Originally posted by Kurt Euler Hi. Can anyone recommend a lense solution for those interested in photographs that have something greater than the 1x maginification of the macro lenses? I'm thinkiing about something 2x to 4x.
I'd lie to photograph small insects (eg .25") but use as much as the sensor as possible for the image.
Check out
the photomacrography.net forum, fantastic resource for extreme macro.
In a nutshell, the problems posed by going past 1:1 are ever-shallower depth of field, smaller working distance (front of lens to subject), and greater loss of sharpness to diffraction. 4:1 is, IMO, at the limit of what is possible with ordinary camera lenses. Yes, you can get higher reproduction ratios than that, but it becomes "empty magnification", no extra detail recorded because of diffraction.
There's a lot to be said for starting with an ordinary telephoto zoom lens and adding a Raynox diopter to the front of it.
Focus stacking is pretty much essential for 2x and beyond, because of the depth-of-field problem.