| On this page you`ll find the equipment that i use and also a small guide for making macro`s. This due to the fact that i get a lot of questions about my macro`s. It is a small guide with the steps I follow to make my macro`s. Two things are the most important: enough light and a steady hand/Tripod!
Other equipment that i have : Manfrotto tripod (055-XDB), B&W polarizing filter, and a reflection kit from Falcon eyes.
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From October 2007 i own the Canon 40D a great camera! (before that i used the Canon 350D ( great camera), after that the Canon 400D ( which i returned to the store because of the poor quality of the body).
As earlier said, the Canon 40D is a great camera, has a firm body, 10.1 MP, many iso-settings: iso 100,125,160,200,250,300 etc and it offers you a 6,5 images per second, and the live view is awesome! Indeed a great camera.
So save some more money and go for the 40D or an other camera but do not buy the Canon 400D is my advice...to much plastic.( i own the canon 7d at this moment too)
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The wide-angle lens that i use is the Canon EF-S 17-85mm F4-5.6 IS USM. The IS stands for "Image Stabilisation", this helps to obtain sharp and natural pictures even in difficult situations with poor light, but the IS does not really impress me, i never use it. The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is a pretty good allround lens for EOS camera’s with a EF-S mount.
The sharpness is okay as is the focussing, but using Higher F-numbers some dark corners will appear. If you have enough money i advise to buy the Canon 17-40 L USM lens, i have this lense too...
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The Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 is a great super-wideangle lens. It has a view of almost 180 degrees, a gives nice sharp images. it doesn`t fit on Full-frame camera`s lik e the canon 5D though.
This lens is almost as good as the canon 10-22mm lens, but that one is almost 300 euro`s more costly, i recommend the sigma, a great lens!
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The Canon zoomlens EF 70-200mm F2,8 L USM is a great lens! It is a very light-sensitive lens, which you can see from the F2,8, the lower this number, the more light-sensitive the lens is. For this lens there are also extenders available, i use the 2x extender (there is also a 1.4x extender), it almost never comes off from my camera! The extender makes it a 400 mm lens with an F5.6). Because this lens is very light-sensitive it also costs a lot, about 1100 euro, but the quality...wow!
There is also a 70-200mm USM F4 version lens available, which almost costs half, but if you have the money go fot the F2.8 version!!! I found the Sigma Zoomlenses very dissapointing, to heavy, slow focus,bad colours etc...wouldn`t recommend these. The Canon L-serie is really great and razersharp images!
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The Canon 50mm F1,4 USM is a beauty in my eyes. Razorsharp images, a quality build lens wich is perfect for taking portraits! I reccomend this lens, it`s almost perfect.
If you can`t afford this one, go for his little brother the Canon 50mm F1.8 lens ( poorly build but also good images).
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Since September 2008 i own the de Canon Speedlight 580 EX II (including an Omnibouncer). Further development of Canon's flagship Speedlite has led to the production of the 580 EX II. This is the premier Speedlite for all photographers, including professionals.
Newly designed to match with the EOS-1D Mark III in terms of improved dust- and water-resistance, body strength, and the ability to control flash functions and settings from the camera menu (EOS-1D Mark III only). Other features include improved communication reliability through its direct contacts, and recycling time is both 20% shorter than the 580EX and is completely inaudible.
This Speedlicht is a real animal!
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The macrolens i use now is the Canon 100mm F2.8 USM lens ( before this i used the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG lens, also a good lens) But i must say, the Canon has a much quicker focus, the building of the lens is of a high quality as are the images.
I love this lens...
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| Small guide for making macro`s
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Actually i take all the macro`s with almost identical settings. I shoot them in the Aperture Priority "A(V)" setting or completely manual,the "M" setting. In "AV" you can choose your own depth of field, while the camera chooses the shutter-time, in "M" you are able to choose the depth of field but also your own shutterspeed. By choosing your own depth of field, you can get a sharp object from the beginning till the end (you will need a high F-number for this). So make sure to choose a high F-number while taking your macro`s, to get the best depth of field possible.
Normal digital camera`s will usually have a maximun of F7,1-F8, with a DLSR`s you are much less limited and you can easily choose a F9-F16 or even higher, depending on your object and your background and the wind offcourse. Normally your camera will show you what the maximum F-mumber is that you van use in a particulair situation . if you have chosen the wrong depth of field you will probably see the EV-indicator flashing. Turn down your depth of field untill the EV-indicator is not flashing anymore, and you will have the maximum depth of field possible.
Keep in mind that a shutterspeed of, for example 1/500s but you should have at least a 1/200s, helps you avoiding blurry images. When the weather is good, i use a iso setting of 100 or 200 iso, with poor weather you could use a setting of 400 iso, but i rather don`t take the picture then. If you go much higher, you will notice that your picture contains more noise.
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Because not everybody owns a digital reflex camera (dlsr), this little text overhere for the owners of a regular digital camera. The so called use of caps on your day-to-day lenses like Raynox or Hoya is a great alternative for them.
A lot of my pictures are taken with the Nikon Coolpix and the 2 Raynox lenses (place your mouse on the pictures to see which lenses they are). These lense are very good to take some nice macro shots. They magnify your subject, and make it easier for your camera to focus. You can put them on your camera by the use of a adapter,which you can screw on your camera. With these lenses you must shoot in "A(V)" or "M" mode, because otherwise you will see the adapter in your shots. These modes will make it also possible to zoom in or out.
The disadvantage is that these lenses magnify everything,also the errors in your lens. Don`t forget to put your camera in the macro-mode, the little flower on your camera. Another alternatif are the lenses from Hoya or Tiffen. These caps are available in many magnifications and you can screw them on almost any lens. Each caps costs around Euro 15,- (e.g. Hoya Closeup series) and you can stack them to get even more magnification.
These lenses are almost everywhere available, the Raynox lenses might be a bit more difficult. Some examples and on which camera the raynox lenses fit on. You can find it here: Raynox .
In some cases it`s handy to use a special macro flash,to avoid blurry images. I don`t like flash pictures very much, so i dont have one.
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Last but not least, try to shoot your pictures in a high resloution. Raw or tiff is the best, but if you don`t want that, take at least the highest jpg setting in your camera, normally that should be jpg-fine. Your pictures might be a bit larger then, but they will also be sharper. Also use the maximum of megapixels that you have, you can still crop your image then if you like, but still have a large picture to work with.
I wrote this page for the people who wanted to improve their macro`s, hope it helps.
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