a guide to macro and close up photography.pdf

7/23/2019 A guide to macro and close up photography.pdf

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INTRODUCTION

For me, one of the pleasures of photography is

that it opens up a fresh way of seeing the world

around us. Perhaps nowhere is this so evident as

in close-up and macro photographytwo types

of image creation that get us in close to everyday

and not so everyday objects and creatures, and

show us how they look in entirely new ways.

Getting up close is not quite as simple as it first

appears. Most lenses wont get you very close to

your subject without the addition of extra equip-

ment. Macro lenses will do it but good ones can

be expensive, and you may not want to buy one

if you just want to dabble in or try out close-up

and macro photography. But the good news is that

there are inexpensive accessories you can buy that

will help you get close to your subject without

sacrificing image quality. Ill guide you through

the options available, explaining the advantages

and disadvantages of each, throughout this book.

Lets start with a couple of definitions. Macro

photography is easyto qualify as a macro

photograph your subject (or the part of it that

youre photographing) must be smaller than

or the same size as your cameras sensor. To get

this close to your subject youll need either a

macro lens or an accessory for your regular lenses

that achieves the required magnification.

Close-up photography is a little harder to pin down.

I define it as enabling your lens, whichever one it

is that youre using, to focus closer to your subject

than its designed to. The definition is nebulous

because some lenses can get closer to your subject

than others. Close-up photography brings you

closer to your subject, without getting as close

as you would need to for a macro photograph.

Whichever techniques you choose to explore, I aim

to show you that close-up and macro photography

are both enjoyable and easy to practise. Best of

all, there is subject matter all aroundyou wont

have to travel far to start creating exciting new

images. I interviewed two photographers for the

book, Mandy Disher and Celine Steen, who take

the majority of their photos right at home. Their

beautiful close-up photos will inspire you to go

out and try the same techniques for yourself.

Note: Ive taken a lot of flower photos to il-

lustrate this book, but Ive been unable to find

out the names of them all. The names, when

known, have been included in the captions.

Stargazer Lily, Auckland Botanical Gardens, New Zealand,

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm with 500D close-up lens,

1/1500 second @ f/2, ISO 400


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CROP FACTOR & MAGNIFICATION

Lets put the inspiration on hold for a couple of pages.

Theres an important concept that I want to get to grips with

straight away, as I refer to it several times throughout the

bookcrop factor and the effect it has on your photos.

There seems to be some confusion about the relation-

ship between the crop factor of your cameras sensor and

the magnification of your lenses. Its an important idea

to understand as it makes a big difference to the amount

of apparent magnification you can achieve in close-up

and macro photography. Be warned, there are a num-

ber of inaccurate references to this topic online. Here

are the facts (and a couple of important definitions).

MagnificationMagnification is the degree of enlargement

that your lens is capable of. Magnification is determined by the

focal length and closest focusing distance of the lens. The closer

you can focus to the subject, the greater the magnification.

The closest focusing distance is more important than focal

length in determining magnification. If you have a 24 mm lens

and 50 mm lens, and the closest focusing distance of each is 50

cm, then the 50 mm lens will have the greater magnification.

But, if the 24 mm lens had a closest focusing distance of 15

cm, then the 24 mm lens would have the greatest magnifica-

tion, as you could get much closer to your subject with it.

Crop factorWhen light passes through your camera

the image is projected as a circle. Your cameras sensor

just part of the image circle. Crop-sensor cameras capt

a smaller part of the image circle than full-frame came

therefore appear to have a greater magnification. How

characteristics of the lens havent changedthe magn

focal length, field-of-view, and depth-of-field are all th

I refer to this characteristic of crop sensor cameras as a

parent magnification. Its a by-product of sensor size, an

nothing to do with the physical characteristics of the l

Left: This diagram shows the difference in size between a full-frame and a Canon APS-C

in relation to the image circle projected by a camera lens. The APS-C sensor, at 22.2x14.

is less than two-thirds the size of a 36x24mm full frame sensor. As a result, it captures a

smaller area of the image circle.


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I took the top photo on this page with an EOS 5D Mark II and

an 85mm lens (fitted with a 500D close-up lens I cover this

accessory in more detail later in the book). The photo was tak-

en at the closest focusing distance this combination permits.

The 5D Mark II is a full-frame camera. So, how would

the photo be different if I had used a crop-sensor camera

such as my Canon EOS 40D? The middle image shows

the difference in size between the two sensorsthe clear

area in the middle represents the size of the 40Ds sen-

sor compared to the 5D Mark IIs full-frame sensor.

The bottom photo shows the image that the 40D would

have captured from the same position, with the same lens.

The flowers are larger because the sensor recorded a smaller

part of the image circle. The magnification of the lens hasnt

changed, but the magnification appears to be greater be-

cause of the crop factor. When I want to get in really close

to the subject, I use my EOS 40D rather than my full-frame

camera, because of this effective increase in magnification.

On the other hand, full-frame cameras tend to have more

megapixels than crop-sensor cameras. So, if you have a

full-frame camera, I see no reason why you cant crop the

image to get the apparent increase in magnification that

a crop-sensor camera would give you. As long as you have

enough resolution left to do whatever is you want to with

the photo (i.e. to make a print), theres no harm. Its an easy

way of squeezing a little extra reach from your setup.

Auckland Botanical Gardens, New Zealand,

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm with 500D close-up lens, 1/250 second @ f/2.5, ISO 100

CROP FACTOR & MAGNIFICATION continued


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PART ONE EQUIPMENT Butterfly and Orchid Garden, Thames, NCanon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm with 500

lens, 1/180 second @ f/2, ISO 1600


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TESTING YOUR LENSES

Before looking at the various ways in which you can

get closer to your subject, it pays to try out the lenses

you already have to see how close they can get already.

It varies widely between models, but you may be sur-

prised at just how close the lens you already have may

focus, especially if you have a crop-sensor camera.

On many lenses, the focusing distance is marked on

the barrel. This shows the distance between the fo-

cal plane (where the sensor or film is located) and the

subject, not the front of the lens and the subject.

To see how close your lens can focus, switch the lens to

manual focus mode and turn the focusing ring until the

lowest number shows in the display. If your lens doesnt

show the focusing distance, then turn the focusing ring

until the front element is extended as far forward as

it will go. Now, looking through the viewfinder, move

the camera towards your subject until it is in focus.

How close you can get depends on the lens youre us-

ing. For example, the closest I can get with my 85 mm

prime lens is 85 cm. This isnt very close at all.

With my 1740 mm zoom lens, on the other hand, I

within 28 cm of my subject. This is quite close, and I

some nice close-up photos with this lens. The focal le

this lens is only half that of my 85 mm prime, yet its

taking close-up photos.

Two Canon lenses an 18-55mm kit lens (left) and the more advanced 15-85mm lens (right). Unlike the 15-85mm

lens, the kit lens has no distance scale on the lens barrel to indicate the point of focus.

The display of the lens barrel of my 17-40mm lens sh

I can focus within 0.28 metres (28 centimetres) of th


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Green Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai, China. Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 40mm, 1/60 second @ f/8, ISO 1600

I took this photo with my EOS 5D Mark II and EF 17-40mm lens. Even on a full frame camera I was still able to get close-up to this wooden carving.


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If youve never tried this exercise with your

lenses, you may not have realised how

close you can get. Try it with your lenses

and see. The good thing about working at

this sort of distance is that you can enjoyclose-up photography without running

up against the really narrow depth-of-field

that you encounter when you get really

close up. Its a good way to dabble.

Its also a good way to work on your compo-

sitional skills. As you get closer to the subject

you can crop out extraneous detail and

practice simplifying the design of the image.

For me, getting up close, even with a normal

lens like this, is part of a process of learning

to look more closely at some of the everyday

things around us and appreciate their beauty.

The photos were taken with an Canon EOS

350D and my 1740 mm zoom lens. As

weve seen, this lens can focus quite closely

to the subject in the first placethe crop

factor of the camera helped by effectively

increasing the magnifying power of the lens.

