Macro & Close-Up Photos!

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Bronze Jumper


Tan Jumper - Male
I couldn't get him to look at the camera to save my life and I couldn't get the lens any lower for a better shot either, so it is what it is lol.

[Fly Fishing Rick]

It's gotten cold here again, luckily I was able to find a few cooperative macro subjects this afternoon.


Bold Jumper - Never seen one with blue chelicerae before, they're almost always some shade of green.


No ID yet but I can tell you that it's sitting on Garlic Mustard lol


Yellow Dung Fly

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Tan Jumper - Male


Some kind of hopper eating a Dandelion petal.

[aicolainen]

I don't spend much time in the OT section, but this is a great thread, Rick!
You have a good eye for subjects and photo ops! Really enjoyed seeing your photos.

I've been thinking about getting a macro lens for the longest time, but never pulled the trigger.
Some years ago my interest in photography waned quite a bit and all my gear just gathered dust for quite some time.
Lately though, I've seen some signs of that old spark again and literally brushed the dust of my old cameras.
Maybe it's time to revisit a possible acquisition of a macro lens as well. I don't have a full frame anymore, but a macro for my APS-C should get me started just fine. And for cheaper :)

[Fly Fishing Rick]

I don't spend much time in the OT section, but this is a great thread, Rick!
You have a good eye for subjects and photo ops! Really enjoyed seeing your photos.

I've been thinking about getting a macro lens for the longest time, but never pulled the trigger.
Some years ago my interest in photography waned quite a bit and all my gear just gathered dust for quite some time.
Lately though, I've seen some signs of that old spark again and literally brushed the dust of my old cameras.
Maybe it's time to revisit a possible acquisition of a macro lens as well. I don't have a full frame anymore, but a macro for my APS-C should get me started just fine. And for cheaper :)

Thanks! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoy them. I own 3 lenses and have a 4th on the way and if I had to choose just one to keep forever it would be my macro lens. I also have an aps-c camera(D500) and I use a full frame lens on mine, it ran me around $450 new. Depending on your budget and your intended use for the lens, I recommend checking out either the 60mm or the 100mm macro lenses by Laowa. The 60mm is aps-c specific while the 100mm is ff but is also an APO lens, which is quite uncommon for it's price point. The lenses are completely manual, however the Canon and Nikon version of the 100mm allow linkage with the camera so the aperture is wide open until you take your photo so it's easy to see/focus. I don't see any need whatsoever for autofocus on a macro lens unless you also intend to use it for other things fairly often, such as having it double up as a portrait lens. The Laowa macro lenses do take great portraits, however your subject needs to be cooperative and not moving since they're manual focus. The thing I like most about the Laowa lenses is that they focus from infinity to 2:1 where most macro lenses only magnify to 1:1 and 1.5:1 for the new Canon macro lens. 1:1 magnification is plenty for a lot of things but if you intend to do insects and arachnids and the like, I believe that that extra magnification often makes a big difference. I'm always happy to answer any questions or help wherever I can, I've been having so much fun with this and I think it would be great to see others doing the same.

[aicolainen]

I recommend checking out either the 60mm or the 100mm macro lenses by Laowa. The 60mm is aps-c specific while the 100mm is ff but is also an APO lens, which is quite uncommon for it's price point.

Thanks for the advice!
I just made a bid for a used 100mm Laowa, so this idea picked up speed pretty fast. Hahah
I need to see where things go, but I really miss having a FF camera body, so the Laowa feels like a solid option with good optical performance as well as future proof if I move to FF again.

[Fly Fishing Rick]

I recommend checking out either the 60mm or the 100mm macro lenses by Laowa. The 60mm is aps-c specific while the 100mm is ff but is also an APO lens, which is quite uncommon for it's price point.

Thanks for the advice!
I just made a bid for a used 100mm Laowa, so this idea picked up speed pretty fast. Hahah
I need to see where things go, but I really miss having a FF camera body, so the Laowa feels like a solid option with good optical performance as well as future proof if I move to FF again.

