Facinated by all the tiny details around you? Take the plunge and get into macro photography just in time for the upcoming Spring time!!

Introduction to Macro Photography

Nature is like a fractal, a close view of natural detail always invites an even closer view. Macro photography opens up an exciting new perspective of our everyday surroundings, allowing us to record its vibrant colors and exquisit details and share it with other people. I am endlessly facinated by the components of the world around us and the detail within detail. You first notice the great vista, then a patch of color in the corner. On closer look you notice flowers, and on one flower a butterfly. Its wings reveal a distinct pattern, the pattern is produced by a precise arrangement of wing scales, and each sacle is perfect in and of itself.

This tutorial endeavours to provide an introduction to technical aspects of macro photography, but does not cover each and every piece of accessory that is available on the market. I wish you happy reading, and hopefully it will assit you in taking your first step into the limitless opportunities of the small world.

 

Some basics first, if you know these already, just skip over it.

• Macro is actually defined as photography at 1x magnifcation and above. So anything less than 1x magnification is more accurately defined as "close-ups" rather than "macro", however, these days it seems the two words are used interchangeably.
• Magnification is usually written as 1:1, which is also called "life-size". It is called life size because the size of the item you are photographing translates exactly onto film. Hence, if a bee is 1cm long, the image of the bee on your film will also be exactly 1cm long. Imagine holding a slide mount and using that to frame your subject matter. 2x life-size is written as 2:1 and so on.
• There are many equations to calculate total magnification when you add accessories to your lens, however, the most used one is this:

  Magnification = (total length of extension in mm) / (focal length of your lens)

 

Macro lens:

The most convenient way because you don't need to carry extra accessory in order to achieve 1:1 magnification. Macro lens are essentially normal lens with extensions build into them. When you focus a macro lens from infinity focus down to 1:1 focus, you will notice that the lens increase in size quite significantly. However, that said, macro lens are also one of the most corrected optics, they are flat field and extremely sharp. Macro lens also perform very well as "standard lens", in addition, they usually stop down to f32 instead of f28.

 

Below: an example of a photo taken with a dedicated macro lens (EOS-500N, 180 f3.5 macro)

 

Extension tubes / bellow

This is the cheapest way to macro if you buy the Kenko set of 3. Bellow are out of fashion and no one uses them except for maybe slide duplication work. Extension tube are just metal tubes with electronic contacts, they have no optics inside so does not degrade image quality. Extension tubes that are designed for your camera system will usually transfer all the electronic contacts, so you keep TTL etc. AF will be very unreliable, however, all macro photog uses MF anyway. When you are using extension tubes, you will notice a little light loss and you lose infinity focus. Working distance is the biggest issue with extension tubes, if you add a 25mm extension tube to a 28-80 lens, you will get close to 1:1 when you set the lens to 28mm, however, the distance from your subject to the lens' front element will be around 5mm. Using focal length from 50mm onwards is quite usable, and allows you to to explore the macro world quite well! To get a good working distance means you need a longer focal length lens, say a 200mm lens. However, to get to 1:1, you will also need 200mm worth of extension, which is unwiedly to handle! Extension tubes are useful with almost any lens, they work well on 300mm+ lens to decrease minimum focusing distance.

 

Below: an example of a photo taken with extension tube (EOS-500N, 28-80 f3.5-5.6 II, EF25)

below: with a longer focal length lens (EOS-500N, 70-200 f2.8L, EF25)

 

Diopter:

Diopter is a piece of magnifying glass that comes in the form of a screw-in filter. They are light and you can fit many in your gadget bag without a problem. Many filter companies make these filters, however, I would only recommend Nikon and Canon ones. Both the Nikon and Canon diopters are multi-element and cost a lot more than 3rd party ones, but they perform very well. Nikon's are called 3T, 4T and 5T, and Canons are 250D and 500D. The higher the number the greater the magnification. Optical testing gives slight edge to the Canon ones, however, Nikons are cheaper. Working distance with diopters are pretty good. These are not brand specific, so you can buy any brand you want. I would recommend you buy the 77mm filter thread one and get step-up rings to fit it to your lens, because if you buy more expensive lens in the future, it will still fit, thus protecting your investment. You lose infinity focus when the diopter is attached.

 

Reversed lens:

This is when you reverse a 50mm prime lens and attached it onto the front of a long focal length lens. The reversed 50 is essentially acting as a very powerful diopter. Typically the magnification starts at around 2x. With this type of setup you will want to reverse the 50 onto a 100 or 200mm lens, leaving the 50 wide open. If you reverse the 50 onto anything shorter than 100 you miight get vignetting. Working distance is poor and lighting is very tricky, however, you only need a 50 prime and a male-male coupler to do this. A male-male coupler (macro coupler, reverse mounting ring) is just a metal ring with 2 filter threads on each side. Usually people do reverse mounting when they already have a macro lens, and they hunger for more magnification.

Extension tubes, diopters and reverse mounting all work on a macro lens, so if you started out using these to macro, you can still use these accessories with your new macro lens to increase magnifcation.

 

Anyway, if you already love macro and have some cash to spare, then buying a 100mm macro lens would be a good idea. However, if you are not too sure and not too rich, then a set of extension tubes is your answer! I started out with a 25mm extension tube, and I was very happy :) The Kenko set of three (12, 22, and 30mm) retails for around $170 - $200. The Canon tubes are build slightly better, however, they cost a lot more. For the price of a EF25 you can buy a Kenko set with a little spare change! Many people use the Kenko, and they swear by it.

Check out my UNSW- A Photographic Guide for locations on Kensignton campus that yields photogenic subject matters.

 

Good luck, and happy shooting!

Louis Tsai, 2004.

 

EOS-500N, 180 f3.5 macro.