Still trying... and craving C&C please

Snowgirl · January 7, 2012

Good morning (my time). I did a few more shots today. Everything shot with 1DMKIV on a tripod, MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X lens, MR-14EXMacro Ring Light, ISO 100, FL 65mm.

One thing I've learned so far.. I can not get an entire nickel in the shot. Even at 1X if I want any of the text or engraving to be in focus, I lose a portion of the rim...

1. f/11 1/125 1X Camera at 90 degrees to coin which I mounted (using that poster stick-um blue goo stuff) on a sheet of white coroplast

2. f/11 1/125 2X The detail in the beaver's fur and edge engraving is quote amazing at 2X

3. f/11 1/125 1/2" bell from our Christmas ornaments. I focused on the snowman's nose. Ornament is hanging by a ribbon and hook from the top of the coroplast sheet. This set of 3 shots was to see the effect of changing one element at a time - either the f/stop OR the Shutter Speed

4. f/11 1/300

5. f/16 1/300

It may be my glasses (trifocals) but I don't see much difference among #3, #4 and #5. If anything, #4 seems a bit 'brighter' than the other two, to me.

Comments and suggestions gratefully accepted.:lust

Lord Vetinari · January 8, 2012

Nice detail showing on the coin !
Re the other 3 shots of the ornament, Agree there doesn't seem to be much difference. You won't see much effect if any effect of shutter speed because a) I assume these were not handheld Ie they were on a tripod, and b) at shutter speeds where the main source of light is the flash (camera in manual mode), the effective shutter speed is the flash duration which is likely to be 1/1000th or faster.
With the aperture, if you had a subject with a lot of fine detail, you may have noticed some diffraction softening of the image at F16. Diffraction effects in normal lenses can be seen around F16 vs say F8. A macro lens unfortunately is a whole lot worse because magnification plays a part so that the effective aperture = set aperture * (M+1)
So at 1:1 mag = 1X a set aperture of f16 becomes 16X(1+1) =F32. It gets a whole lot worse at 5:1. Overall this means you have to balance off DOF which gets narrower with increasing magnification, with diffraction softening which gets worse with increasing magnification. The baalnce depends on the dof vs the detail you want to capture.
Brian v.

Snowgirl · January 8, 2012

Lord Vetinari wrote: »

Nice detail showing on the coin !
Re the other 3 shots of the ornament, Agree there doesn't seem to be much difference. You won't see much effect if any effect of shutter speed because a) I assume these were not handheld Ie they were on a tripod, and b) at shutter speeds where the main source of light is the flash (camera in manual mode), the effective shutter speed is the flash duration which is likely to be 1/1000th or faster.
With the aperture, if you had a subject with a lot of fine detail, you may have noticed some diffraction softening of the image at F16. Diffraction effects in normal lenses can be seen around F16 vs say F8. A macro lens unfortunately is a whole lot worse because magnification plays a part so that the effective aperture = set aperture * (M+1)
So at 1:1 mag = 1X a set aperture of f16 becomes 16X(1+1) =F32. It gets a whole lot worse at 5:1. Overall this means you have to balance off DOF which gets narrower with increasing magnification, with diffraction softening which gets worse with increasing magnification. The baalnce depends on the dof vs the detail you want to capture.
Brian v.

Thank you for that explanation. It's very helpful. My husband asked how I was enjoying my new macro kit and I said "it's challenging". He was concerned that he'd "goofed" in getting my Christmas gift. Not! I love a challenge and this is, without doubt, the most challenging genre of photography - both artistically and technically. So first, get the technical learning out of the way - then get on with the artistic side.

Thanks again,
Ceci

redleash · January 8, 2012

Ceci - Tell Joel he definitely did not goof! I told him how well he'd done when I got a sneak peek before Christmas.

It'll take practice and you will certainly pick up good tips from the folks in this forum . It's such a change from what you normally shoot so just have fun with it! Maybe Halo will sit still long enough for you to do an eye closeup--I know Hoover won't.

As for these shots, I think you did a good job with focus on the nickel closeup. Excellent detail there.

Have fun!

Lauren

Snowgirl · January 8, 2012

Thanks Lauren. So much to learn. it's a totally humbling experience; but it is fun.