Butchart Gardens, Victo

Canon EOS 350D, 40mm, 1/160 second @ f/

TESTING YOUR LENSES continued


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Butchart Gardens, Victoria, Canada

Canon EOS 350D, 40mm,

1/640 second @ f/4, ISO 100


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Butchart Gardens, Victoria, Canada

Canon EOS 350D, 40mm, 1/500 second @ f/4, ISO 100


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UNDERSTANDING MACRO LENSES

Without doubt, the easiest way to indulge in

macro and close-up photography, as long as

your budget stretches to it, is to buy a macro

lens. Ill explore the alternatives afterwards, but

first I want to take a brief look at macro lensesand the reasons you may want to buy one.

1:1 reproduction

The main difference between a macro lens and a

regular lens is that the optical elements inside the

macro lens are designed to move over a greater

distance. In other words, the front element

extends further away from the camera body.

The minimum focusing distance of the lens isreduced, so you can move the lens closer to your

subject, giving a greater degree of enlargement.

Most macro lenses are designed to give you

1:1 (also called life-sized or 1x) reproduction at

the minimum focusing distance. This means

that, if your cameras sensor measures, say 36

by 24 mm (the size of a full-frame sensor), the

camera will capture an area of your subjectalso measuring 36 x 24 mm. This holds true

whatever the size of the sensor in your camera.

Some macro lenses only give 0.5x (also

called half-life-size) reproduction. There

may be an accessory you can buy, such as a

close-up lens specifically designed to work

with the lens, that increases the magnify-ing power to life-size reproduction.

Later on, Im going to look at several ways

that you can get closer to your subject without

buying a macro lens. But please bear in mind

that macro lenses are optimised for close-up

photography and will give you a better quality

image than any of the other techniques that I

write about here. The lens designers have cre-ated these lenses with the express purpose of

giving excellent image quality at high magnifica-

tions. The closer you move a regular lens to

the subject, with the aid of accessories such as

extension tubes or close-up lenses, the more you

are moving outside of the parameters within

which the lens is designed to work. You may

not notice much difference, and its a distinc-

tion that is more important to professionalphotographers than enthusiasts, but it is there.

The Canon MP-E 65 f/2.8 1-5x macro lens is a special ma

lens. The front element extends so far that the lens obta

magnification at its closest focusing distance. This is five

magnification obtained by most macro lenses.

These rectangles show the size of a full-frame sen

(top) and APS-C sensor (bottom). The full-frame s

considerably larger.


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If you want to get even closer to the subject than macro

lenses let you, you can use them in conjunction with exten-

sion tubes or close-up lenses, both discussed in full detail a

little further on, to get larger than life-size reproduction.

You may be wondering, if all a macro lens does is let you focus

more closely to the subject, why all lenses dont do the same.

Its a good question. The answer lies in the physical limita-

tions of optical lens design. If you turn the focusing ring on

one of your regular lenses, you will see that the front element

moves away from the camera as the focusing distance de-

creases. The term for this is extension. You reach the minimum

focusing distance of the lens when the front element will

move no further it has reached its maximum extension.

Ordinary camera lenses are optimised to give their best opti-

cal performance at regular focusing distances, as this is how

they will be used most of the time. As the extension of the

front element increases, image quality gradually decreases. If

you move it far enough forward, the decrease in image qual-

ity becomes noticeable. The lens manufacturer takes this into

account along with factors related to the lens design and the

potential price point to select a minimum focusing distance.

Macro lenses are designed to give their best performance at close

focusing distances, as this is the main purpose for their use. Most

macro lenses have a set of floating elements that helps ensure

high image quality throughout the focusing range. They also need

to have a lens mechanism that permits greater extension of the

front element. This makes them more expensive to manufacture.

Working distance vs. focusing distance

Ive mentioned already that the front element of the lens

moves closer to the subject as the focusing distance decreases.

The distance between the front element of the lens and

your subject is called the working distance. This is different

from the focusing distance, which is the distance between

your subject and the sensor or film plane. Working distance

is important because if you get too close to the subject, the

lens barrel may block the light and cast a shadow on your

subject. You may even hit part of the subject with the lens.

Some macro lenses get around this problem by using an internal

focusing design. On these lenses, the front element doesnt get

closer to the subject when you decrease the focusing distance.

Instead, focusing is achieved through a complex system of

moving optical elements inside the lens. One benefit is that

the lens barrel wont block the light as you focus more closely

on your subject. Another is that the balance of the lens and

camera combination stays the same no matter where the lens

is focused (helpful if you are hand-holding the camera).

UNDERSTANDING MACRO LENSES continued

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS U

lens. This is the only macro lens with Hy

Image Stabilisatoin (HIS).


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Focal length

Another factor that influences working distance is the focal

length of the lens. If you have both a 50 mm and a 100 mm

macro lens that give you life-size reproduction, the working

distance will be greater with the 100 mm lens. This is why wild-

life photographers prefer macro lenses with longer focal lengths.

If you are photographing something living, like an insect, the

closer you get, the more likely you are to scare it away, so its

useful to keep your distance. The only trade-off is that the depth

of field is narrower with longer lenses at any given aperture.

Other features of macro lenses

Macro lenses may have other features that help you take

close-up photos. One useful feature a macro lens may have is

a tripod collar. This allows you to switch between landscape

and portrait formats while still keeping the lens focused on

the subject when you use a tripod. If you dont use a tripod

collar, and switch between formats using your tripod head

movements instead, you will have to reposition the camera.

Some macro lenses also have a smaller mini-

mum aperture of f/32 to help you obtain greater

depth of field at close focusing distances.

Image stabilisation

Some macro lenses also come with image stabilization

(this is Canons term, Nikon calls it vibration reduc-

tion). Now, some of you own cameras with built-in im

age stabilization, so this isnt such a consideration.

Canons EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens has an intere

ing feature called Hybrid Image Stabilization (IS). It w

on the basis that the lens wobbles in a different way

when you are hand-holding the camera and focusing

something close to the camera, compared to taking a

at regular focusing distances. Hybrid image stabilizati

is designed to counteract this particular type of wobb

As far as I know, its the only macro lens that does so.


I took this photo of a tape measure with my 1740 m

lens fitted with an 25 mm extension tube on my EOS

Mark II. This combination has achieved a little over lif

reproduction. The cameras sensor is 36 mm wide, an

lens captured around 34 mm of the measuring tape.

A Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G

lens. Nikon calls its macro lenses Micro NIKKOR.

Micro NIKKOR lenses give either 1:2 or 1:1

reproduction, depending on the model (this one

gives 1:1 reproduction). The range covers focallengths from 40 mm to 200 mm. The 60 mm

f/2.8G ED Micro-NIKKOR lens has the shortest

minimum focusing distancea mere 15 cm.


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Advantages of macro lenses

Specically designed for high optical performance at close focusing distances.

May come with a tripod collar to aid switching between landscape and portrait formats.

May be image stabilized.

May use internal focusing to avoid getting the front element closer to the subject. Most models give true 1:1 macro reproduction.

Lets you use the entire focusing range from innity to close up.

Can also be used for non-macro workmany macro lenses also double

as good portrait lenses.

Disadvantages of macro lenses

Relatively expensive.

Suffer from light fall-off as you focus more closely to the subject

Macro lens check list

Consider these points before buying a macro lens:

Focal length

Minimum aperture

Image stabilization

Tripod collar

Internal focusing

1:1 reproduction

Both this photo and the photo on the

following page were taken with an EOS 40D

and a Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Woodstoc

Canon EOS 40D, 60mm macro, 1/640 second @ f/2.8



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Woodstock, England

Canon EOS 40D, 60mm macro, 1/125 second @ f/5.6, ISO 400


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CLOSE-UP LENSES

What are close-up lenses?

Despite the name, a close-up lens doesnt look much like

a lensit looks more like a filter and the circular ver-

sions screw into the thread on your camera lens just

like any other filter. For this reason close-up lenses arealso called close-up filters or supplementary filters.

