I'm slowly adding lenses for my trip to Tanzania in Oct. So far have the 10-22 ultra wide, which I absolutely love and just got the Canon macro, but the pics don't seem clear at all. I was expecting great photos after reading all of the reviews (even from Rebel users), but so far I'm not impressed. I've not been using a tripod and all shots have been indoors, so that could be the problem right there, maybe a faster shutter speed-I'm just not sure.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Lisa W.
Posted by Mark Windom on January 26, 2008 at 7:33 PM
A tripod is essential when doing macro work, particularly in low light. My suggestion would be to try one (a good one) and see if that solves your problem.
Another point to consider is that in macro work with the close camera to subject distances involved depth of field is often very shallow so choose an appropriate aperture for the effect you want and focus carefully, preferrably manually.
Remember the usual wisdom that the slowest shutter speed you can handhold a 100mm lens is around 1/125. And truth be known that's for conventional lenses at conventional shooting distances. Shooting macro where you subject is filling lots of the frame, I bet it's closer to 1/500. Add in the need for lots of DOF with a macro shot, and you're talking about a really BRIGHT room before you can manage clear shots handholding.
A tripod is the obvious solution, but I'd add a cable release as well.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on January 27, 2008 at 12:24 AM
The 100 mm Canon macro should work well with any Canon digial body. You may want to do a quick test of some newsprint hung against a wall, shot from a locked down tripod, cable release or timer, both manual and autofocus, and a large section of the paper, maybe a half page, just to be sure the problem is in macro technique rather than the camera or lens. It is possible the problem is in equipment, but unlikely.
Anytime you even begin to approach 1:1 with a lens, the rule of thumb of hand holding to 1/(focal length) gets thrown out the window. You can use that for a starting point, but then add two stops of shutter speed (1/125 -> 1/250 -> 1/500).
There are a couple of factors against you with handholding macro lens, when used at macro distances. First, even the slightest hand movements will greatly change the composition by shifting. Second, depth of field, for all practical purposes, ceases to exist. You are talking millimeters, or even tenths of a millimeter, is all you get. The slightest back/forth motion will throw things out of focus. Last, merely pressing the shutter adds more vibrations, making the above two issues even worse. Hanks advice to use a tripod, with cable release, is very good.
The problems are far worse if you ever step up to the Canon 65 mm 1x-5x lens.
Autofocus at near macro magnifications is very hit or miss. It almost always seems that the correct sensor point is not exactly the point that needs to be dead on focus. Even assuming that it is, my Canon 20D autofocus generally cannot keep out with the small body movements that invariably occur closeup. My EOS 3 was much better, but still not perfect. I would expect that the Rebel would perform similar to the 20D in terms of macro autofocus.
So what do you do if you need to go handheld near 1:1? First, assume that you will be tossing every shot, due to problems mentioned above. It is the reality of the situation, but sometimes necessary. Try to use full-flash, and let that be primary lighting. The flash will effectively be the shutter speed, certainly a lot faster than 1/125 or 1/250 second. Use a small aperature, such as f16 or f22. Yes, there is a tradeoff due to diffraction, but to make up for the small DOF, it is usually a good one. Use the BEST technique you can: set your body as a tripod, steady yourself. elbows in, hold your breathe briefly, press the shutter slowly, etc. And practice, practice, practice.
Lisa, I shoot with the 20d and 100mm macro most of the time. GOOD tripod is a must, manual focus only, add some light to help see the object better when focusing, (you can always remove the light after you've focused), I always try to use Mirror lockup so that the mirror moving doesn't add any vibration movement to the image and try to remember that your DoF is very narrow and focus within the area that you want the sharpest. Cable release is best and then practice, I especially enjoy this lens when I am diving underwater, and that will add a great deal of additional factors into the equation. IT IS ONE OF CANON'S BEST/SHARPEST LENSES.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on January 27, 2008 at 2:45 PM
One more thing I have found on shooting macro handheld. If you camera has a multishot mode, which I think it does, use it. Sometimes the second shot is sharper, since you are not pressing the shutter a second time.
Discussion
6 repliesAny suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Lisa W.
Another point to consider is that in macro work with the close camera to subject distances involved depth of field is often very shallow so choose an appropriate aperture for the effect you want and focus carefully, preferrably manually.
Indoors + handholding = Fuzzygraphs
Remember the usual wisdom that the slowest shutter speed you can handhold a 100mm lens is around 1/125. And truth be known that's for conventional lenses at conventional shooting distances. Shooting macro where you subject is filling lots of the frame, I bet it's closer to 1/500. Add in the need for lots of DOF with a macro shot, and you're talking about a really BRIGHT room before you can manage clear shots handholding.
A tripod is the obvious solution, but I'd add a cable release as well.
Anytime you even begin to approach 1:1 with a lens, the rule of thumb of hand holding to 1/(focal length) gets thrown out the window. You can use that for a starting point, but then add two stops of shutter speed (1/125 -> 1/250 -> 1/500).
There are a couple of factors against you with handholding macro lens, when used at macro distances. First, even the slightest hand movements will greatly change the composition by shifting. Second, depth of field, for all practical purposes, ceases to exist. You are talking millimeters, or even tenths of a millimeter, is all you get. The slightest back/forth motion will throw things out of focus. Last, merely pressing the shutter adds more vibrations, making the above two issues even worse. Hanks advice to use a tripod, with cable release, is very good.
The problems are far worse if you ever step up to the Canon 65 mm 1x-5x lens.
Autofocus at near macro magnifications is very hit or miss. It almost always seems that the correct sensor point is not exactly the point that needs to be dead on focus. Even assuming that it is, my Canon 20D autofocus generally cannot keep out with the small body movements that invariably occur closeup. My EOS 3 was much better, but still not perfect. I would expect that the Rebel would perform similar to the 20D in terms of macro autofocus.
So what do you do if you need to go handheld near 1:1? First, assume that you will be tossing every shot, due to problems mentioned above. It is the reality of the situation, but sometimes necessary. Try to use full-flash, and let that be primary lighting. The flash will effectively be the shutter speed, certainly a lot faster than 1/125 or 1/250 second. Use a small aperature, such as f16 or f22. Yes, there is a tradeoff due to diffraction, but to make up for the small DOF, it is usually a good one. Use the BEST technique you can: set your body as a tripod, steady yourself. elbows in, hold your breathe briefly, press the shutter slowly, etc. And practice, practice, practice.
I'm sure it IS operator error. Supposed to be sunny today, so I'll go out and practice, practice, practice (as Dan said)