Early Macro attempts

Many thanks for the comments on my previous post.

Macro is my target for the spring albeit this post was one of my first attempts with the Canon 180mm. Canon 1D3 HH subject distance 600mm
f/13 ISO 400 1/20sec RAW to LR re-sized to post.

I'm seeking some words of wisdom with the Canon MP-E 65mm which is a whole new ball game and seems to work in reverse thus a little more time will be needed. Q Which tripod head would you suggest I have a wimberly 11 which isn't going to help a great deal? I managed four shots today out of 200 which I could ID it was windy but that's an excuse.

Critique, Comments and Advice more than welcome

Thanks for looking.

Well thats a good start Barrie Its certainly not easy once you start getting that close.Some people don't realise there is as much aproblem with camera shake at those magnifications as there is with a 600mm !! An aperture of f13 can be a bit restrictive on subjects like this too.Also golden rule (in my opinion) concentrate on just the head for impact, and try and get the subject parallel to the lens. All sounds easy in words, but it aint. Matt C will be able to advise much more than I.
JR

Hi Barry,

This looks a fairly good effort, nice detail in the eye and head. As John mentioned, if you can get yourself parallel to the subject you will obviously get more of the subject in focus. However, I really don't think you should be trying to use the 180mm macro, handheld at 1/20 of a second! It's not an ideal lens to hand hold and to do so you would really need a good shutter speed. In contrast, I wouldn't recommend using the MPE-65 with a tripod. The DOF is so shallow with this lens that you will find it very difficult to get the camera in exactly the right position with a tripod. You would need a focus rail I think. Virtually all of the regular MPE-65 users that I know use it handheld and expose their images with flash. I would suggest that you practice handholding with flash and keep the magnification at the minimum 1x to start with.

For my tripod based macro with my Sigma 150 lens I use a Manfroto 410 junior geared head.

Matt

Good point Matt
I forgot to mention to Barrie that most of my small subject macro is flash.
JR

Good advice from the experts, Barrie. I prefer a low ISO, high f number, Diffused flash and definitely hand held, when taking my 3D macro shots. I also look for unusual subjects which are not always to everyone's taste, there are literally thousands of species out there which are often neglected and rarely if ever seen on UKNP. This image shows that you have a feel for the discipline, I look forward to seeing more, perhaps even some in 3D.

Very nice macro Barry. Nice to see more macro work on here.

I'd agree with the great advice so far. I always use a flash when doing any macro work now. Its such a struggle to get DoF and a suitable shutter speed without it. I'm quite tempted to get an MPE-65 myself, looks quite a difficult beast to master.

Nice macroshot Barry.
I never use de MP-E65 with a tripod unless it is for a (static) setup. Otherwise do not use a tripod.
With bigger magnifications you do need extra light (flash).
For more info about making macro's you can look at the site of John Kimbler (www.johnkimbler.com, twitter @Dalantech). He made some experience stories, about flash, MP-E65 etc. (For dutch speaking people I translated a number of these articles, you can find them on my website).

Thanks again guy's you came up trumps with the advice and words of wisdom much appreciated.

MP-E 65mm is going to take some getting use to but at least it's great fun trying.

The head and top body is really striking, very impressive.

Well certainly a better effort than any of mine Barry.

Great start, lovely close up