A close-up lens is really just a high quality magnifying gla

fits on the front of your cameras lens. It works by reducin

minimum focusing distance of the lens it is attached to. T

lets you move closer to the subject for greater magnificatio

The strength of close-up lenses is measured in diopters. Th

the number, the greater the magnification. Most close-up lcome in strengths of +1, +2, +3, and +4 diopter, although

go as high as +10 diopter. The more powerful close-up lens

get you really close to the subject, but

at the cost of a degradation in

image quality. You can also

combine two close-up lens-

es to increase the mag-

nification (for example,

a +1 and +2 diopter lenscombined gives the same

magnification as a +3 diopter

lens) although again, you will

see a significant drop in image quality.

Far Right: The Canon 500D close-up lens.

Above: My 500D close-up lens attached to my

85 mm lensmy favourite close-up combination.

Close-up lenses are my favourite way of

taking close-up photos. My close-up lens

comes with me wherever I goI just slip it

onto the front of my 85 mm lens whenever

I want to get up close. The combinationof the 85 mm lens and the close-up lens

has changed my approach to photography.

I take a lot more close-up photos than I

ever did before, concentrating on captur-

ing little details that evoke atmosphere.

I took a lot of photos of flowers while

writing this book, and out of all the acces-

sories I used, the close-up lens was againmy favourite. The advantage of close-up

lenses, for me, is that they let me get close

to the subject, but not as close as I can with

a macro lens or extension tubes. There

seems to be something magical about this

level of magnificationits just the right

amount for capturing detail without get-

ting so close that I am photographing part

of the subject, rather than the whole ofit. The close-up lens is also very manage-

able when hand-holding the camera (the

closer you get to the subject, the harder it

is to take photos without using a tripod).


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Shanghai Botanical Garden, China

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens with 500D close-up lens, 1/350 second @ f/2.8, ISO 200


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CLOSE-UP LENSES continued

There are two types of close-up lens:

Single-element close-up lenses

This is the most common type of close-up lens. Its

the sort you normally see sold in camera stores and

at trade shows, sometimes in sets of three or four,

and often at bargain prices. Its ideal if youre on

a budget or just want to try out some close-up or

macro photography without spending much money.

The drawback though is image qualitysingle

element lenses suffer from poor edge sharpness

and chromatic aberrations. You shouldnt expect

to get the same quality from the combination of

your lens and a close-up lens that you would by

using extension tubes or a macro lens. This means

that single-element close-up lenses are more of a

fun item than anything else. They let you play

around with close-up or macro photography with-

out having to buy more expensive equipment.

Double-element close-up lenses

Double-element close-up lenses contain two ele-

ments. They are also called dual-element or achro-

matic close-up lenses. The second element cancels

out the aberrations and poor edge quality of the first.

The result is a high-quality image, especially if used

with a good-quality lens in the first place. I like to

use a close-up lens with my 85 mm prime lens. Ive

tested this combination against the results from a

macro lens and, away from the maximum aperture

of f/1.8, couldnt tell the difference in terms of im-

age quality (however, the macro lens did let me get

much closer to the subject). Theyre more expensive

than single-element close-up lenses, and not many

manufacturers seem to make them anymore, but the

gain in image quality is well worth the extra cost.

You can use any brand of close-up filter with

any brand of lens. The important thing is to

make sure that, just like any other filter, the

filter thread size and lens diameter match.

Canon makes two double-element close-up

lensesthe 250D (+4 diopter) and the 500D (+2

diopter). These are the most affordable double-

element close-up lenses that Im aware of that you

can buy new on the market today. Nikon made

the 3T, 4T, 5T, and 6T double-element lenses, but

theyve been discontinued (sometimes you can

find them on eBay). Schneider also makes double-element close-up lenses, but they are expensive.

Olympus makes the MCON 35, which appears to

be discontinued but is still available on eBay. Claphams National Clock Muserum, Whangarei, N

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens with 500D clo

1/180 second @ f/2.5


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If two elements arent enough for you, Raynox

makes triple-element close-up lenses that come with

a snap-on mount that you can use to attach them

to lenses with a filter thread from 52 to 67mm.

They are surprisingly inexpensive considering the

high image quality you will get from them.

There are a few lenses that have a high-quality close-

up lens, built specifically by the manufacturer to go

with that lens. One example is the Voigtlander Ultron

40mm f/2 SL-II pancake lens. This manual-focus lens

is available for Nikon, Canon, and Pentax cameras

and comes with a dedicated close-up lens that gives

quarter life-size (1:4) magnification. Buying a lens

and close-up lens combination that are designed to

work together should ensure good image quality.

Benefits of close-up lenses

I like close-up lenses because they are portable and

easy to use. They offer several advantages over macro

lenses and other close-up photography techniques:

Lower cost

Close-up lenses are usually (although not always,

especially with double-element close-up lenses)

cheaper than macro lenses and extension tubes.

Lightweight and portable

When I want to travel light, I take my EOS 5D

Mark II, 85 mm prime lens, close-up lens, and

polarizing filter. This is a simple, flexible setup

that covers a lot of situations, and I can add my

wide-angle zoom if I think it will be needed.

No light loss

If you use a macro lens or extension tubes, the extra

extension means that less light reaches the sensor

or film. You have to use a higher ISO, wider aper-

ture, or slower shutter speed to increase exposure,

which may not always be practical. There is no light

loss with close-up lenses, making them a good op-

tion at any time but especially in low light.

Auto-exposure and auto-focus work

This may not be the case if you use inexpensive

extension tubes that break the electronic con-

nections between the lens and camera body.

Winter Gardens, Auckland,

Canon EOS 40D, 85mm lens with 500D close-up lens, 1/350 second @


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Close-up lenses work well with telephoto

and zoom lenses

Magnification with close-up lenses is greater when

used with longer focal lengths. Extension tubes

give greater magnification at shorter focal lengths.

The choice of which to buy may depend on the

focal lengths of the lenses you already own.

Another benefit is that, when a close-up lens

is used with a telephoto zoom lens, the lens

remains focused on the same point when you

zoom in or out. If you are using extension tubes,

the point of focus changes when you zoom,

and you have to refocus the lens afterwards.

More magnification options

You can use close-up lenses in combination with

extension tubes and macro lenses to achieve

even greater magnification. Their portability

means they are easy to carry around in addition

to other equipment in case you need them.

Better protection for the camera

You can add or remove a close-up lens without remov-

ing the camera lens. In dusty or dirty conditions, this

feature prevents foreign objects from entering your

camera body, and helps to keeps the sensor clean.

Using my 85 mm lens as an example, you can

that its close-up capability is limited by its mi

focusing distance of 85 cm.

Attaching a 500D (equivalent to +2 diopter) c

lens reduces the minimum focusing distance

allowing me to get much closer to my subjec

the 500D close-up lens attached, the 85 mm

no longer focus on infinity. When the focusing

set to infinity, it is actually focused on a point

from the sensor plane.

Attaching a 250D (equivalent to +4 diopter) c

up lens reduces the minimum focusing distan

further, to 33 cm. With this close-up lens atta

the lens can focus on anything between 33 an

from the sensor plane.

These figures will change depending on the le

and close-up lens combination used.


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Disadvantages of close-up lenses

Naturally, close-up lenses also have a couple of disadvantages:

Your camera lens may not take your close-up lens

You may not be able to use a close-up lens on every camera lens

that you own, due to differences in filter thread sizes. However,

you can buy the largest close-up lens that you need and use

stepping rings to attach it to lenses with smaller diameters. The

larger double-element close-up lenses can be quite expensive.

For this reason it seems that most photographers buy a

close-up lens with the aim of using it almost exclusively

with one particular lens to achieve the effect they want. I

bought my close-up lens specifically to work with my 85

mm prime lens, so its not really an issue for me that I cant

use it with other lenses that have a wider filter thread.