Haha fast indeed, I bought my 100mm with plans to get a ff as well someday, either a D810 or a D850. The price difference makes it a really tough choice so I'm just waiting for now lol. If you can't manage to get one used and can afford new, you can use the code MW2023 on the manufacturer website for 10% off which knocks the price down to $450. They are located in China so I didn't have to pay any sales tax which is great, I don't know what that means for you though. The only reason I remember the code is because I just ordered their 15mm macro lens yesterday haha, I expect it by this weekend. The code is valid for all of 2023, so no rush. Btw, I'm not associated with Laowa in any way, I'm just a satisfied customer.

[aicolainen]

Haha fast indeed, I bought my 100mm with plans to get a ff as well someday, either a D810 or a D850. The price difference makes it a really tough choice so I'm just waiting for now lol. If you can't manage to get one used and can afford new, you can use the code MW2023 on the manufacturer website for 10% off which knocks the price down to $450. They are located in China so I didn't have to pay any sales tax which is great, I don't know what that means for you though. The only reason I remember the code is because I just ordered their 15mm macro lens yesterday haha, I expect it by this weekend. The code is valid for all of 2023, so no rush. Btw, I'm not associated with Laowa in any way, I'm just a satisfied customer.

I got it. Should be on its way soon.
Approx. half of the regular street price here in Norway, so if it's in as good condition as announced, that should be a pretty good deal.

My APS-C body is Nikon as well. I saw the writing on the wall as to where the hobby was heading and sold both my then quite new entry level FF and mid range DX to buy an older D300S that cost almost no money and came with a bunch of accessories.
By todays standards the sensor isn't much to speak of, but as far as controls go, that body has most of the bells and whistles I'll ever need.
My interest kicked off with outdoor and action photography, which was fun indeed, but especially the action genre generated thousands of files. It was the workflow that killed my interest in the end.
This time around I'm going for the slow experience; landscape, nature, macro (soon), people, knives. And it's working. I enjoy the slower process, and (at least for now) I find having yesterdays tech makes it even more fun. To see what I'm able to crank out of those relics is some how both a fun challenge and relaxing at the same time.

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Haha fast indeed, I bought my 100mm with plans to get a ff as well someday, either a D810 or a D850. The price difference makes it a really tough choice so I'm just waiting for now lol. If you can't manage to get one used and can afford new, you can use the code MW2023 on the manufacturer website for 10% off which knocks the price down to $450. They are located in China so I didn't have to pay any sales tax which is great, I don't know what that means for you though. The only reason I remember the code is because I just ordered their 15mm macro lens yesterday haha, I expect it by this weekend. The code is valid for all of 2023, so no rush. Btw, I'm not associated with Laowa in any way, I'm just a satisfied customer.

I got it. Should be on its way soon.
Approx. half of the regular street price here in Norway, so if it's in as good condition as announced, that should be a pretty good deal.

My APS-C body is Nikon as well. I saw the writing on the wall as to where the hobby was heading and sold both my then quite new entry level FF and mid range DX to buy an older D300S that cost almost no money and came with a bunch of accessories.
By todays standards the sensor isn't much to speak of, but as far as controls go, that body has most of the bells and whistles I'll ever need.
My interest kicked off with outdoor and action photography, which was fun indeed, but especially the action genre generated thousands of files. It was the workflow that killed my interest in the end.
This time around I'm going for the slow experience; landscape, nature, macro (soon), people, knives. And it's working. I enjoy the slower process, and (at least for now) I find having yesterdays tech makes it even more fun. To see what I'm able to crank out of those relics is some how both a fun challenge and relaxing at the same time.

Gratz! One of the best things about macro is that you don't need any of those bells and whistles, basic works best. The manual lenses are a lot of fun to use for reasons you have already pointed out as well. I find going through hundreds of photos pretty tedious as well but Lightroom Classic helps it go pretty quick and I don't mind too bad. I forgot to ask if you have some kind of flash? It's pretty much a necessary part of macro but like the camera, it doesn't need to be anything fancy whatsoever. I use a Meike MK320 flash and an Angler PSFD-100 diffuser as my on-camera flash setup, both quite cheap and compact but basically any flash and diffuser combo will do. There's tons of plans and discussions online about making diy diffusers as well if you wanna go that route.

