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07-09-2009, 03:07 AM   #16
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Those photos are amazing!! Wow.

vmax84

07-09-2009, 06:07 AM   #17
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I bought the Raynox 250 as suggested by many, but I can't seem to get it to work on my 50-200 mm lens. I tried it at full zoom, as the instructions said, and at shorter zoom too, but I cannot get the camera to focus. What am I doing wrong? I was able to get it to work on the 18-55 mm lens though, so there's nothing wrong with the Raynox.
07-09-2009, 06:56 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by vmax84 Quote
Camera check (K100D), lens check (standard kit lens 18-55 and Tamron bottom of the line 75-300mm), etc.

What else do I need to shoot insects, flowers, etc., up close and personal? You'd think it would be as easy as flipping the rotary switch to Macro on the camera and being an instant pro.

Suggestions? Thank you.

vmax84
You might want a real macro lens.
07-09-2009, 09:16 AM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by kiwibird Quote
I bought the Raynox 250 as suggested by many, but I can't seem to get it to work on my 50-200 mm lens. I tried it at full zoom, as the instructions said, and at shorter zoom too, but I cannot get the camera to focus.
AF is going to be pretty unreliable at high magnification; most people would suggest turning it off and focusing manually. And then remember, with the Raynox 250 attached, you can *only* focus from a distance of four inches or so. You cannot focus from further away than that. I'd recommend turning off AF, turning the focus ring to infinity, putting yourself around 4" away from your subjec,t then lean forward or backward until the subject comes into focus. You'll need to be extremely steady, as DOF is shallow that a difference of a couple millimeters will throw everything out of focus.

07-09-2009, 12:31 PM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Wheatfield Quote
You might want a real macro lens.
Just because it says "macro" on the side of it, doesn't make it the lens one really wants to work with for up close work, huh?!!

What would be a good "macro" lens?

vmax84

07-09-2009, 01:23 PM   #21
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You need a fixed focal length lens for true macro which is usually considered as 1:1 magnification or greater (but 1:2 is also considered Macro). That Macro designation on your zoom just means that it has a close minimum focusing distance. I don't thing any zooms out truly have macro capabilities.




For stuff like flowers and non moving objects there are 35mm and 50mm Macros available, you need to get really close for the 1:1 magnification. The range then goes on to 70mm, 90mm, 100mm, 105mm, 125mm, 180mm and 200mm. The longer the focal length, the further away you can be to get the magnification.
For stuff like insects that can disappear if you get too close people usually go for the 100mm or above but you could manage with the 70mm or 90mm.

Pentax and Sigma both have good macro lenses in several of those focal lengths. They can be quite expensive.

There is a Pentax 100mm Macro 1:2 in the Marketplace at the moment; https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/photographers-marketplace/42593-sale-pent...cro-1-2-a.html

You'll see from the price that macros aren't cheap.


I'm going for a walk.
07-09-2009, 02:02 PM   #22
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Thank you Marc, for your help. I did try to focus manually before, using the focus ring, but did as you suggested with the lens set on infinity and managed to get a shot of a small flower bud, but boy, was it hard work!

07-09-2009, 02:08 PM   #23
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the thing that sux about the kit lens is the lack of aperture ring. I have a 2x teleconverter with the guts removed that pretty much makes all my lenses into macro lenses. All except the kit.
07-09-2009, 03:06 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by kiwibird Quote
Thank you Marc, for your help. I did try to focus manually before, using the focus ring, but did as you suggested with the lens set on infinity and managed to get a shot of a small flower bud, but boy, was it hard work!
It is actually hard work specially with focusing as it is more effective (as Marc has already said) to move yourself forward and backward to achieve focus, but this would be like ing small increments and if you are doing it handheld..IT IS a lot of pain!
There are macro focusing rails specially for this if you want to really be able to focus in small increments with the camera attached to the macro focusing rails and the tripod.
Macro is actually serious work and not something you can just do snaps each and every time.
You usually do a set-up to get really good results as per example of DOM (He has the macro focusing rails that comes with the bellows which is attached to a good and sturdy tripod).
07-09-2009, 03:20 PM   #25
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You can use bellows (already with attached macro focusing rails) or
..just the macro focusing rails like this: Macro Shot Focusing 4 way Rail/Truck for D80 D200 350D - eBay (item 220441032954 end time Jul-23-09 16:45:37 PDT)
..or the velbon super mag slider: Velbon Super Mag Slider Macro Rail - Magnesium -NIB - eBay (item 390027912903 end time Jul-30-09 10:10:36 PDT) or
..extension tubes (there are different types) Macro Extension Tube Ring for Pentax K Mount K200D K20D - eBay (item 370132080258 end time Jul-15-09 05:36:44 PDT) or
..the Raynox DCR-150/250 or
.. Macro Close-up lens Macro+Close Up Lens Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 / FZ8 ring - eBay (item 130314034747 end time Jul-20-09 15:35:47 PDT)

