Hi everyone

Mitch Sealy

Im new to photography and very new to macro. I wanted to ask some gear questions.

I know some people like reverse mounted prime lenses, some like dedicated macro lenses. What are advantages and disadvantages of the two as far as image quality, magnification, and ease of use? Im also confused when one would perform better than the other?

Ive currently got a sigma 105mm dg ex f2.8 macro, and a 28mm f2.8 wide angle. I should be getting some kenko extension tubes and reverse ring mount here shortly. Any other gear you recommend? I highly appreciate any advice and help!

basflt

you allready have a good macro lens , start using it ( at 1:1 setting )
if you decide you want to get closer , a set of tubes can be added
if you re a Canon-owner , you may want a MPE65
biggest different is the price

best advice of all , read the forum
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=143373

Mitch Sealy

Ive been practicing with the macro lens for a month or two now. Playing with image stacking and such. Ive got a set of tubes from a friend bein sent to me too.

Ive been reading the tutorials and practicing. Im excited for summer to get here again. I really wanna photography some bugs.

basflt

have you made (or bought) a diffuser yet ?

for real close-up it is almost a must
natural light is possible , but even more difficult

Mitch Sealy

Here's the macro gear im playing with now.

A home made softbox, 430ex flash, cowboy studios remote trigger (or cable if im using a hand held/flash rig), 28mm f/2.8 wide angle for reverse mounting, and my sigma DG EX macro 105mm f/2.8.



Here's some of the practice images i've been playing with. (Dont judge them lol. I wasnt editing them at all, just simply practicing image stacking and such.)




This one i didnt take enough pics of. It was the first real image stack exersize i tried.




Here is one from me reversing the 28mm wide angle. I was just hand holding the lens to the body in this shot. It was simply to see how clear the glass was and what kinda magnification i was getting.





Can anyone give me some guidance to whats up with that purple haze?

basflt

IMO you dont need anything
you are ready for season

PS
about editing ;
you should try that too
editing ( post processing ) is an important part of photography

Mitch Sealy

I do PP photos and ive been learning a lot about photoshop. I just wasnt editing for these lessons. Thanks for looking out though!

GOLDENORFE

Welcome to the forum, your gear is ok, with ex tubes on your macro will give x2 magnification which is enough to show eye detail in most bugs.
you will just have to experiment with lighting/diffusion as that is the most important thing in producing good sharp images , with no blown highlights.

Mitch Sealy

Thanks for the welcome phil. Flash diffusion is one thing ive been playing with and struggling. It always seems to be way too much or way too little. Right now im flashing thru paper, should i add a layer of paper towel? Or just buy a softbox?

GOLDENORFE

Mitch Sealy wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome phil. Flash diffusion is one thing ive been playing with and struggling. It always seems to be way too much or way too little. Right now im flashing thru paper, should i add a layer of paper towel? Or just buy a softbox?

try paper towel, 1 layer works well on a home made diffuser.

just experiment

paddler4

I agree with with Bas and Phil. You have plenty of gear to keep you busy for a long time, other than flash. A number of people on this site have posted examples of their do-it-yourself flash rigs. The key things are diffusion and getting the flash near the end of the lens. Here is one by Phil, and another by Pedrag. I also agree with Bas that practicing your postprocessing will give you a big payoff.

Mitch Sealy

... Thanks, i normally do edit and post process my images. These images were just practice image stacks. I believe i said that in the post.