[aicolainen]

Gratz! One of the best things about macro is that you don't need any of those bells and whistles, basic works best. The manual lenses are a lot of fun to use for reasons you have already pointed out as well. I find going through hundreds of photos pretty tedious as well but Lightroom Classic helps it go pretty quick and I don't mind too bad. I forgot to ask if you have some kind of flash? It's pretty much a necessary part of macro but like the camera, it doesn't need to be anything fancy whatsoever. I use a Meike MK320 flash and an Angler PSFD-100 diffuser as my on-camera flash setup, both quite cheap and compact but basically any flash and diffuser combo will do. There's tons of plans and discussions online about making diy diffusers as well if you wanna go that route.

I have a SB-900 that I haven't brushed the dust of yet, so it remains to see if it's still working. I should probably read up on technique and diffuser tips anyways, but other than that I should be pretty much ready to go when the lens arrives :)

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Gratz! One of the best things about macro is that you don't need any of those bells and whistles, basic works best. The manual lenses are a lot of fun to use for reasons you have already pointed out as well. I find going through hundreds of photos pretty tedious as well but Lightroom Classic helps it go pretty quick and I don't mind too bad. I forgot to ask if you have some kind of flash? It's pretty much a necessary part of macro but like the camera, it doesn't need to be anything fancy whatsoever. I use a Meike MK320 flash and an Angler PSFD-100 diffuser as my on-camera flash setup, both quite cheap and compact but basically any flash and diffuser combo will do. There's tons of plans and discussions online about making diy diffusers as well if you wanna go that route.

I have a SB-900 that I haven't brushed the dust of yet, so it remains to see if it's still working. I should probably read up on technique and diffuser tips anyways, but other than that I should be pretty much ready to go when the lens arrives :)

That's great! Don't hesitate to post here or message me if you have any questions, I'm happy to help if I can. I look forward to seeing some of your photos.

[Makunochimaster]

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Very cool! thanks for sharing. I see they were taken with a 40mm lens, is it the Nikkor 40mm macro?

[Makunochimaster]

is it the Nikkor 40mm macro?

yes, it's my main lens Micro Nikkor 40/2.8G and Nikon D40 with CCD sensor

[Fly Fishing Rick]

is it the Nikkor 40mm macro?

yes, it's my main lens Micro Nikkor 40/2.8G and Nikon D40 with CCD sensor

Thanks. I've been itching to get a wider macro lens for a while now for those times when 100mm is a bit too much. I finally pulled the trigger on a 15mm 1:1 lens this week but sadly I won't get the full 15mm fov since my camera is a crop sensor. Sometimes I wish I had just gone for a full frame but that all goes away when I go out to do wildlife lol.

[Fly Fishing Rick]

I sure wish it would hurry and warm up here so I could get some more diversity... It feels like all I see are spiders, bees, and flies when I'm out with the macro lens lol.



Tan Jumper - Male


Bold Jumper - Female

[aicolainen]

Those spiders are really cool though!

My macro lens may come in today, if the shipping gods are willing.
This lens purchase has triggered some dangerous behaviors. I find myself looking at reviews and scanning the used market again. Really not good.

Thankfully (or maybe not) I'm in a bit of a backwater as it pertains to an obvious upgrade path. Most of the Nikon glass I've kept are 3rd party and DX, with the 50/1.4G as the only exception it seems.
My best lineup as far as current glass goes, seems to be MFT, which is still a nice option for backpacking and such, but it's not where I want to invest.
I also have a Nikon 1 v1, but that project went belly up before there was much glass available at all. It's a fun camera and wouldn't even bother me one bit to have it around if I get back into the hobby a bit more. It uses the EN-EL15 and I have an F-mount adapter for it, so it's a handy backup for many of the mid range DSLR's that use the same battery. It's not the same as the much older D300s though.

So I started out thinking that an older Nikon FF dslr could be the low hanging upgrade path, but with really only one suited lens, it's really not so obvious after all. And they're expensive. Even old D700/D3's with ridiculous shutter counts go for the same money as 10+ year newer mirrorless FF with 1/10th the shutter count.

Some interesting DX bodies are coming down in price, but FF is where my heart is. Buying a DX body in the 7xxxx range is just a more better d300s, so I'd be spending without really gaining much in creative headroom. I do however see this as a potential next step / phase 2 if I do indeed fall down the rabbit hole again.

