I just received my new toy today which was a Raynox 150
It was a great deal because I had a rebate on it plus it was on sale..
I have been taking photos but I was just wondering about exposures.. this was taken in RAW but the only thing I did to it was just crop and sharpen..
Had an onboard flash with a diffuser on it, sun, 75mm, 1/125 at F18. Added ISO 100
I did not focus stack this, only one shot..
I am curious and wanting to know especially if I have the exposures setting right or if I need more or if I should be upping the aperture even more or having a different shutter speed. I did have it on a tripod.
I have been having to really up it. this lens I am using is manual lens with the aperture ring and its been kinda difficult to learn for me.
I am pretty happy with this result :-) But I know I need to be hit as far as critiques so it can get better yet
Do you have live view on that camera? That can really help with macro. Zoom in and dial the focus to the exact spot you want it, and play with different focal depths. I don't shoot them all that often, but I don't light macro subjects. You're working with a tripod, and unless they're bugs, your subject will remain still for as long as you need.
If you like shooting macro have you considered getting an extension tube? It's a good way to convert any lens to macro. My husband shoots a lot of macro and finds the extension tubes produce better images (don't cause aberration or distortion) compared to snap on macro lenses or filters. It cuts down on that soft at the edges of the frame thing you have in the original shot- although the trade off is you lose some f/stops.
As a plus a set of em go for about 15 bucks on Amazon!
My husband, reading over my shoulder says they also cause a rather shallow depth of field so he often has to crank up ISO to allow for higher f/stop
I am loving this macro thing, to see the world just a bit closer is super cool.
I did originally buy some manual extension tubes off from Ebay for $4 and started with them when I got my camera. I needed so much light to add to it just to use it. Plus the issue was, when I was playing with them when I was waiting for birds to come,so, I had to fight getting them off for when they did the birds were gone. Why I switched to this Raynox
Thank you for noticing about the softness at the edges. I was not sure if that was me or the lens, another reason for the critiques because I thought it was something I was doing wrong with the exposure.
I am thinking that part can be fixed with focus stacking perhaps? I have not done any focus stacking with it yet.
The ISO I was trying to use was 400 or 800 and to me it was still dark without any light added to it. I might be needing to get a flash to use with them, but I have not decided what kind of flash to get yet whether I want TTL or the ring flashes. They are fun to use too though
When I went through my macro phase I used a Marumi DRF14C Macro flash attached to the front of my Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro lens, which helped a lot.
A selection here Ring flash - Pentax fit
Obviously, as you now know, photography is an expensive hobby !
