Seeking tips for macro photography

[Gurcharan Singh]

Dear friends

Being new to the use of Macro photography, I am slowly learning to adjust, perhaps you can provide me better tips so that I can make best use of my lens in forthcoming trip starting tomorrow. 

My Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM lens two distance selections 0.31 m - infinity and 0.48 m to infinity, I am using first selection.

If I try to go minimum distance (I have Aperture priority set at 22 (change it to 20 or 25 sometimes), the depth of field seems to diminishing and it becomes difficult to keep object in focus and click (lens being heavier), if I increase the distance the depth of field increases and clicking with object in focus is easier.What should be ideal distance when focussing flower (camer is 18 mega pixels) so that both depth and sharpness are maintained.?

     Earlier I had thought that perhaps Macro lens is only for close ups of near objects, but today I have learnt that it is very useful for distant object, acting as a telephoto lens. I could take well focussed photographs of twigs of distant trees. Perhaps I can use this both for photographs of habit as well as close ups of floral parts. 

--

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089

http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ 
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/

[Gerris2]

Dear Dr. Singh,

Since the lens seems to be heavy, I think using a tripod is indicated to minimize shaking that occurs when hand holding a camera without image stabilization. Unless you are solid as a rock steady, blurring of your image will occur especially at extreme magnification.

Does your lens require a particular aperture setting so you can use it fully automatically?

Are all the settings in place to enable you to use the lens in full automatic mode? I am not conversant in use of Canon camera being a Nikon user. However, on my D70 camera body there is a switch to toggle between manual (M) and autofocus (AF).

I find reading the manuals for both lens and camera operation invaluable at times like these in this discussion.

Best regards,

Joseph

[Gurcharan Singh]

Thanks Joseph for your valuable comments.

Yes camera is fully automatic. I keep on aperture priority mode to get maximum depth of field, other things get automatically adjusted. Yes I prefer MF mode as it gives more freedom of focussing.

Earlier I was using MF and close up (flower) selection, but it brings down the aperture size to open it maximum, losing the depth of field. I was advised selecting Aperture priority mode keeping aperture any thing higher than 15 on so.

 Hope to learn this lens as much as possible before we move on for our field trip for five days tomorrow.

-- 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089

http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ 
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

[Gerris2]

I am actually an avid manual focus lens user and 99% of the time I use even my autofocus lenses in manual mode for macro photography. I feel I have more control in making the photograph. So, in this regard we are alike :-) .

[Satish Phadke]

You have shared the same problem as I had when I purchased the same macro lens.
Initially I also thought that life is easy for macro photography with this lens. It is not fully true.
1) Small Aperture(2.8 or 3.2 etc.) will keep only a part of the large flower like anther in focus while the flower becomes blur.
2) If the aperture setting is high say 15 or more all parts of the flower will be in focus including some surroundings but to get adequate light the shutter will remain open for a longer time and one can't keep the hand steady for that long and the end result is burred pictured if the camera is hand held. To prevent this you need to use the flash(Accepting some of its limitations)
OR
If light is bright and good say a sunny bright morning and actual sun rays not falling on flowers. You can get good depth accepting Aperture of 5.6 or 4.5 getting a reasonable shutter speed to prevent hand shake(and flower shake due to wind)
This macro lens is a telephoto lens and one has to go away from the object to get it into the field of vision.
I hope I have shared what I do with same lens as you are using.
Tripod is not practical in most field visits though it may be ideal.
Satish Phadke

On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 5:15 PM, Gerris2 <ger...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am actually an avid manual focus lens user and 99% of the time I use even my autofocus lenses in manual mode for macro photography. I feel I have more control in making the photograph. So, in this regard we are alike :-) .

--
Dr Satish Phadke

[Gurcharan Singh]

Thanks Satish ji for valuable tips. 

I am slowly learning to get better and better results with tips from friends and trying different options. I was mostly using Aperture priority option. While on trip my son suggested fully auto feature, manual focus and flash. It worked well. The flash pops up whenever needed, and I am getting better results when keeping object at reasonable distance, say 40-60 cm. Once I bring it nearer say 30-35 cm, I have to hold the camera with both hands to make it steady, otherwise if I hold the object in one hand and camera in another hands, it shakes when I click.  

   One thing I have known that Canon 550D  and 100 mm macro are good combination, only I have to understand them better.

-- 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089

http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ 
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

[bmb]

Dear Dr. Singh,

There is no ideal distance from the object for macro photography. It depends on the frame you want to capture. Small object in full frame will require you to get closer. But the closer you get, lesser will be the DoF. So you have to increase aperture value which in turn will reduce speed and increase shake. One way to offset the reduced speed is to increase ISO; most cameras don't give much noise till 1600. The golden rule for reducing shake is not to take hand held picture if speed goes below 1/focal length of your lens, 1/100 in your case. For field photography monopod is sometimes very helpful.
 I have often felt that bright sun is best for macro photography or you should have dedicated lens mounted flash. Inbuilt flash gives good results only if distance from the object is large enough, not to get too close.

best regards

Brij Mohan Bhardwaj

[Gurcharan Singh]

Thanks a lot Brij Mohan ji for useful tips. They will surely help me.

-- 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh

Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089

http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ 
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/