Macro and MF, suggestions please!

Spring is around the corner and I plan to play a little bit with Macro stuff. Now I normally make landscape images and so use MF setup. I recently got a macro lense for my setup which is approx. 75mm in focal length(35mm film, 120 for 120film).
Now it isn't really that long but goes to 1:1. I also got a good flash(Metz Mz40 3i, though I don't know how good it is ). How should I approach towards my goal of making nice closeup/macro images. I have never used flash outdoor before except in the studio once (there it was main source of light). Any pointers, sources, help is WELCOME!

Thanks in advance,

You should try to find an off-camera flash cord (and bracket will also help a lot) so you can place the flash at various angles and distances. Also look for a diffuser for your flash if it doesn't have a built-in one.
With MF you will likely not get too far with active subjects but you should be able to make some great images of still life. Make sure to stop down as far as possible since DOF will likely be an issue at such magnification.

Guy

Macro lends itself to "table top" experimentation- whether in your living room, dining room or back yard. You will need to get a feel for the limited DOF, as well as the effect of small camera movements on framing. Guys suggestions for your strobe are good. In addition, I would experiment with reflectors. When working in a small area, almost anything white or metalic can be used as a reflector, and can give more pleasing or "natural" lighting in the opinion of some users. Even for MF, John Shaw's guidance on macro can be very useful. It's a lot of fun, but go slow and take good notes. Even today, I find a small tape measure very useful for note taking, especially for monitoring strobe-to-subject distance. Very small movements of the strobe can have a great affect on strobe intensity at macro distances!

Get John Shaw's Close Ups in Nature. Though dated, it's full of everything you need to know about doing macro work. It also has a great section on flash that's based on using manual flash (this book was written pre-TTL flash days). Understanding the principles behind manual flash has really helped me in using the newer TTL flash units

Natural light is very useful for a start. With your 120 mm, you'll have some distance from subject, so flash would not be essential. I was pleasantly surprised at what a simple sheet of white paper can do for lighting! A proper silver/gold reflector and a diffuser are even more useful. But first of all, enjoy!

Marko

I`d second starting with natural light and getting familiar with your lens that way. You`ll need a tripod that goes down low or a good bean bag - but a lot can be done even with short-ish macro lenses. My favourite piece of glass is a canon 50/2.5 macro. I don`t shoot bugs much and so I have never worried too much about short lens to subject distance.

For lighting - make your own reflector! Buy some chocolate that has shiny foil wrappings. Eat the sweet stuff and keep the foil. (either silver or gold, as you like). Wrinkle it up, then stretch carefully and glue on a piece of cardboard. You need a relatively big bar of chocolate for it to be really effective. This is a cheap and sweet way to try out how to use a "real" reflector.

You need somehow to diffuse the light from your flash, if you get around using that. Otherwise you`ll get some nasty harsh shadows. Again, there are good DIY solutions. I`ve know that some photographers (including Niall Benvie IIRC) swear by FlyWeight envelope stiffeners (you might try to Google that) as a good diffuser material.

Anyway - have fun and keep us posted how it goes!

If you want to use flash, consider a Micro Apollo Mini-softbox. It's inexpensive, folds flat, and gives wonderful softbox-style diffusion when used at close range. It simply fits over your normal flash head. I use one at flower shows for shooting closeups of orchids and other flowers.

An excellent macro guide which concentrates on MF macro is THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLOSEUP AND MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY by Paul H. Davies. It's a recent book, i.e. 1-2 years old. Another excellent but out of print text is THE MANUAL OF CLOSEUP PHOTOGRAPHY by Lester Lefkowitz. It's quite technical and has loads of useful info, formulae, etc. not available in less technical works. It can be found at the usual used booksellers and is quite inexpensive. No pretty pictures, but well worth having.

Thanks everybody!
I plan to order the mentioned books soon. They must be great read anyway.
Guy, what do you mean by diffuser? Something like omnibounce?

Most everyone stole my initial thoughts. But if you plan to shoot insects I suggest shooting in the early morning. Before the sun warms them, they're slow and approachable. Macro can be a bit frustrating especially with film at times and lighting can be somewhat difficult to control. I use a variety of things: off camera flash with a softbox but usually handheld, timer or cable release, handheld diffusers and reflectors. With all this sometimes it's best to have an additional hand or two so I drag an old tripod around with a plamp or two attached. It's a pain to carry it around - but it's used quite a bit.

Use your depth of field preview a lot. At 120mm you will get a lot of background clutter if you stop down very much. 1:1 looks a lot different in medium format than 35mm or 1.6x canon digital. I'm not sure why so many of you like flash for macro. Get a Photoflex type collapsible reflector with two different finishes--one per side. These provide excellent fill light and fold up into a protective bag that you can hook to your belt or pack. My 120 is a pentax and I use it in the rain and early morning without flash with no problems even with ISO 50 film. Try Astia for bright flowers. Velvias for other things depending on your scanning requirements. Try bracing using bean bag, or corner of pack, rock, log, even elbows. A tripod is often useful, but an inch or so can make a difference and a tripod can sort of turn into a bull dozer at close range.