A close-up lens may not get you as close to the subjectas a macro lens

You can only achieve life-size reproduction when a close-up

lens is used in conjunction with a telephoto lens (some-

where in the region of 300 mm or more)even then,

your specific lens and close-up filter combination may not

be powerful enough. However, you can achieve life-size

reproduction by using a reversed 50 mm lens as a close-

up lensthis is covered in detail in the next section.

Image quality may be poor at wide apertures

When I was testing the 250D and 500D close-up lenses, I no-

ticed that the image quality with the 250D close-up lens used

on my 85 mm prime lens was very poor at wide apertures. The

500D is differentthe image quality is excellent at the lenss

maximum aperture of f/1.8. This suggests to me that there is a

trade-off between image quality and magnificationthe greater

the magnification of the close-up lens the more image quality

suffersand is the main reason that I chose to buy the 500D,

rather than the 250D. But that doesnt mean that the 250D

lens isnt good. Its just something I noticed with the specific

lens, aperture, and close-up lens combination I was using at

the time. The only way to find out for sure is try it and see. The

difference in image quality was only visible at f/1.8 to around

f/2.8I couldnt see any difference at smaller apertures.

Subjects for close-up lenses

Ideal subjects for photographing with close-up lenses in-

clude portraits, flowers, insects, and details. I like using a

close-up lens for photographing details. It lets me get close

enough to the subject to create interesting compositions

and use the widest aperture settings on my lens to make im-

ages with beautifully blurred backgrounds. But it doesnt get

so close that I struggle to hand-hold the camera and take

sharp images, or that I run into problems with the extremely

narrow depth of field you get at high magnifications.

Here are some examples of how I use my close-up le

my 85 mm prime lens:

Portraits

My 85 mm lens is ideal for portraits. I use it on a ful

frame camera; a 50 mm lens on a crop-sensor digita

has a similar field of view. One of the downsides of t

particular lens is that it has a minimum focusing dis

of 85 cm. This means that I cant get very close to th

subject. But sometimes, when taking portraits, I like

get in really close, so my subjects face fills the frame

and my close-up lens helps me to do that. I can keep

the close-up lens in its case in my pocket, and it take

just a few seconds to screw it onto the front of my le

when required. This action doesnt interrupt the flo

of the portrait session. It also saves me changing len

a benefit if Im at the beach or in a dusty environme

Flowers and insects

This lens combination is ideal for photographing flo

ers. The narrow field-of-view of the short telephoto

lens helps to throw the background out of focus, an

it frames the flowers in a way that eliminates high-

lights and other distractions in the background.

d


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21

Type DioptresFilter

thread size

Use with

focal

lengths

250D +452mm 50mm to

135mm58mm

500D +2

52mm

70mm to

300mm

58mm

72mm

77mm

This table shows the availibility and

sizes of the Canon close-up lenses.

Type Dioptres

Filter

thread

size

3T +1.5 52mm

4T +2.9 52mm

5T +1.5 62mm

6T +2.9 62mm

This table shows the availibility and sizes

the Nikon double-element close-up lenses

Type Dioptres Elements Filter thread size

DCR-150 +4.8 3 52mm-67mm (with adapter)

DCR-250 +8 3 52mm-67mm (with adapter)

DCR -5320

Pro 3-in-1

High Defini-

tion Macro

Lens

+2 2

72mm (separate adapters sold for 52mm, 55mm,

58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 77mm, 82mm filter threads)

+3 3

+5

(combined)

This table shows the availibility and sizes of the Raynox close-up lenses. The DCR-5320

kit contains two close-up lenses that can be used individually or combined.


You can also use this technique for photographing insects.

Because theres no light loss with close-up lenses, its easier to

achieve the fast shutter speeds required for freezing the mo-

tion of insects. Telephoto lenses are best for this task, as you get

greater magnification when using them with close-up lenses. A

close-up lens is a good way of converting a 300mm or 400mm

lens that you already own into a powerful macro lens. They

also help you to keep your distance from the insects so theres

less chance of scaring it away (or being bitten or stung).

Capturing architecture and object details

Shooting details offers a great way of capturing the spirit

of a place or object, and I often need a close-up lens to

get near enough to photograph a particular detail.

I see a close-up lens as a way of getting closer to my subject,

but without getting into macro territory. At the sort of

magnification you see in the photos on these pages, the narrow

depth of field is still manageable. I can use a wide-ish aperture,

hand-hold the camera, and raise the ISO if I need to.

Classic car shows

I like to go to classic car shows and take photos that capture

the details of the cars. My close-up lens works brilliantly for

this. Again, it provides the ideal level of magnification.

CLOSE UP LENSES ti d


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22


Classic Car Show, Auckland, New Zealand.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens with 500D close-up lens, 1/2000 second @ f/2, ISO 100

Both this black & white image

and the colour photo on the

following page were taken at

a classic car show. They show

the flexibility of the combina-

tion of my 85 mm prime lens

and 500D close-up lens. The

colour photo is close, but

not too close, to the subject.

The close-up lens has just

helped me get close enough

to create an interesting crop.

I got much closer for this

black and white photo, and

used a wide aperture to keep

the depth-of-field really nar-

row. Its a more abstractand

more dramaticimage

that focuses on the design

of the hood ornament.


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Classic Car Show, Auckland, New Zealand

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens with 500D close-up lens,

1/350 second @ f/4.5, ISO 200

CLOSE UP LENSES ti d


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24

One of the reasons that I like my 500D close-up lens is because of the flexibility.

Both of these images were taken with the close-up lens attached to the same 85

mm prime lens. One was taken with the lens focused around the infinity mark,

and the other with it focused near the minimum focusing distance. Sometimes,

depending on the subject, this combination gets me too close to the subject

and I like having the freedom to back off a little and get more of the subject in.

Shanghai Botanical Garden, China

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens with 500D close-up lens,

1/180 second @ f/1.8, ISO 6400 (both images)



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Royal Water Lily, Winter Gardens, Auckland, New Zealand

Canon EOS 40D, 85mm lens with 500D c lose-up lens, 1/500 second @ f/2, ISO 100

CLOSE UP LENSES continued


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26

These photos were also taken with my 85 mm lens and 500D close-up lens. They show that its

possible to take good close-up photos of butterflies without specialized or overly expensive equipment.

Butterfly and Orchid Garden, Thames, New Zealand,


1/180 second @ f/2, ISO 1600

Butterfly and Orchid Garden, Thames, New Zealand,


1/250 second @ f/4, ISO 400



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Butterfly and Orchid Garden, Thames, N

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm with 500D close-up lens, 1/250 second @



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I took the photos (this page and

lowing page) of a Chinese Wate

on at Kew Gardens in London w

85 mm lens and 500D close-up

Now, there are probably not ma

animals that you can get this cl

but this lizard seemed quite chi

and happy to pose for photogr

processed the images in black a

to emphasise the texture of its s

Chinese Water Dragon, Kew Gardens, Londo

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm with 500D close-up lens, 1/1000 second @ f/1.



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Chinese Water Dragon, Kew Gardens, London, England


1/150 second @ f/1.8, ISO 100



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30

The detail photos here and on the following two pages were all taken in

temples in Shanghai, China. The combination of my 85 mm prime lens and

500D close-up lens allowed me to get close enough to take all of these images.

Jingan Temple, Shan


1/750 second @ f/2

CLOSE UP LENSES continued


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31

Longhua Temple, Shan


1/250 second @ f/2

Summary: Pros vs. Cons of Close-up Lenses


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Longhua Temple, Shanghai, China

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm lens

close-up lens, 1/60 second @ f/4, I

Advantages of close-up lenses Relatively inexpensive, especially single-element close-up lenses.

Easy to carry around.

No light loss.

Auto-exposure and auto-focus functions retained.

Work well with telephoto and telephoto zoom lenses.

You can attach a close-up lens without removing the lens fromthe camera.

Summary: Pros vs. Cons of Close up Lenses

Disadvantages of close-up lenses May not fit all your lenses.

Single-element close-up lenses cant match the optical

performance of macro lenses or the other techniques in

this eBook.

May not give 1:1 reproduction, depending on lens and close-up

lens combination used.