These are all just examples..you can get them at any photo store.
I just affixed these examples to be able to quickly view them and let you know what to look for.
Hope this helps!
07-14-2009, 12:33 AM   #26
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Another technic you could use, if you can't afford a true macro lens, its' the reversing lens technic, where you use an adapter so you can mount your normal lens with the front element attached to the camera body. I never tried this, but some people argued that it gives good results; luckly, I've a copy of the excelent SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F2.8 Macro to play with (looking for the 100mm version, but no luck so far). Of course this two particular pentax lenses are hard to find and very expensive but, for true macro photography, thatīs the way to go.

Reversing tech:
Flickr Photo Download: Reverse Lens Technique Tutorial

SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F2.8 Macro
Pentax Lens Review Database - 50mm F2.8 Macro

SMC Pentax-FA 100mm F2.8 Macro
Pentax Lens Review Database - 100mm F2.8 Macro
07-18-2009, 11:59 AM   #27
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Hello
I'm very happy with D-FA 100mm/f2.8
100% crop, (Araneus diadematus, body length ~1cm) http://horsthelmut.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Petoja%20ja%20saaliita/IMGP6622.jpg/full
ISO: 200 E:1/125 s A: f/16.0 taken with k200d and popup flash (without the lens hood)

I also have an off brand bellows unit (ebay ~20$) and have taken some macro shots of frost with Panagor M 28mm/2.8 (@A:11-16?) that can be seen horsthelmut.kuvat.fi - random I had to push the front of the lens into the balcony glass to get things focused, size of the frosting is abt 2x2cm.
Next on the to-get list is a ringflash and a 49mm reverse ring.

When I had a p&s camera I used tape to attach a DIY ghetto loupe in front of the lens which worked just fine, altough the optical quality wasn't that great.
Getting a working macro set-up is not as expensive as many of us newbs think.
Happy hunting!
07-18-2009, 02:23 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by vmax84 Quote
Just because it says "macro" on the side of it, doesn't make it the lens one really wants to work with for up close work, huh?!!

What would be a good "macro" lens?

vmax84

The above lens plus a Raynox DCR 150 would be a nice combination for macro magnification photos.

With the Raynox, you'd get high quality photos over the whole possible range of magnifications up to 1.95:1 before cropping. At high magnifications it'd have a working distance of about 8".

I have not evaluated this particular combination, but from all reports you could expect excellent results except some quality loss at the edges. Most macro photography makes little important use of edges so for an investment of $50 in the Raynox, one can get a lot of return.

Dave

Last edited by newarts; 07-18-2009 at 03:22 PM.
07-18-2009, 03:13 PM   #29
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Here's a direct comparison showing what one might expect from a Raynox close-up lens. I took photos using a good "real" macro lens with and without a Raynox DCR 150: (overview is a slightly reduced upper left quarter of the full photo, the cursor arrow was in the LCD photo's center)

Both the center and corners are sharp and square.

Now, with the Raynox (mag slightly lower)

Center and corners square,but corners lose sharpness.

The Raynox does a good job if center quality is sufficient for your composition. Raynox is pretty good if you crop the edges bit.

An Iowa Dave

PS A square region of the Raynox' image as tall as the frame is in good focus; ie. about 2/3 of the width and full height is good. One might easily compose with that in mind.

Last edited by newarts; 07-18-2009 at 04:01 PM.
07-18-2009, 05:41 PM   #30
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I too have been interested in getting into taking "in your bug face" pictures but I have no clue where to even begin in asking what to look for in a lens. I discovered a grasshopper sitting on my patio table and decided what the heck, lets see what my lens can do. I was probably 2' away from him with my lens zoomed all the way to 250mm.
How is a true "macro" lens going to affect how close I need to get, my overall field of view, basically how different is it from shooting with a normal zoom lens?
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