Options for macro photography

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  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    Sometimes I bother me with Helicon focus stacking and a wide angle, wide open (24/1.4 at f/2). That gives me nice blurred background and great sharpness and DOF without the problem that these tiny apertures are diminishing resolution. This time I used a flat flash with GN12

    31 single pics, D7000, JPG fine medium
    image

    21 single pics, D7000, JPG fine medium
    image
  • SymphoticSymphotic Posts: 711Member
    edited April 2013
    Msmoto, I am going to shamelessly copy your softbox.

    TTJ: I supplied the 60 mm to a law enforcement investigative unit for a forensics job once. (These things I get to buy and leave with the client.) It is a very nice lens: easy to use on both the D800 and D7000, and light weight.

    Sometimes I need to take photos in existing light of tiny flaws in electronics. I deal with that using the 105 on a tripod for long exposure. For focus accuracy, a linear stage camera mount helps. I'll set the focus to manual, move the focus ring all the way to the stop, and then use a linear stage to move the lens closer to or farther from the circuit board. Linear stages are available from RRS (Macro focusing rails), if you want something dedicated for photography, or you can buy them for somewhat less money from an optics company such as Newport, but you will have to be handy with the right kind of screws and adapters to fit it on your tripod.
    PCBdamage
    Post edited by Symphotic on
    Jack Roberts
    "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought"--Albert Szent-Gyorgy
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    @JJ_SO: Nice shots...well done. :)
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    edited April 2013
    @JJ_SO

    Well done.....

    @Symphotic

    The construction is corrugated cardboard glued together with contact cement, then covered with muslin and painted white with an oil base paint. However, the fourth iteration will be a much smaller box with the light coming from camera left, about 8 o'clock to 1 o'clock. This will be much like a "half" of a ring light.

    And, I looked at the RRS focusing rail....Gee whiz, another $400 bill down the drain.....So beautiful...
    Post edited by Msmoto on
    Msmoto, mod
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    Now I don't want to advertise, but it appears you haven't heard of Novoflex?
    Or are their fine and clever designed products in available in the US?
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    @JJ_SO: Had not heard of Novoflex. Thanks for the info. However, it would seem that their macro products are in the same price range as the RRS...if not more given the currency exchange rate.
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    edited April 2013
    I didn't compare the prices, but they are sometimes quite steep, I admit. But I liked the idea of their bellows, which uses their focusing rail and allows to tilt and shift the lens. Altogether it's not a big package to carry with me. But then paulr presented his Schneider PC which is even more tempting than a single macro only solution.

    Need more money, space and some nice and patient Sherpas...

    When calculating the prices you should know, there's 19% VAT already included, you would not have to Pay that. But the transport costs still might kill the deal.
    Post edited by JJ_SO on
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    edited April 2013
    @JJ_SO: It is always nice to know their are other option/toys to consider getting. My "bucket list' of photography gear is getting less...funny thing is my bank account seems to suffer the same fate. Arrrrr.

    Question: After you merge or bring all those shots together in producing the final image, what size does the final image turn out to be....both in resolution and storage space?
    Post edited by Golf007sd on
    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    edited April 2013
    @JJ_SO: It is always nice to know their are other option/toys to consider getting. My "bucket list' of photography gear is getting less...funny thing is my bank account seems to suffer the same fate. Arrrrr.

    Question: After you merge or bring all those shots together in producing the final image, what size does the final image turn out to be....both in resolution and storage space?
    Depends what you choose as final file type. With D7000 shooting RAW you can save a 16bit TIF with app. 70 MB or a JPG in same size as the camera would deliver. In the beginning, I saved PNG 16 bit, but if I need it for details of small workpieces what I need in my job, I just use JPG and try to get exposure right. You don't need to keep the single pictures of the stacks but it's worth to play around with the retouched brush for this artefacts. Helicon has demo versions... But the insect's head you see on their page must belong to a very dead insect as it takes a couple of seconds to get 30-40 shots.

    The resolution is not necessarily higher than a single picture would be, as I don't increase a sensor size. It's just lots of layers of sharp areas stapled so you get really any DOF you want to have, at any place in your picture. You define closest and farest focus points, ten rest is calculated depending on the aperture you chosen.

    I don't know how to make a link to a picture I already show in NRF so I do it again

    image

    I think, that was made with f/4 or f/5.6 but the source pictures are already deleted and the PNG didn't save the EXIF after rendering the stack.
    Post edited by JJ_SO on
  • SymphoticSymphotic Posts: 711Member
    I forgot to mention: to save a lot of grief and frustrations, you might want to invest in a geared head for your tripod instead of a ball head.

    Add that to your RRS focusing rail and you've spent enough money to buy an very nice macro lens, but frankly, the macro lens is not as important as keeping the camera stable and framing the way you want. If you can move your subject back and forth, you don't need the focusing rail. You focus by moving your subject! (Hard to do for you bug shooters.)
    Jack Roberts
    "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought"--Albert Szent-Gyorgy
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    And Arca Swiss D4 would deliver both, geared and ball head, but at a price my purse starts to howl at the moon immediately. So I exchanged the manfrotto 410 against it's bigger brother 405. Good company for 105/2.8, both I tend to leave at home... /:)
  • SymphoticSymphotic Posts: 711Member
    And Arca Swiss D4 would deliver both, geared and ball head, but at a price my purse starts to howl at the moon immediately. So I exchanged the manfrotto 410 against it's bigger brother 405. Good company for 105/2.8, both I tend to leave at home... /:)
    Do I read this to state you have the 410 instead of the 405? I think the 410 is enough. I'm looking at adding a RRS lever release clamp onto the 410. Right now I have the manfrotto quick release plate screwed into the RRS rail, which is not ideal. I really like the focus control of a rail rather than trying to move the subject or trying to adjust the focus ring on the lens. I use the 105 2.8 a lot at work, but for walking around, not so much.