Poor image quality at wide apertures with close-up lenses that

have a strength greater than +2 diopter.

Close-up lens check listConsider these points before buying a close-up lens:

Is image quality a priority? If so, you need a double-element

close-up lens.

What lens or lenses do you want to use the close-up lens with

(the longer the focal length, the more magnification obtained)?

How close do you need to get? If true macro (1:1 reproduction)

is required, another technique may suit you better.

REVERSE LENS MACRO


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If youre interested in getting as close as possible to

your subject, then the main disadvantage of close-up

lenses is that there is a limit to how close you can

get. For most close-up lens and lens combinations,

true macro life-size reproduction is out of reach. That

all changes with the reverse lens macro technique.

It may sound strange, but if you turn a 50 mm lens

around so that the front element rests against the cam-

era, it actually becomes a high quality close-up lens in

its own right. You can do this with any lens, but 50mm

lenses seem to be the most common choice. Longer

lenses give less magnification, and wider lenses may

give too much magnification, reducing the working

distance so that you have to get so close to your subject

to take a photo that it becomes impractical. This tech-

nique also works well with standard zoom lenses, such

as 1855 mm zooms, that come supplied as kit lenses

with digital SLRs. This means that most photographers

already have the lens required to try out this tech-

nique. The only purchase required is a special coupling

ring or lens mount, making it one of the least expen-

sive ways to experiment with macro photography.

There are two ways to use a reverse

lens to take macro photos:

Single lens reverse macro

The first way is to reverse a lens directly onto your

camera. For this you need a reversing ring (also

called a macro reverse ring camera mount adapter

by some manufacturers). One side has a filter thread

and the other side is a mount for your brand of

camera. These are quite easy to buy online.

This will get you very close to your subject;

a reversed 50 mm lens used on a crop-sensor

camera gives you life-size reproduction.

The biggest drawback of this method is that you lose

the electronic connection between the lens and the

camera. This wont stop your camera metering the

light accurately (just put it in program or aperture

priority mode) but it does stop you stopping down

the aperture diaphragm using the cameras controls.

This doesnt matter if you have a lens with a manual

aperture ring, but not all modern lenses do.

If you do have a lens with a manual aperture ring,

stopping down reduces the amount of light entering

the camera. The camera will still be able to meter ac-

curately, but the viewfinder will become darker and

at small apertures it will be hard to see the subject.A 50 mm lens reversed onto an EOS 40D. You need a reversing ring (

a macro reverse ring camera mount adapter by some manufacturers

REVERSE LENS MACRO continued


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If you cant stop your reversed lens down it means you

can only take a photo at the widest aperture setting,

and while this can be used creatively you will often

need to stop down, especially as there is very little

depth of field with macro photography to start with.

There are several potential solutions. One is to buy

a second-hand 50 mm lens with a manual aperture

ring. The make doesnt matter, all that matters is

that you can buy a reversing ring that matches the

filter thread size. Ive also heard of enlarging lenses

being used this way, although Ive never tried it.

Another solution (for Canon EOS owners) is the Novo-

ex EOS RETRO. Its an adapter designed to retain the

electronic connection between the camera body and a

reversed lens. It comes with a 58 mm filter thread and

connects the lens contacts with the contacts in the

camera lens mount with a short coiled cable. However, it

is not an inexpensive accessory and at the moment the

manufacturer has no versions for other camera brands.

These diagrams show how a reversed le

works. When a lens is mounted on a cam

in the normal way (top) the optics redu

subject in size so that you can record it

the sensor or film.

With the lens mounted in reverse (below

the opposite happens. Small objects are

corded at life-size or enlarged (a 50 mm

reverse mounted on a crop-sensor cam

gives near life-size reproduction).

In normal use, the distance between the

of the lens and the subject is greater th

distance between the rear of the lens an

sensor. With the lens reversed, the subj

is much closer and the rear of the lens,

pointing forwards, is still closer to the su

than the front of the lens is to the senso

lens design is optimised for these cond

so the image quality is very good.



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Twin lens reverse macro

However, the simplest solution of all, and the

one that I use, is to reverse mount the lens onto

another lens mounted conventionally on

the camera. In this setup the reversed

lens is called a secondary or supple-

mentary lens, and the other lens

is referred to as the primary lens.

The reversed lens is being used

as a high-powered close-up lens,

and you set the aperture of the

primary lens to control depth of

field. Autoexposure works as nor-

mal, making it easy to use shutter

priority or aperture priority modes.

In this setup a reversed 50 mm lens is

the equivalent of using a + 20 diopter close-

up lens. A reversed 24 mm lens is the equivalent

of using a +41.6 diopter close-up lens. Consider-

ing the strongest close-up lens I know of has a

strength of +10 diopter, you can see how much

extra magnification you can get from a reversed

lens. This is why using a reversed lens can take

you firmly into macro territory. Best of

all, image quality, while depending some

on the quality of your primary lens, is ve

in the mid-aperture range (around f/4f/

The accessory you need to make this hap

called a macro coupler ring (and sometim

male-to-male macro coupler ring) . This i

a metal ring with a filter thread on either

The primary lens should have a focal len

at least 85 mm in order to avoid vignetti

probably a good idea to make sure that y

reversed lens isnt too heavy, so that you

not placing undue stress on the filter thr

of your lenses. The longer the focal lengt

your primary lens, the greater the magni

tion. Use a wide-angle lens as the reverse

lens and you can achieve magnifications

to 3x life-size. The MP-E 65 is the only m

lens I know of capable of matching this.

A 50 mm lens reversed onto an 85 mm

lens fitted to an EOS 40D. You need

a macro coupler ring (also called amale-to-male macro coupler ring by

some manufacturers) to do this. This

is a convenient setup for me as both

have the same size filter thread

of 58 mm.



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Matching filter threads

Whichever reversed lens method you use, its impor-

tant to make sure that filter thread sizes match. For

example, if you are reversing a 50 mm lens directly

onto a camera body, you need to buy a macro reverse

ring camera mount adapter with a filter thread size that

matches the filter thread size of your 50 mm lens.

You can buy reverse lens mounts from Amazon quite

cheaply, and the filter thread sizes come between 49 mm

and 67 mm, depending on which camera brand you are

buying them for. Most current 50 mm lenses from the ma-

jor manufacturers also have filter thread sizes between 49

mm and 58 mm. A notable exception is the Canon EF f/1.2

L 50mm lensit has a filter thread size of 72 mm. If you

have a large lens like this you can buy a step-down ring so

that you can attach it to the smaller reverse lens mount.

The same goes for macro coupler rings (also available from

Amazon). They come in a variety of sizes between 49 mm and

62 mm. You need to buy one that matches the filter thread

sizes of the two lenses you wish to couple (the filter thread

sizes of the two lenses doesnt have to be identical, although

it helps if they are close). You can use step-down rings if

your 50 mm lens is larger than this, although Id be wary of

mounting a heavy 50 mm lens onto another lens without

some form of support in case you damage the primary lens.

Advantages of reverse lens macro

It is inexpensive if you already have the required lenses.

High optical quality, except at wide apertures.

Autoexposure and autofocus functions retained with

twin-lens reverse macro.

High magnication, much higher than a close-up lens.

You can attach a reversed lens in a twin-lens setup without

removing the primary lens from the camera.

Disadvantages of reverse lens macro

Single-lens reverse macro requires a lens with a manual

aperture ring, or an expensive accessory to retain

electronic control.

There is some light loss when you use the twin-lens

reverse macro technique.

Twin-lens reverse macro only works if the lter

threads are a similar size.

Gets you so close to the subject that natural light

photography is often impractical. A macro flash is

required for many subjects.

The rear element of the reversed lens is exposed.

The rear element of the reversed 50 mm lens is exposed

its reversed, and potentially vulnerable to damage. To h

protect it I use a 12 mm extension tube attached to the l

mount. It also acts as a lens hood.



