Sigma 180 macros

[KerryPierce]

both shots were with the Canon 500d attached

Nikon D70s ,Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro IF HSM
1/500s f/18.0 at 185.0mm with Flash iso200 hand held


Nikon D70s ,Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro IF HSM
1/500s f/18.0 at 185.0mm with Flash iso200 hand held

[Greg B]

Fantastic Kerry, #1 in particular. Those spinkies sure could use a bit of Lady Bic action.

[LOZ]

God dam you Kerry I am trying to talk my self out of a Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro IF HSM may be the cost of the Canon 500d may stop me LOZ

[birddog114]

God dam you Kerry I am trying to talk my self out of a Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX APO Macro IF HSM may be the cost of the Canon 500d may stop me LOZ

LOZ
Get both and get all, you'll be happy with

[LOZ]

Where should I start to look for a Canon 500d after dealing with BIRDDOG I now hate retail more than ever what $ would it be here . PS I hate EBAY LOZ

[birddog114]

Where should I start to look for a Canon 500d after dealing with BIRDDOG I now hate retail more than ever what $ would it be here . PS I hate EBAY LOZ

I have here, right in front of me

[sirhc55]

Scared the living christ out of me so early in the morning - superb, spooky shots - love them

[KerryPierce]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys.

LOZ: It only hurts for a short while........ Birddie will take good care of you.

[birddog114]

LOZ: It only hurts for a short while........

LOZ,
4 or 5 shots after the first shot, won't be hurt any more

[LOZ]

OK OK OK BIRDDOG PLEASE PM ME URGENT AND TELL ME HOW MUCH IT IS GOING TO HURT

[birddog114]

OK OK OK BIRDDOG PLEASE PM ME URGENT AND TELL ME HOW MUCH IT IS GOING TO HURT

You've got the price for the 180 by PM or email few days ago.
The Canon 500D is $180.00

[LOZ]

THEIR GOES THE NEW DISH WASHER WHO WILL TELL THE WIFE?????????????? LOZ

[Slider]

Great shots Kerry. The first one is a corker

[KerryPierce]

Great shots Kerry. The first one is a corker

Thanks, Mark, I appreciate the kind comments.

LOZ: Tell the wife that you got drunk and lost the money in a poker game. IME, they're much more understanding about that than they are about buying new lenses.

[robboh]

Great shots Kerry.
Every time I see your shots, it makes me want to get a macro lens. But then when Im out walking the dog etc, I hunt around for spiders and things like that, but never see any.

Id love to know how you always manage to get your shots looking so good. The colours in them are vivid, but not overly saturated and funny looking (which is how mine end up in PS) and they are nice and contrasty, but not with the hard shadowed areas I seem to end up with.

Do you typically take these in early morning/night, but OUT of direct sunlight?? How do you do your metering?? Do you expose for highlights (ie let matrix do its thing) or do you expose to the right?? Or do you do use a greycard?? What about WB?? Auto or greycard or one of the presets?

Cheers
Rob.

Edit: Just looking at these again later in the day and have a question for you. Does the D70, with the crop factor, give you a better than 1:1 out of macro lenses as well?? Whats the max ratio that the Sigma 180 gives you?? And would you recommend people start off with a shorter lens for macro, or go with the longer lenses that give you better working distance?

[dooda]

Just came across your post Roboh, and thought I'd have a try at answering.

These were both shot with flash, so understanding your metering system and flash gun is probably a must. It's all about light qualities, so the better the quality, the more unaltered it will look in PS. I've been wanting to get a good root shot of trees for a while, it struck me recently that I wasn't getting the light qualities I needed to make a good photo of them, so I had to wait till evening when the light was softer and angled across the top. I find my photos are dramatically better when focusing on light qualities as well as the subject.

Also make sure you shoot in raw. I find the white balance is the most natural way to warm or cool a shot.

[KerryPierce]

Great shots Kerry.
Every time I see your shots, it makes me want to get a macro lens. But then when Im out walking the dog etc, I hunt around for spiders and things like that, but never see any.

Hi Rob,

I'm afraid I can't be much help in that regard. You guys are going into winter now and I have no idea what kind of insect patterns you might have down under....

Id love to know how you always manage to get your shots looking so good. The colours in them are vivid, but not overly saturated and funny looking (which is how mine end up in PS) and they are nice and contrasty, but not with the hard shadowed areas I seem to end up with.

The lighting and how you use it, is of paramount importance. Oversaturation, especially with reds, is a real problem, if the camera is set up for high saturation and contrast.

My cameras are set up for low contrast and sharpening, normal to low saturation and I often underexpose shots -.3EV to -.6EV deliberately, depending on the subject and lighting.

That allows me the most latitude for PP but usually gives me a well saturated and vibrant photo, if I've gotten the exposure correct. Using fill flash or iTTL flash is a huge help in a lot of situations, but most certainly with macros.

Do you typically take these in early morning/night, but OUT of direct sunlight?? How do you do your metering?? Do you expose for highlights (ie let matrix do its thing) or do you expose to the right?? Or do you do use a greycard?? What about WB?? Auto or greycard or one of the presets?

Unfortunately, I can't schedule my shots for optimum lighting. I do generally try to shoot in direct sunlight though, for most of my shots, especially flowers, macros and normal landscapes.

My methods run contrary to conventional wisdom, especially with shooting flowers in sunlight, but I prefer the vibrant colors that direct sunlight brings to the shots, that I don't normally get with overcast or shade. With macros and the high aperture settings I prefer, I can't get enough light.

For metering, I change to suit the subject. With macros, I usually use a small center weighted meter. I try to shoot a test shot and check the blinking highlights. I don't use the histogram and don't really understand how it works as an aide to real time shooting.

If I have time and will be shooting a lot of the same scene, I'll use the expodisk to set WB. Otherwise, I just use Auto WB, unless I want a certain look and then I'll use one of the presets.

Cheers
Rob.

Edit: Just looking at these again later in the day and have a question for you. Does the D70, with the crop factor, give you a better than 1:1 out of macro lenses as well?? Whats the max ratio that the Sigma 180 gives you?? And would you recommend people start off with a shorter lens for macro, or go with the longer lenses that give you better working distance?

 AFAIK, a 1:1 lens for film is the same for digital. A 1:1 macro is where the subject takes up the same distance on the sensor as it does in life. A 1:1 macro of an object 23mm long would take up 23mm of the 23.7mm of the Nikon sensor. The crop factor doesn't make any difference, in that regard.

The Sigma 180 is a 1:1 lens. My tests show that it is very slightly higher than 1:1, maybe 1.1:1, but no biggie. Using the Canon 500d or a 1.4x TC gives me about 1.4:1 or 1.5:1 Using them both together gives me about 2:1 and using a 2x TC with the 500d gives me about 3:1 magnification.

As to your question regarding working distance, that depends on what you want to shoot. If you're out in the wild, shooting insects, the 180 is an excellent lens. Some insects just won't tolerate you getting close to them. The longer the working distance, the better. The longer working distance also helps make maximum use of the flash.

Shorter focal length lenses have some advantages, such as deeper DOF and easier focus, perhaps, but lighting can be a problem without a ring flash and it's very difficult to get that close to many insects.

If most or all of your macro shooting would be of static subjects, then the shorter focal length lenses would be the ticket.