Macro on a Budget
Posted on | March 10, 2009 | No Comments
I had a few inquiries about the close-up filters used in these photos. I realize a lot of us are interested in macro photography but don’t have the big bucks to spend yet. So I invited Troy Redington as my first ever guest writer to talk about doing macro using affordable gadgets. He was the one who did the research and bought all the “toys” I now use. (I know, how convenient, right? My husband as my first guest writer? *smile)
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| MACRO ON A BUDGET by Troy Redington |
I’ve been interested, or at least amused by macro photography for quite some time – even longer than my photography interest actually. Something about seeing such details of tiny subjects like insects and flowers intrigues me. It’s almost as if discovering a new world that our eyes have yet to fully explore. So a few years ago when Johwey shoved me into the research field to get another new camera, naturally I kept macro shots in mind.
I learned a lot. It was overwhelming. Here I thought ‘macro’ was just a mode for a camera or a lens, turns out there’s a lot more to it. By definition (at least according to the macro snobs I’ve talked to), macro photography is when the subject is projected onto the film plane or digital sensor at its actual size or larger. This means a 1:1 ratio (lifesize:sensor) or larger (2:1, 3:1, etc). Macro modes on point and shoot cameras or even telephoto lenses do not achieve 1:1. Turns out these ‘macro modes’ were more of a means of close focusing. Functional and fun, yes – macro, no.
So I realized that we’re going to need at LEAST two lenses if I want to dive into the macro pool. But then I saw the price tag of the macro lens I wanted – $800 was a bit much considering our budget was only $1500. The macro lens would have to wait :(
After a matter of months with our new camera (D80 with the 18-135 lens) I was finding cheaper ways to macro. Here are the options I had found:
- close-up filters
- reversing the lens
- extension tubes
- reversing a lens on top of a normal lens (crazy huh, this is referred to as ‘rev stack’)
The first thing we tried were the close-up filters. I picked up a set of +1, +2, +4 Tiffen Close-up Filters from Adorama. They’re basically magnifying glasses that screw on to the front of your lens. I was quite happy with the initial results. It allowed the 18-135 kit lens to focus on things really close up like flowers and insects. The magnification wasn’t HUGE but it was pleasing. It also allowed us to use automatic mode and auto focus – something the next few options don’t have. You CAN stack these (use more than one at once) but the image quality will suffer and the DOF becomes shallower and distortion gets worse.
I later learned that reversing the lens would produce 1:1 or greater magnfication. But to reverse the lens, you need a lens that has an aperture ring. The DX 18-135 wouldn’t work reverse because the aperture is electronically controlled and resets to f/22 or something when removed from the body. The best lenses for reversing are prime lenses. Everyone I spoke with mentioned the 50mm f/1.8 (or nifty fifty). So I picked one up from Adorama along with a $10 reversing ring. The reversing ring basically has the Nikon mount on one side (no electrical contacts, just the mount) and 52mm filter threads (male) on the other. I was immediately impressed with the 50mm lens AND the reversing ring – but WOW what a pain in the butt the reversing ring is. When you reverse a lens, you lose the ability to focus. The focus ring of the lens no longer works as a focusing tool, so instead you have to move the camera and lens around until your subject is in focus and in the right DOF. The DOF btw, is incredibly narrow unless you stop your lens down to about f/8. But there’s the kicker, you stop down the lens to get more than 1mm of DOF and there’s no longer enough light to get your shot in focus. Reversing is ok for flowers or bugs on a bright sunny day, but kinda frustrating. A monopod might help though.
The third option I’ve tried is by far my favorite. I picked up these extension tubes for $9 bucks shipped from Deal Extreme These tubes will add a gap between your camera body and the lens element. There are no optics inside the tubes, so you won’t lose image quality due to shotty glass. The magnification comes from the spread of light from the rear element as its being projected onto the sensor. The further that gap, the more the magnfication. The tubes are basically a male mount (to camera), a female mount (for lens), and 3 spacers of different lengths. You can use one, two, or three of them in any order or combination. These tubes also do NOT provide any electrical contacts. You won’t have autofocus or aperture controls from the body. It’s all manual baby. If you can’t live without it, you can spend $150 on some kenko tubes, but I don’t think its worth it. I’ve had the best luck with these. I have a 70-210mm Vivitar that I extend for some crazy magnfication goodness, but the 50mm is the easiest to use extended.
I did an experiment last night on the different methods I just discussed. Here are the results. (The exposures are far from perfect and the images are unprocessed. I just wanted to show what the magnification levels were.)
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| These are the tools I just described. |
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| Here’s my subject – a 4″ ceramic pepper shaker. I shot it with an 18-135mm lens at 50mm, f/5. |
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| This shot was taken with a close up filter (+4) with the 18-135mm lens at 50mm, f/5. |
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| Here I used a reversed 50mm lens. |
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| This one was taken with an extended 50mm lens (all 3 tubes). |
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| And lastly, this one was taken with an extended 50mm (just 1 of the short tubes). |
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I hope this inspires you to start taking those macro shots you’ve been itching to take. Let me know how you did.
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© 2006-2010 Johwey Redington.
Please don't steal my text or images, it's disrespectful and you'll be subjet to karma! If you want to use any of the images, please email me for a written permission. Thank you.
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