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I got my Tamron 90mm macro lens on Friday and had my first play with it in the garden yesterday. I've previously tried close up lenses and extension tubes, but was never really happy with the results, so I finally decided to do things properly and get a dedicated macro lens.

Here are some of yesterday's results. I don't think they're especially good. Despite all I've read, I was still surprised with how bloody hard it was. Non existent DOF and focussing challenges like I've never experienced! But I'm really looking forward to exploring this new photographic territory.

These were all shot at 1:1 but I've cropped the images for better composition. Is that allowed in the strict macro world? (not that I particularly care). And I found myself shooting at f16 and greater at ISO 1600 to get some usable DOF and shutter speed, which surprised me (I can see a purchase of a ring light coming soon) - is this typical?

Frank

I like #2 the most out of the three, welcome to macro...if you think you have DOF issues with a 90mm think about my 180mm Sigma....

There is no problems with cropping for composition, well at least not in my humble opinon. Shooting at f/16 at 1600 ISO is probably not something you want to be doing, hence the desire for a ring flash, but if you already have a flash, consider making a softbox for it (or do as I do and stick a Stofen style diffuser cap on the flash). The other method would be to use a tripod...or even use both flash and tripod.

Dont worry, the fight for DOF is common in macro photography.

aim54x wrote:I like #2 the most out of the three, welcome to macro...if you think you have DOF issues with a 90mm think about my 180mm Sigma....

There is no problems with cropping for composition, well at least not in my humble opinon. Shooting at f/16 at 1600 ISO is probably not something you want to be doing, hence the desire for a ring flash, but if you already have a flash, consider making a softbox for it (or do as I do and stick a Stofen style diffuser cap on the flash). The other method would be to use a tripod...or even use both flash and tripod.

Dont worry, the fight for DOF is common in macro photography.

I only have the built-in flash on the D300, and never thought about using it (probably wouldn't have worked anyway). I was too lazy to go back inside to get my tripod, and that wouldn't have worked chasing the bees.

I guess my main aim yesterday was just to play and see how close I could get to the subject, and what details I'd get - and I'm happy with both. So now it's going to be a more organised approach, maybe concentrating on more static subjects than those damn hyperactive bees!

Frank

You would be surprised at just how good the on board flash is for this work. Not perfect, but good.

I do not see anything wrong with cropping an image at all.
I would not go for high iso but there is nothing really wrong with a small aperture to help with depth. You can also stack images with varying focus points if your subject is stationary.

I hope you enjoy the new lens, macro is an interesting world.

Frank,

Welcome to the world of macro. You'll either learn to love it or hate it. I love it.

I recommend you think about getting a regular flash, like the SB-900, rather than a ring flash. You can easily build a soft box for the flash which will give you much more pleasing lighting that you can get from a ring flash. In my opinion, the light from a ring flash looks unnatural - which doesn't work for nature macros. A soft box still gives you directional lighting with shadows, but the shadows are soft.

Cropping images is fine, but you'll eventually start wanting to get the shots right from the start - I know I do.

DOF is a battle you have to live with. You can stop down more, if your have enough light, but then you introduce diffraction which can make the whole image look unsharp. You have to think about the the angle of the subject relative to the camera so you can maximise what little DOF you have. For example, if you shoot perpendicular to the subject, the edge should all be in focus even if the foreground and background aren't. You also need to concentrate on getting important things, like eyes, looking sharp as this can mask shallow DOF to some extent.

Just get out there and practice.

Cameron,

As was pointed out to me by Dave, DOF changes with focal length AND distance from the subject. When you are working in the macro region, the two cancel each other out and you end up with DOF being based purely on magnification. I have shots taken with my 60mm and my 200mm at 1:1 and for the same effective f/stop the DOF is the same. See my unfinished blog entry: I bought a Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D IF-ED lens.

Thanks for the advice everyone - all very useful.

Frank

ATJ wrote:As was pointed out to me by Dave, DOF changes with focal length AND distance from the subject. When you are working in the macro region, the two cancel each other out and you end up with DOF being based purely on magnification. I have shots taken with my 60mm and my 200mm at 1:1 and for the same effective f/stop the DOF is the same. See my unfinished blog entry: I bought a Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D IF-ED lens.

Thanks...I always have felt that there was less DOF when using the 180 than when I am using a borrowed 90/100mm but I guess it is all in my head!

The bee rocks. He looks like he's meditating before diving into the pollen.