New venture into Macro

[wolfie]

"I have been reading Don's helpful series of posts and to fully understand the subject I will probably have to save up and make this my next purchase. Then I can experiment and perhaps learn the techniques involved".

kenny, Due to the very high cost of a dedicated macro flash I've been trying out a work around.

The method being to use 2 Jessops straight flash brackets £20.
2 Jessops Mini slave cells £22
2 Jessops flashguns £22
Using the onboard flash as a trigger.

I have tried out this method, but using my two sigma flashguns which are far too powerful and heavy.

http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...3&d=1137010373

This is an uncropped 1-1 macro. As a guide the distance from the tip to the base of the the first pair of buds is 12mm

I'm of to Kenya tomorrow, but when I get back(mid Feb) I will buy the Jessops flasghuns and will then post the resulting photos + a shot of the set-up.
I'm convinced this method will work satisfactory and at a cost of only £64.

Harry

[kennygee]

Harry

That example is very impressive. I look forward to seeing details of the setup.

Its an expensive hobby and anything that keeps the cost down and provides results as good as that gets my vote!

Have a great trip. I'm envious!

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by kennygee

If I could return to Christine's point re the Canon Macro setting.

What in-camera settings are made by the camera when the macro option is chosen? How are these settings designed to help in macro situations?

I ask because if these settings are helpful they may act as a guide when using your own settings in manual mode.

Hi Kenny,

I totally agree with Harry in is camera settings.

I have been trawling the net to see if the Macro program actual setting curve is there but I have not managed to find it. The only reference I have found is in DP Review re the Canon 350D. Not much detail there other than the program sets aperture to a medium setting to try and get a reasonable zone of sharpness but the background is blurred and flash mode is disabled.

The program will assume hand held so will firstly aim to get your shutter speed to 1/60 sec and then as the light level increases it will stop the lens down until f8 is reached. As the light level increases it will move the shutter speed to 1/125 and then take the aperture through to f16. A further increase in light level will probably move the shutter speed to 1/250 with the aperture being taken through to f22.

In true macro you will be looking at using f16, f22 or f32 and therefore using a tripod.

You should be able to see in the viewfinder what settings the camera would use if the macro mode is selected. I would suspect they are based on ' close up ' as in macro facility on zoom lenses rather than ' macro ' as in 1:1 or closer.

So to anwer your question as to ' magical ' setting ..... refer to Harry's setting guide.

Don

[kennygee]

Don

Thanks for that very detailed explanation. Much appreciated.

I'm looking forward to seeing Harry's flash setup on his return.

[wolfie]

Ken.

I have placed a photo of my macro flash setup here http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...p?t=111&page=8
The method works very well, but maybe slightly cumbersome.

All my latest photo's have been taken using this lighting setup, a number of which are in "My Photos" I'm very pleased with the results, with the cost being less than £50, assuming you use the cameras on-board flash.

All the tests that I've done have been in a "studio" enviroment" so as yet I've not tried it out in the "field" this I will rectify as soon as the weather permits.

Having spent some time experimenting (which I must admit i've enjoyed) My wife informs me that she will buy me the super Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash system.

She's such a darling.


The

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by wolfie

My wife informs me that she will buy me the super Canon Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash system.

LUCKY YOU !!!!

Don

[kennygee]

Harry

I am going to source the parts that make up your flash arrangement. Is the list you posted the final one?

Looking forward to experimenting!

[miketoll]

If I can suggest a good book which covers many aspects of macro " CLOSE-UP & MACRO A Photographers Guide " by Robert Thompson. Publishers David & Charles.

Mike

[kennygee]

Mike

Thanks for that. I'll check it out.

[wolfie]

Kenny, I'm extremely sorry, I thought that I'd answered your last question.
So if it's not to late this is what I acquired.

I happened to be near a Jessop's outlet so went in to have a look at what they'd got and finished up buying 2 Jessop 150s flashguns, which have built in slave capabilities, the total cost being approx £35. Guide no. at 100 ISO = 15.

These are very lightweight and work quite well.
Attached are two shots one of the camera/light setup and also the resulting image.

Normally I use my 300D for this type of work mainly because I have a remote release for it.

However in this case as I wanted a shot of the flower and also one of the setup, I used my 10D conected to a laptop for "remote capture" of the flower and the 300D + cable release to take a photo of myself, taking a photo of the flower.

I wonder if you can understand my meanderings

Harry