Then there's Sony... don't have anything from them, but I really liked what they where doing back when I was more into the hobby. And my dream camera from back then, the a7s/a7sII is very obtainable on the secondary these days. Very.

Then again, if I'm considering a mirrorless Sony, why wouldn't I just as well consider a Nikon Z, and get much better backwards compatibility with my old lenses..
Well.. I guess I do consider them, but they're still pretty expensive and very few on the secondary. Nikon doesn't have a history of being too kind towards 3rd party lenses, so I wouldn't really know if I get the compatibility I'm hoping for. And their AF doesn't seem to hold up to well against the competition, especially in the budget end. I guess my gut feeling is to let this system mature and maybe revisit later - if I'm still shooting.

It has really become a conundrum of philosophy. All in or diversify.
On one side it seems simpler and more streamlined to reduce the number of systems to a minimum. On the other hand I'm not really married to one maker, so by embracing diversity I would position myself better to get the best deal that best aligns with my preferences at any moment. At the cost of some clutter of course.
I still haven't caught up with the marketplace and don't know about every camera and its pros and cons, so it's hard to make informed decisions, but on a surface level it seems Sony a7(si/sii) is the best deal on a FF I can get right now.
I also think Canon is doing some interesting things in the FF mirrorless area and is more intriguing than Nikon atm. For where I currently am on my photo journey it's too early to get into either of those two.

Soo.. I'm thinking I might go Sony first. I might get by with just a good 35mm prime, so I don't have to get too deep into a new system. If I need advanced features like flash, macro or reach I can use my Nikon. For backpacking and travel I guess it would depend. Both Sony and Olympus/MFT would be relevant depending on where and what. Bottom line is I don't really need all my lenses to work with one camera, or even the two I already got.
Then a couple of years down the road, maybe one of the current high end Nikon Z's if they've come down in price, or a D7500 if I just want a more capable body for my DX lenses/F-mount lenses.

Thoughts?

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Those spiders are really cool though!

My macro lens may come in today, if the shipping gods are willing.
This lens purchase has triggered some dangerous behaviors. I find myself looking at reviews and scanning the used market again. Really not good.

Thankfully (or maybe not) I'm in a bit of a backwater as it pertains to an obvious upgrade path. Most of the Nikon glass I've kept are 3rd party and DX, with the 50/1.4G as the only exception it seems.
My best lineup as far as current glass goes, seems to be MFT, which is still a nice option for backpacking and such, but it's not where I want to invest.
I also have a Nikon 1 v1, but that project went belly up before there was much glass available at all. It's a fun camera and wouldn't even bother me one bit to have it around if I get back into the hobby a bit more. It uses the EN-EL15 and I have an F-mount adapter for it, so it's a handy backup for many of the mid range DSLR's that use the same battery. It's not the same as the much older D300s though.

So I started out thinking that an older Nikon FF dslr could be the low hanging upgrade path, but with really only one suited lens, it's really not so obvious after all. And they're expensive. Even old D700/D3's with ridiculous shutter counts go for the same money as 10+ year newer mirrorless FF with 1/10th the shutter count.

Some interesting DX bodies are coming down in price, but FF is where my heart is. Buying a DX body in the 7xxxx range is just a more better d300s, so I'd be spending without really gaining much in creative headroom. I do however see this as a potential next step / phase 2 if I do indeed fall down the rabbit hole again.

Then there's Sony... don't have anything from them, but I really liked what they where doing back when I was more into the hobby. And my dream camera from back then, the a7s/a7sII is very obtainable on the secondary these days. Very.

Then again, if I'm considering a mirrorless Sony, why wouldn't I just as well consider a Nikon Z, and get much better backwards compatibility with my old lenses..
Well.. I guess I do consider them, but they're still pretty expensive and very few on the secondary. Nikon doesn't have a history of being too kind towards 3rd party lenses, so I wouldn't really know if I get the compatibility I'm hoping for. And their AF doesn't seem to hold up to well against the competition, especially in the budget end. I guess my gut feeling is to let this system mature and maybe revisit later - if I'm still shooting.

