The Macro Photography Thread

[AK77]

Hi all,

After looking through the forum and taking a few photographs tonight, I thought it would be a nice idea to have thread dedicated to seeing the creatures that inhabit our aquariums in great detail. We often photograph our fish, but we rarely pay any heed to the smaller life forms in the tank or get the chance to appreciate the beauty of a polyp of a coral. So if you have a camera with a macro lens, a tripod and some willing subjects, please post them here for all to see.

To keep things uniform and allow people to see them as large as possible for free, can I urge people to use photobucket and adjust the settings to allow you to upload 1mb pictures.

So without further a do, here are a couple of macro shots I took tonight.

Camera = Olympus E-510 DSLR.
Lens = Tamron Adaptall II SP90 Macro with extension tube.

A baby leather toadstool coral 5mm in width

A sea squirt 4-5mm in width

 

[BigC]

Very Nice,
Must take a look at that camera and lens, was it expensive, my guess is yes
What is the best macro lens for that camera for really close up shots
I have seen shots of fin scales which is why I ask.
ATB
C

 

[AK77]

Hi BigC,

The camera I bought in mint condition from Ebay. It cost £160 if I remember rightly, which was about half what you'd pay for a new DSLR body. Its the earliest of the Olympus Evolt series that has live view and built in image stabilization. Anything below an E-510 doesn't have the live view feature, apart from the E-3 which is the top of the line and costs a hell of a lot more than mine lol.

The lens is 20 years old and is fitted to the E-510 with an AD2 to Olympus 4/3 adapter. Its regarded as a "legendary lens" in terms of its sharpness/contrast/bokeh and it still holds its own against today's macros, which is why I picked one up. It generally sells on eBay for anywhere between £60-£90 depending upon condition. When you compare that to the digital macros which retail for £400, its a bargain. It takes photos at 1:2 ratio but with the extention tube it takes it to 1:1 life size. Due to the sensor size and crop factor on the E-510 any picture taken is twice the size of the 35mm standard, so even without the extention tube, I'm still taking pictures at 1:1 ratio anyway. With the extention tube I'm actually taking 2:1 macro shots! Its also a very fast lens with a maximum aperture of 2.5F, definitely not to shabby for a 90mm lens!

*Edit* The best macro lens for my make of camera is the Zuiko ED 50mm F2 Macro, which is about £400 and takes 1:2 zoom shots. There is a Zuiko ED 35mm Macro, which is about half the price but takes 1:1 shots. Its probably less expensive because the max aperture is 3.5F and from what I've read isn't quite as impressive optically as the 50mm.

Tamron make a digital version of the SP90, unfortunately I think its only for Nikon and Sony mounts.

 

[BigC]

Excellent,
Thanks for that AK. Secondhand it is then.
Regards
C

 

[seffieuk]

Great idea for a thread - my camera has been sat in its box for ages, will get it out over Christmas and TRY to take some photos

Seffie x

 

[Truck]

Nice set of pictures, I know someone on here that spent £800 on a macro lense and you can see the individual cells of some of the plants he took photos of.

 

[ben1987]

Nice pics...but it the forum playing uo for anyone else?

 

[seffieuk]

No Ben, running good as gold for me

Seffie x

 

[ben1987]

id love to join in...
but i cant take a normal picture! never mind a fancy one

 

[AK77]

Great idea for a thread - my camera has been sat in its box for ages, will get it out over Christmas and TRY to take some photos

Seffie x

Thanks Seffie. That's the spirit. If you need any pointers on taking them, just drop me a message or post in here.

Nice set of pictures, I know someone on here that spent £800 on a macro lense and you can see the individual cells of some of the plants he took photos of.

I don't disbelieve it mate. The top end photographic equipment is staggeringly expensive. The best camera out at the moment is the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, which is a bargain at just under £8000 lol. I've seen lenses that go for well in excess of that.

id love to join in...
but i cant take a normal picture! never mind a fancy one

Hopefully this thread will inspire you to take up the hobby. Its so satisfying once you get to grips with the basics and start taking some really good photos (well better than the blurry things I used to get with my compact lol).

 

[seffieuk]

id love to join in...
but i cant take a normal picture! never mind a fancy one

eh, and you think I can - you have seen my photos

Hope i might learn a bit from AK, but expect to see some very duff photos

So come on Ben, if I'm willing to be mocked

Seffie x

 

[AK77]

Although the quality of this shot isn't the greatest, I just thought it was hilarious. Its one of those little white critters about 1-2mm in size, that stick to the glass on your tank. He seems happy enough though, just look at the smile on his face

 

[seffieuk]

Oh, oh that reminds me I do already have a photo

Does this one count

Seffie x

 

[-Nemo-]

ooo a little hydroid.

And that's a decent picture seffie!
I'll see if I can dig up some pictures later

 

[seffieuk]

I'm really looking forward to watching this thread and learning Where is Morri, he is a dab hand with the camera.

So, what are the basics for taking decent macro photos?

Seffie x