38/90

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These two photos show the magnifying potential of

a reversed 50 mm lens. Both photos are of the metal

tip of a USB pen drive, to give you a good idea of

the scale. The top image was taken with a 50 mm

f/1.4 lens reversed onto my EOS 40D. This got me

in quite close but with this setup I have no control

over the depth of field as the lens doesnt have a

manual aperture ring. Effectively, Im shooting at

the widest aperture of the lens and you can see that

the zone of focus is very small. However, its quite

possible to use this narrow depth of field creatively

and if you have a 50 mm lens already, this shouldnt

stop you playing around with reversing it. Its a lot

of fun and you can create some striking images.

An alternative is to use a 50 mm lens with a manual

aperture ring. Some photographers may have such

a lens lying around, from an older camera system,

and you can also buy them second-hand. When

you reverse a lens, the system its from doesnt

matter as you are using the filter thread to at-

tach it to the camera, not the lens mount.

If you use a lens with a manual aperture ring, less

light will enter the camera if you select a smaller aper-

ture than the maximum one, The cameras automatic

exposure system will calculate exposure for you, but

one drawback is that the cameras viewfinder will go

darker too. At narrow apertures you wont be able to

see muchits the same as using the depth of field

preview button. To handle this, focus on the most im-

portant point with the lens set to the widest aperture,

then stop down and take the photo. You should have

the camera mounted on a tripod for taking photos

like these as its virtually impossible to hand-hold the

camera. You can then play back the image on the LCD

screen to see which depth-of-field setting works best.

If your camera has Live View, you can use that

to verify the effect of the aperture setting be-

fore you take a photoas long as ambient light

levels arent too low, it will brighten the im-

age as you stop down. Check your cameras

instruction manual to see how to do this.

The second photo was taken with my 50 mm lens

reversed onto my 85 mm prime lens. As you can

see, the level of magnification is much greater. Us-

ing this system I stopped the 85 mm lens down to

f/22 to show the difference in depth of field. The

reversed lens stays wide open all the time, so theres

no need to use a lens with a manual aperture ring.



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The photos on this page are of a

leaf frozen in ice. I did this at home

by placing the leaf in a clear plastic

container with some water and leav-

ing it in my freezer overnight.

The photos on the left were taken

with a 50 mm lens and a Canon EF

25 extension tube. The photos on

the right were taken with the same

50 mm lens reversed onto an 85

mm prime lens. You can see that the

magnification of the reversed lens

setup is much greater.

The photos were lit by a portable

Canon Speedlite flash unit fitted

with a small Lastolite softbox (there

is more information about this setup

on page 69).

50mm lens with EF 25 extension tube 85mm lens with 50mm reversed lens


40/90

39

A reversed lens can get you close enough to the subject to take photo

water drops like this one. The setup was very simpleI placed a drop

on a white petal and then placed the yellow flower a couple of centi

behind it. I stopped down to f/22 to get as much depth of-field as po

I wanted both the flower and the water drop in focus, if possible. Th

Live View to zoom in, I focused on the reflection within the drop, no

drop itself. I did this indoorsit would have been impossible outside

slightest movement of the subject is highly magnified when you are

The yellow background is actually the yellow flower you can see in th

water drop even at f/22 it is so out of focus that all detail has been

EOS 40D, 85mm lens with 50mm reversed lens, 1 second at f/22, ISO 400.

EXTENSION TUBES


41/90

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If you want to get closer to your subject than a close-up lens permits, without

getting into macro territory, then extension tubes are very useful. They fit be-

tween the lens and the camera body, increasing the distance between the front

element of the lens and the sensor or film plane (known as the extension) and

enabling you to focus more closely to the subject, increasing magnification.

Extension tubes contain no glass, they are simply hollow, light-tight cylinders.

One of the selling points of extension tubes is that there is no glass inside, so the

optical quality of the lens is retained. But bear in mind that a regular lens, un-

like a macro lens, isnt optimised to give its best performance at close focusing

distances, so it is unlikely that you will match the performance of a macro lens.

However, the results will still be very goodalthough this does depend on how

much extension you have. The more extension tubes you stack together, the fur-

ther your lens is moving away from the range in which it is designed to work.

You can buy extension tubes individually or sometimes in sets. Most exten-

sion tubes come in sizes between 8 and 35 mm this figure tells you the

extra length the extension tube will add to the lens barrel. You can com-

bine two or more extension tubes for extra extension, although you may lose

the electrical connection between camera body and lens if you do so.

An advantage of extension tubes is that you can use them with any lens.

Having said that, they have a greater effect with wide-angle and short tel-

ephoto lenses than longer focal lengths. If you want to get closer with a

telephoto lens that has a focal length of 200 mm or more, you will obtain

a greater magnification with a close-up lens than with extension tubes. Exten-

sion tubes work best with focal lengths in the 24 mm to 100 mm range.

Canon EF 25 and Canon EF 12 extension tubes. These can be used individually or combined to g

greater extension. You can see the electronic contacts inside the tubes that retain the connectio

between the lens and the camera body.

EXTENSION TUBES continued


42/90

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The major camera manufacturers make their own extension tubes and you

also find less expensive third-party extension tubes for sale online from ma

facturers such as Kenko and Vivitar. I use Canon extension tubes, but there

no reason why third-party ones wont work as well. The important thing to

check is whether the extension tubes keep the electrical contact between th

lens and the camera body. If they do, then autoexposure and autofocus wil

work as normal, enabling you to use whichever exposure mode you prefer.

can also set the aperture using the camera, vital for optimizing depth of fie

Less expensive extension tubes break the electrical connection between

the lens and the camera body. This wont affect the metering as long as

you dont mind using the camera in aperture priority or program modes.

But it is an issue if your lens doesnt have a manual aperture ring, as

you will only be able to use the lens set to its widest aperture. If your

lens has a manual aperture ring you can use that to stop down, but with

less light entering the lens, the viewfinder will get darker as you do so.

If you are willing to work within the limitations of extension rings that

break the electrical contact, you can buy them very cheaply online.

An EF 25 extension tube with a 50 mm lens. The extension

tube fits between the lens and the camera body. It increases

the extension (that is, the distance) between the front

element of the lens and sensor or film plane.



43/90

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Extension tubes and magnification

Theres an easy way to calculate how

much extra magnification an exten-

sion tube will give to a lens:

For example, my Canon 50 mm f/1.4 lens has

a magnification of 0.15x at its closest focusing

distance of 45 cm (I found the magnification

figure in the lenss spec sheet). Adding a 25 mm

extension tube means the increase in magnifica-

tion is 0.5x (25/50), giving a total of 0.65x (0.15

+ 0.5). This figure is a little academic, but its

useful for evaluating whether you can add an

extension tube to your lens and reach the 1:1

magnification provided by most macro lenses.

This formula also shows why extension tubes

are less effective with longer focal lengths.

For example, with a 50 mm lens, a 25 mm exten-

sion tube increases magnification by 0.5x (25/50).

With a 100 mm lens the increase in mag-

nification is halved to 0.25x (25/100).

With a 200 mm lens that drops by

half again to 0.125x (25/200).

Does that mean that (going with the Canon

examples) you can put a 25 mm extension tube

on a 24 mm lens and get 1:1 or greater magni-

fication? Its a nice idea but it wont workthe

minimum focusing distance of the lens is

greater than the distance from the cameras

sensor or film plane required to achieve life-

size reproduction. The lens cant focus on the

subject, only on a point somewhere behind it.

If you have a 24 mm Canon lens, you can only

use Canons 12 mm extension tube with it.

For this reason, not all wide-angle lenses will

work with all extension tubes. Another thing

to be aware of when using wide-angle lenses

with extension tubes is that the working dis-

tance (the distance between the front element

of the lens and the subject) may be so short

that the lens casts a shadow on the subject.

Extension tubes

Canon, Nikon, and Olympus all

make their own extension tubes.