It has really become a conundrum of philosophy. All in or diversify.
On one side it seems simpler and more streamlined to reduce the number of systems to a minimum. On the other hand I'm not really married to one maker, so by embracing diversity I would position myself better to get the best deal that best aligns with my preferences at any moment. At the cost of some clutter of course.
I still haven't caught up with the marketplace and don't know about every camera and its pros and cons, so it's hard to make informed decisions, but on a surface level it seems Sony a7(si/sii) is the best deal on a FF I can get right now.
I also think Canon is doing some interesting things in the FF mirrorless area and is more intriguing than Nikon atm. For where I currently am on my photo journey it's too early to get into either of those two.

Soo.. I'm thinking I might go Sony first. I might get by with just a good 35mm prime, so I don't have to get too deep into a new system. If I need advanced features like flash, macro or reach I can use my Nikon. For backpacking and travel I guess it would depend. Both Sony and Olympus/MFT would be relevant depending on where and what. Bottom line is I don't really need all my lenses to work with one camera, or even the two I already got.
Then a couple of years down the road, maybe one of the current high end Nikon Z's if they've come down in price, or a D7500 if I just want a more capable body for my DX lenses/F-mount lenses.

Thoughts?

If it were me I'd stick with Nikon since you already have Nikon compatible glass and the differences between the top manufacturers is negligible at best and comes down to a few specific features and the layout/feel of the buttons/body. I feel that buying DSLRs is a much better bang for your buck right now because the higher end DSLRs are better than all but the flagship mirrorless models such as the Z9, for a fraction of the cost. If I had to choose a FF camera today and I was low on cash and already had Nikon glass, I'd prolly pick up a used D810 but I have a D850 on my wish list. In a perfect world you'd have both FX and DX and use whichever suited what you were doing that day, and by staying in the same system your FX lenses would be interchangeable with your DX body which could be useful in the future as your collection grows. I paid around $1k for my DX D500 because I wanted a camera that was good for action and wildlife, I could have had a really nice FX model and had a few hundred left towards another lens but I chose the tool that fit what I wanted to do best. I hope your lens comes today and that it helps you itch this scratch haha, best of luck!

[Fly Fishing Rick]

Went out and tried out my new 15mm macro lens yesterday, it's challenging but rewarding and a lot of fun. Because it's such a wide angle and so much of the background is visible, it's difficult to make good shots with this lens unless you're somewhere that looks pretty nice. I plan to take it to my local state park and try it out some more one of these days this week.

Apple Blossom


Dandelion

[aicolainen]

If it were me I'd stick with Nikon since you already have Nikon compatible glass and the differences between the top manufacturers is negligible at best and comes down to a few specific features and the layout/feel of the buttons/body. I feel that buying DSLRs is a much better bang for your buck right now because the higher end DSLRs are better than all but the flagship mirrorless models such as the Z9, for a fraction of the cost. If I had to choose a FF camera today and I was low on cash and already had Nikon glass, I'd prolly pick up a used D810 but I have a D850 on my wish list. In a perfect world you'd have both FX and DX and use whichever suited what you were doing that day, and by staying in the same system your FX lenses would be interchangeable with your DX body which could be useful in the future as your collection grows. I paid around $1k for my DX D500 because I wanted a camera that was good for action and wildlife, I could have had a really nice FX model and had a few hundred left towards another lens but I chose the tool that fit what I wanted to do best. I hope your lens comes today and that it helps you itch this scratch haha, best of luck!

Hehe, we'll see how it goes. There was an A7SII for sale in my area, that I had my eyes on, but I've been caught up in stuff and now it's sold, so I guess I've got some more time to think this through.
When I got into photography the first time around, I was always hoping for a one and done, all-in-one solution to come along. Fast AF, low light performance, IQ and all of that. Of course that gets big, heavy and expensive very fast. Especially back then. I'm more laidback now. I don't need to have an all in one solution. I don't even think it's ideal. Maybe sometime in the future, but not with the current tech.
I don't even think I would want something as big as the D850 (i.e. pro DSLR bodies) or even Z9 sized as my people-/social situations camera. And that's where I miss FF the most. E.g. the pics I got of my kids back when I had FF is just on another level from anything I've been able to produce since. Fast, reliable AF and good low light performance in the smallest package possible, is really what I'm looking for in that domain. So it could basically be a mirrorless with only one lens, and I would likely be very well served by a crop sensor DSLR for everything else.
Ohh... lens arrived at the PO. Go to go :)