgnuAHVZD02CH3D59-9Qk1Ak1j_sFAEG4g1GlEZBNePUHYrKyxCI_QTkB25imSr7oUI7H9w-T32KPcYzt43HTQuzi2rexPLTVchiNaVsEqQbsFZhwJEmNGuXxJzKGpGbyIvtDE38ibGkQswP9rAb3jCHJgyq_7gYfZWH3od0qDb1dd3U3Wq9sU6n9rhZ6IUQc_W-QUR-b9pYs3voLcaMePTvVA3bQu5wYEkgSmw.7pwU0D_guVRzdQf5bVwUdRCmb0QGF8dyV3h-1OSXM9w&dib_tag=se&keywords=sock+installer+for+men&qid=1725374086&sprefix=sock+installer%2Caps%2C660&sr=8-2

After the socks are on, I use a long handled shoe horn to get my shoes on.

Old Age isn't for sissies, but these do make our old lives a bit easier. I highly recommend them.

Charley
 
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CharleyL said:
Thanks for the reply, @Glynn. I am 20 years past that "getting back up without help" situation, but I have good arm strength, so if there is something nearby to grab and pull myself up with, I am good. Chairs, step ladder, etc. works best, but the truckster has saved me a few times as well.

There is a sock installer available on Amazon that I now use for pulling my socks on, since reaching my feet is very difficult now. It's a 1/2 round white PVC piece that's flared at the back end and with ropes attached. You put your sock on this and then put your toes into it. Pulling on the ropes pulls the PVC piece along the bottom of your foot and as it passes over your heal, if you then bend your ankle, it will completely install your sock, except for pulling them up tight on your legs.

Here is the US Amazon link so you can see it, but it would be better if you ordered it from your UK Amazon.

-Sock-Foam-Handles/dp/B00UNIISF8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1LN99Z2N3NSVP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DQ9wPATcUmHMTa5TFBVZWwVH02w9dfhs9cQMLdbezVommciXu_8WGbDkF7E4E0H6rZ5sWgnuAHVZD02CH3D59-9Qk1Ak1j_sFAEG4g1GlEZBNePUHYrKyxCI_QTkB25imSr7oUI7H9w-T32KPcYzt43HTQuzi2rexPLTVchiNaVsEqQbsFZhwJEmNGuXxJzKGpGbyIvtDE38ibGkQswP9rAb3jCHJgyq_7gYfZWH3od0qDb1dd3U3Wq9sU6n9rhZ6IUQc_W-QUR-b9pYs3voLcaMePTvVA3bQu5wYEkgSmw.7pwU0D_guVRzdQf5bVwUdRCmb0QGF8dyV3h-1OSXM9w&dib_tag=se&keywords=sock+installer+for+men&qid=1725374086&sprefix=sock+installer%2Caps%2C660&sr=8-2

After the socks are on, I use a long handled shoe horn to get my shoes on.

Old Age isn't for sissies, but these do make our old lives a bit easier. I highly recommend them.

Charley
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Cheers Charley....I'll take a look, as i'm already utilising the long handled shoe horn! :ty:
 
Glynn,

I was seriously considering lighter gear, tripods, and cameras, but then realized early on that lighter/smaller involved considerable money and not that much benefit, since I can't hardly get myself where I want to go without carrying anything at all now. I have a 4 wheel electric handicap scooter with a large basket accessory on the back that allows me to take one of my smaller camera backpacks with one Canon 77D or 90D DSLR, an 18-400 mm Tamron lens, a couple of speedlites, a light stand, and one of my Slik U-212 Pro tripods with me. They make one great camera/lens combination to handle most any shot that I wish to take. While quite heavy, but very reliable for photography, the scooter handles me and that load quite well for trip ventures around the neighborhood. I have a carrier for it to add to my car to allow taking the scooter with me for longer trips, but I don't even do that much any more. So most of my photography ventures are now within or near my neighborhood or just in my home studio.

My studio shooting room is 19' X 26' X 8' and set up to easily convert from still shoots to video and back. The video lights, and even black lights for Halloween shoots, are all suspended from the ceiling and positioned so that I can do still shoots below them using soft boxes, etc without the need to take them down. All are LED light panels, so cool and light. For "still life" and "product" type shoots I usually set up a high 34" square table. I have a box full of 54" square table cloths in about every color that I could buy for use on this table, but I also use pieces of unusual fabrics like black felt and burlap for table coverings when the shoot requires it. My lights are all powered from outlet strips on the ceiling, so power cords don't exist on the studio floor. I use wireless power controls with a 5 button pair transmitter located at the camera so I can select to power each type of light - studio flash, video LED panels, Black Light LED panels, (2) 500 watt incandescent focusing spots (separately selected) and all controlled wirelessly from a remote transmitter at the camera location.

My backdrop system holds 6 ten foot wide backdrops and is motorized, also with a remote at the camera to allow raising and lowering the backdrops from the camera location. These are very quiet, allowing me to change a 10' wide floor to ceiling height backdrop between shots without the subject/model even knowing that I changed it. For the still life and product type shoots I have a small roll around cabinet that holds clamps, pieces of black felt, pieces of white and black foam core, pieces of mat board, and even mirrors up to about 10 X 12" to use as light reflectors on the table. This type of shoot usually involves use of one or more of these as well as one or more studio strobes. Of course my studio strobes and speedlites are all controlled from a transmitter on the camera, so no wires or cables are involved there either.

I have even added a wireless control system for turning the house (work) lights on and off from the camera stands, the computer table, as well as the original switch location at the entrance door. Now, every light in my studio can be controlled from either camera stand. When using low F-stop settings, this is very beneficial to avoid the need to move around in the dark to turn the house lights on and off from the entrance door location. This was another safety enhancement for my studio.

I have light stands and C-stands, but I only use them on the studio floor when the lights will need to move frequently during a shoot. Otherwise the lights, even studio strobes, hang from the ceiling on modified upside down tripod stands, so if there are any stands on the floor, there are at most, only a few. All of this is to make my studio as free of trip hazards as possible and also to make it as easy as possible to convert from one type of shoot to another as easily and quickly as possible. My tether cable also drops from the ceiling to the location where my camera is mostly located while in use. It runs overhead to a computer table in the back corner (camera left) of the shooting room. The camera end has enough slack to be able to freely move the camera around the camera half of the shooting room with it rarely touching the floor. I use camera stands, rather than tripods, because they require smaller floor space and are more stable, with their locking casters. The tether cable gets ball bungee tied to the top of the camera stand so it easily stays above head height (most of the time) between the ceiling connection and the camera stand, then hangs down in a loop to be connected to the camera. I have a small toolbox on wheels with a foam pad on top where I can place my camera while needing to make lighting or other changes. It is also a charging station for the camera batteries, and the drawer hold miscellaneous camera and shooting needs. The space below the drawer hold my Gaffer tools and supplies.

I built all of this in a former 2nd Master Bedroom Suite upstairs in my home about 5 years ago. I have another master bedroom suite downstairs that we use. This upstairs suite has a full double bath and a walk-in closet (now gear closet). The large hallway outside the shooting room is the hair/make-up and break area. Another very deep closet off the hallway is my prop storage.

Since my photography is now an "out-of-control semi-pro" hobby, I spend much of nearly every day up here experimenting with light and photography. I'm too old and with too much wrong with me to work or own a business now, so this all keeps me mentally alert and happy doing something that I've always loved. If you, or anyone reading this, should wish to know more about any part of this, I will be happy to provide it with answers and pictures. I've been told that I am better equipped than any pro studio in this area by several people as well as other photographers. I have no secrets about any of this and will help anyone who asks.

Charley
 
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