    All this said, I can get really good closeups in a pinch with my iPhone.
    Jack Roberts
    "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought"--Albert Szent-Gyorgy
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    Nope. I had the 410 and was too clumsy to unlock the gears, always got my fingers in wrong position, also the 405 works a bit smoother and carries 50% more. So I sold the small one, but could not convince myself to go for a 1000$ D4.
  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    As for rails, a lot of the folks at photomacrography.net seem to prefer going on ebay to hunt for old microscope focus blocks, or to stick their camera (or subject (or both!)) holders on a decent quality machine positioning stage (e.g. Proxxon KT70) or linear translation stage (Newport, e.g.). That all comes down to what magnifications you want to work at and how small the steps need to be for each of the frames in your stack.

    For example -
    http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8247&highlight=linear+translation+stage

    There are also some setups that are used for stacking in the field as well. Can be Rube Goldberg and look wierd, but don't have to go for that high a price.
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
  • JJ_SOJJ_SO Posts: 1,158Member
    The proxxon cross table is nice, I used it because I already had it. Together with a geared head it's opposite of,spontaneous photography but very precise.
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    @dissent


    That looks like about $3,000 worth of macro/micro set up....????
    Msmoto, mod
  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    @dissent
    That looks like about $3,000 worth of macro/micro set up....????
    yeah, I wouldn't necessarily recommend duplicating Chris S.'s Bratcam, if you're looking for cheap (or simple). It's got focus blocks on focus blocks! But it suggests some other possibilities wrt the RRS or Novoflex type rails. You can spend many minutes (hours) reading through the FAQ's and search listings on the photomacrography site on terms like "focus block" and "linear stage". And I think Chris S. does some higher mag stuff on his Bratcam, given all the microscope lenses he's using. Somewhere I've seen a posting of rigs used by John Hallmen or Cristian Arghuis (sp?) for field stacking with a tripod of early morning chilled critters that are much simpler than the Bratcam setup but have similar types of focusing equipment.

    If I had a memory, I could probably find them right away with the right search terms that i used the last time I found them, but, well . . .
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
  • SymphoticSymphotic Posts: 711Member
    A manfrotto 454 micro positioning rail is much less money than the RRS (shocking). I've used the Newport and I find the positioning too slow.
    Jack Roberts
    "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought"--Albert Szent-Gyorgy
  • proudgeekproudgeek Posts: 1,422Member
    Dissent, I suspect that this setup may exceed the OP's budget. :)
  • Golf007sdGolf007sd Posts: 2,840Moderator
    @Symphotic: The Manfrotto 454 is an option but is prone to movement and could result in very bad macro shots. This video demonstrates my point of view.

    D4 & D7000 | Nikon Holy Trinity Set + 105 2.8 Mico + 200 F2 VR II | 300 2.8G VR II, 10.5 Fish-eye, 24 & 50 1.4G, 35 & 85 1.8G, 18-200 3.5-5.6 VR I SB-400 & 700 | TC 1.4E III, 1.7 & 2.0E III, 1.7 | Sigma 35 & 50 1.4 DG HSM | RRS Ballhead & Tripods Gear | Gitzo Monopod | Lowepro Gear | HDR via Promote Control System |
  • SymphoticSymphotic Posts: 711Member
    edited April 2013
    @Symphotic: The Manfrotto 454 is an option but is prone to movement and could result in very bad macro...
    That's bad! There is no such movement with the RRS product, but it is a lot more money. Looks like it's worth it.
    Post edited by Symphotic on
    Jack Roberts
    "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought"--Albert Szent-Gyorgy
  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    Dissent, I suspect that this setup may exceed the OP's budget. :)
    I guess it depends on what you want to shoot with macro. If you aren't stacking then handholding may do ya. If you only need mm or so movements for a good stack, then the Manfrotto and others (see my links when they come out of moderation) may do fine enough. At a certain point of high mag and/or really small subject, then sub tenths to hundredths of a mm slices may be needed for stacking (dozens to hundreds of images per stack) and something more like a focus block will be necessary. At least that's how I understand it from my reading. This whole stacking discussion may well be far outside the OP's interest.
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
  • heartyfisherheartyfisher Posts: 3,186Member
    Dissent, I suspect that this setup may exceed the OP's budget. :)
    LOL ! this thread has taken on a life of its own.. OP what OP !
    Moments of Light - D610 D7K S5pro 70-200f4 18-200 150f2.8 12-24 18-70 35-70f2.8 : C&C very welcome!
    Being a photographer is a lot like being a Christian: Some people look at you funny but do not see the amazing beauty all around them - heartyfisher.

  • dissentdissent Posts: 1,329Member
    Tells me about it. It's been a long week. I am utterly lost.

    Single malt to the rescue.
    - Ian . . . [D7000, D7100; Nikon glass: 35 f1.8, 85 f1.8, 70-300 VR, 105 f2.8 VR, 12-24 f4; 16-85 VR, 300 f4D, 14E-II TC, SB-400, SB-700 . . . and still plenty of ignorance]
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