The Canon EF 12 II and EF 25 II extension

tubes have 12 mm and 25 mm of exten-

sion respectively. You can combine them,

although Canon says you may lose the con-

nection between camera and body if you

do so (its never happened to me). You can

also buy the now discontinued EF 12 and EF

25 extension tubes second-hand. You may

be able to get a good deal here, but bear in

mind these older extension tubes are for

EF mount lenses only. The newer EF 12 II

and EF 25 II fit both EF and EF-S mounts.

Nikon makes the PK-11A, PK-12, PK-13,

and PN-11 extension tubes. They have 8

mm, 14 mm, 27.5 mm, and 52.5 mm of

extension respectively. The PN-11 has a

rotating tripod collar so that you can turn

the lens without losing sight of the subject.

Olympus makes the EX-25 exten-

sion tube for its Olympus Four Thirds

mount. This has 25 mm of extension.

Sony doesnt make extension tub

both Kenko and Vivitar make ext

sion tube sets for Sony, Nikon, an

Canon. Their sets retain the conn

tion between camera body and le

Pentax does seem to have a set of

tubes, that I could only find onlin

Amazon UK (not Amazon USA) b

not much practical use as the pri

than double that of any Pentax m

You can find basic extension tube

sites like Amazon and eBay at ver

prices for all the major camera m

(including Pentax). These extensi

are inexpensive because they don

the electrical connection between

and the camera body. That doesn

meteringyour camera will hand

but it does mean that you can on

the aperture setting on the lens if

manual aperture ring. Otherwise

only use the lens at its maximum

increase in magnification = extension distance/lens focal length



44/90

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These two photos were taken with an 85 mm lens fitted with a 12 mm extension tube (left) and a 25 mm extension tube (right).

They show the difference in magnification the extra 13 mm of extension gives.



45/90

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Advantages of extension tubes

Relatively inexpensive, especially if you dont require the electrical contacts between the lens and the camera body to be retained.

Easy to carry around.

Autoexposure and autofocus functions retained with the correct extension tubes.

Work well with shorter focal length lenses.

You can use an extension tube with any lens, with the exception of some wide-angles.

Can also be used with macro lenses to increase the magnication.

Extension tubes are hollow; therefore there are no glass elements to potentially degrade the image quality.

Disadvantages of extension tubes

Cant be used with extreme wide-angle lenses.

Dont increase the magnication of telephoto lenses (100 mm plus) much.

When used with zoom lenses, the lens has to refocus if you change the focal length.

Close-up lens check list

Consider these points before buying extension tubes:

Do you require electrical contact between the lens and camera body (unless youre on a really tight budget, the answer should be yes)?

How much extra magnication do you need? Take care to buy the right size extension tubes for the lens or lenses you want to use it with.


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EOS 40D, 50mm lens with EF25 and EF12 exte

1/250 second at f/2.5, ISO 1600


47/90

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I used a 50 mm lens and an EF 25 extension

tubethats Canons proprietary 25 mm

extension tubeto take this photo. I brought

the flower indoors and used natural light

from the window to light them. I find it easi-

est to bring flowers indoors if I want to get

as close as this (I either pick them from the

garden or buy them from a florist) as outside

the slightest breeze will make it difficult to

create images. Here I placed a sheet of green

card behind the flower for the background.

Even with a simple setup like this you can

explore different compositions and aper-

tures. Some of the alternate images from the

shoot are shown on the next page. I tend

to use wide-ish apertures as I like the way

the narrow depth of field throws the petals

out of focus. Its a kind of dreamy effect.

EOS 40D, 50mm lens with EF25 extension tube,

1/15 second at f/2.8, ISO 400



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Here are some more photos that

took at the same time as the oneon the previous page. These are a

taken with the same 50 mm lens

EF 25 extension tube combinatio

The only thing that has changed

the angle that I took the photo fr

and the aperture. I also rotated so

of the images in post-processing

add variety to the set.

HOW CLOSE CAN YOU GET?


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These comparison photos show

how much closer you can get to

the subject using a 500D close-

up lens, extension tubes, and a

reversed 50 mm lens. Ive tried it

out with two lensesa 1740 mm

zoom and an 85 mm prime lens.

The 1740 mm lens, despite

the shorter focal length, has

more magnification than the 85

mm lens because it can focus

much closer to the subject (28

cm compared with 85 cm).

Ive repeated the experiment

with both an EOS 40D, which

has an APS-C sized sensor, and

an EOS 5D Mark II, which has

a full-frame sensor. The appar-

ent difference in magnification

is down to the crop factor.

The toy car in the photos

is 8 cm long, and all the

photos are taken at f/11.

40D

5D

EF 17-40mm f/4 L lens @ 40mm


with EF25 extension tube


with EF12 extension tube

Working distance: approximately 3Working distance: approximately 5cm

HOW CLOSE CAN YOU GET? continued


50/90

49

40D

5D

EF 85mm f/1.8 L lens

EF 85mm f/1.8 L lens with

EF25 extension tube


500D (+2 diopter)

close-up lens

Working distance:

approximately 25cm

Working distance:

approximately 30cm


EF25 + EF12 extension tubes

Working distance:

approximately 20cm


50mm reversed lens

(equivalent to +20 dioptre

close-up lens)

Working distance:

approximately 4cm

EF 85mm f/1.

with 50mm re

(equivalent to

tre close-up l

EF25 extensio

Working dista

approximate

This has elimi

vignetting buwas so close

that it was blo

the light.


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50

Pork Buns, Shanghai, China

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 85mm len

close-up lens, 1/250 second @ f/

PART TWO TECHNIQUE

FOCUSING


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When it comes to close-up and macro photography,

the closer you get to your subject the more awkward

using autofocus becomes. There are several reasons

for this. One is that the part of the image youd

like to focus may not be covered by one of the

cameras focus points. Another is that, dependingon your subject, there may not be enough contrast

for your cameras autofocus system to lock into.

You could run into this if youre taking a photo of

a white flower, for instance. You can also encounter

problems when using extension tubes as the exten-

sion reduces the amount of light entering the lens.

It may drop below the quantity required by the

cameras autofocus sensor to focus accurately.

Your exact approach depends on whether youre

hand-holding the camera or have it mounted on a

tripod. When Im hand-holding the camera (which

is fine for a lot of close-up photography but becomes

awkward, if not impossible, when approaching the

1:1 magnification of macro photography), I find it

easiest to set my lens to manual focus, turn the focus-

ing ring so that the lens is focused on the minimum

focusing distance, then move towards the subject

until it is focus. The zone of sharpness is quite nar-

row when youre this close and the best way to focus

Winter Gardens, Auckland

Canon EOS 40D, 50mm lens with EF25 extension tube, 1/180 second @

is not by turning the focusing ring, but to rock your body

slight backward or forward until the subject is sharp. If youve

never tried this before give it a goits surprisingly effective.

fied. Balance is crucialit is much harder to hold the

camera steady if you are off balance. It is easier to either

use a monopod or a tripod to support the camera.

and to make decisions about focusing and exposure.

you the freedom to use the combination of a small a

low ISO, and a slow shutter speed if you want. It also


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The closer you get to the subject, the harder it is to

hand-hold the camera, as any camera shake created by

the natural movement of your hands and body is magni-

A tripod is a good choice if your subject is static and therefore

unlikely to run away from you. If your camera is tripod mount-

ed, you have time to find the best framing for composition,

play around with focusing on different parts of the s

to see what happens. This is something you can try i

photographing subjects like flowersits surprising h

difference just changing the focus point can make to

Winter Gardens, Auckland,

Canon EOS 40D, 50mm lens with EF25 extension tube, 1/180 second @ f

FOCUSING continued


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Live view

One of the easiest ways to focus, if your camera has this feature,

is by using Live View. If you have a fairly recent camera with

a high-resolution LCD screen, this is an easy method to use as

long as the ambient light isnt so bright it makes viewing the

screen difficult. On my camera I have a 5x and 10x view, and

I can zoom in anywhere on the image to check the focus. This

gives me a much better image than I can see through the view-

finder. The photos on this page show how it works.

When you look at a Live View feed,

you can press the depth-of-field pre-

view button to see the image with

the aperture in the lens set to the

value you have dialled into the

camera. This means you get to

see the true depth of field within

the image. In bright light it will

do this without making the im-

age darker (as opposed to using

depth-of-field preview when look-

ing through the viewfinder, which

always gets darker as you stop

down). You can zoom in to see how

far the zone of sharpness extends and see

the difference in real time when you change the aperture value.

Focusing rails

A focusing rail is a rail that attaches to your tripod head. You

put the camera on top and can move it back or forth a small

distance at a time to focus. Focusing rails arent inexpensive

but they will come in very useful if you intend to do a lot

of close-up or macro photography, especially in a studio.

CREATING SHARP IMAGES


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Camera shake

If you are hand-holding the camera then camera shake is

bound become an issue at some point. You need to use faster

shutter speeds than you normally would with any given fo-

cal length in order to prevent camera shake, as the effect of

any camera shake is magnified along with the subject. When

I use my 85 mm lens I try and set the shutter speed to 1/250

of a second on a full-frame camera, and 1/350 of a second on

a crop-sensor camera. But the best thing you can do is take a

series of photos at different shutter speeds and see what set-

tings you need to use to create a sharp image. It depends what

your priorities are tooIm happy to bump the ISO up to get

a faster shutter speed, but Im sure that some photographers

would rather risk a hint of camera shake and use a lower ISO.

A tripod is the best way to take a sharp photo, and it also helps

greatly with focusing, as explained in the previous section.

With a tripod you can select a small aperture, a low ISO, and

a slow shutter speed if need be (as long as your subject is still)

to obtain maximum image quality. Make sure that you use

either a cable release, remote camera release, or the cameras

self-timer function to fire the camera to avoid camera shake

caused by using your finger to press the shutter button.

The extra magnification obtained when you take close-up or macro images has the effect of intensifying any camera sh

motion blur in the image as well as the subject itself. That means there are two sides to taking sharp images (assuming

you actually want a sharp image and arent experimenting with blur). The first is to make sure the subject is still, and if t

not possible, then to use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze any motion. The other side is to make sure that the came

and lens are steady enough to obtain a sharp image.

CREATING SHARP IMAGES continued


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Aperture

Another consideration is the aperture setting

of the lens. Depth-of-field considerations aside,

the aperture does make a difference to image

quality. You may be aware that your lenses

normally give their best performance at settings

of f/5.6, f/8 or f/11. Outside this range you

are more likely to get softer images, thanks to

lens aberrations found at wide apertures and

diffraction caused by small apertures. Im not

saying that you should stick rigidly to these

aperture settings, because you will often go

outside them for creative effect or to increase

depth of field. But its handy to know at what

settings your lens, and whatever accessory

you are using to explore close-up or macro

photography, gives the sharpest results as

this helps inform your decision as to which

aperture setting to use. The simplest way to

work it out is to take a series of photos at all the

aperture settings of your lens, one stop apart.

Look at them closely on your computer screen

to see which produce the sharpest results.

Mirror lock-up

One of the features of an SLR camera is a mir-

ror that moves up out of the way when you

take a photo. If you take the lens off your

camera and look closely at the top of the

mirror box you should see what looks like a

piece of foam. This acts as a damper for the

mirror and helps absorb vibrations created

by the impact as it flips up. But you may still

get some vibration, and it is possible that at

slow shutter speeds of around 1/30 to 1/4

of a second the vibration will cause a little

camera shake. Any softening caused by the

vibrations is magnified in close-up and macro

photography, so this can be a real problem. If

youre working at high magnifications or using

a telephoto lens, this can make things worse.

Part of the solution is to make sure that your

camera is firmly attached to your tripod head.

In addition, most modern digital SLRs come

with a mirror lockup feature which is designed

to prevent vibrations caused by the mirror.

With mirror lockup enabled, the first press

of the shutter button flips the mirror up,

and the second one takes a photo. The idea

is to leave a gap of a few seconds between

the two to give any vibrations caused by

the mirror action time to fade away, and

to use a cable release or remote control

to fire the camera without touching it.

On my Canon camera I can activate both mir-

ror lockup and the ten-second self-timer at the

same time. This technique works well for meI

press the shutter button once (with my finger),

the mirror flips up and then, ten seconds later,

the camera takes a photo and drops the mir-

ror back down into position. I only have to

press the shutter button once to activate the

sequence and the ten-second delay ensures the

camera is as still as possible when the photo

is taken. If you dont have a Canon camera

you should check your cameras instruction

manual to see if it will work the same way.

DEPTH-OF-FIELD


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Ive touched on it already and Im sure that most of you a

aware that one of the defining characteristics of close-up

macro photography is the lack of depth of field. The zone

sharpness at any given aperture decreases dramatically as

move closer to your subject, virtually disappearing at life-

reproduction. This is regardless of the focal length of you

You may already have guessed, from looking at the image

this book, that I like to take photos with minimal depth o

Youre rightI really enjoy this technique. Theres nothin

for creating beautiful, dreamy, moody images full of atmo

and mystery. The two talented photographers in the case

ies in this book also use depth of field creatively. This is p

through necessityif you are shooting hand-held then th

a limit to how far you can stop the lens down anyway, deing on the light and high ISO capabilities of your camera.

If you have to use a smaller aperture to get enough depth

for a decent image a tripod comes in handy, as long as yo

is static. A tripod gives you the freedom to set a low ISO, a

aperture, and a slow shutter speed for maximum image qu

I used an 85 mm lens fitted with extension tubes to get close to this flower. An apert

f/2.5 has rendered a small part of the photo in focus and thrown the background dra

out of focus. I often find when Im taking photos of flowers outside that if I stop dow

increased depth of field starts to make the background sharper to the point where it

a distraction. The cameras LCD screen makes it easy to judge whether this is happen

play back the images and reshoot if I decide to change the aperture setting.

Auckland Botanical Garden, New Zealand


DEPTH-OF-FIELD continued


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If your subject is moving, you may

have to make a compromise of some

sort if you are shooting in natural light.

It depends on the light levels, but if

you shoot hand-held, which requires

a relatively fast shutter speed, youmay have to bump up the ISO or use a

wider aperture than you would like. This

brings us back to using wide apertures

creativelyif youre in a position where

you can only use a wide aperture, then

try and find a way of using it to good

effect, rather than fighting against it.

When it comes to ISO, its a good idea totest your camera and see what your toler-

ance is. Im quite happy to use ISO 6400

on my EOS 5D Mark II, although Id prefer

to use a lower setting if possible. But some-

times it isnt. Higher ISO settings mean

more noise, although the amount of noise

you will see in practise depends very much

on which camera you have and how you

process the images. Generally speaking,the newer your camera, the less noise you

will see at high ISOs, as camera manufac-

turers are always seeking to improve the

noise reduction circuitry inside their cam-

eras. Other factors are sensor size and meg-

apixel count. Larger sensors create images

with less noise than crop-sensor cameras,

and less megapixels generally means less

noise (thats why cameras like the 14-meg-apixel Nikon D700 have such a good

performance when it comes to noise).

Another factor is processingif you

use the Raw format youll nd the Raw

processing software you use makes a dif-

ference. Noise reduction seems to be a

priority for the software companies as well,

and the latest versions of their softwareare often very good at reducing noise.

Noise shows up most in the shadows and

in areas of clear continuous tone like blue

sky. It may show up less in close-up and

macro photography than other types of

image because the nature of close-up and

macro photography means that the back-

ground is usually blurred and there is a lotof detail. These things help obscure noise.

Both the photos above and on the following page were taken with an 85 mm lens fitted wit

close-up lens. I was forced into using a wide aperture and a high ISO as both photos were t

hand-held inside in dimly lit conditions. I used the restriction of a wide aperture to get creamy composition and throw the background out of focus.

National Maritime Museum, Auckland, New Zealand



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National Maritime Museum, Auckland, New Zealand


O d h h

DEPTH-OF-FIELD continued

7/23/2019 A

a guide to macro and close up photography.pdf

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