Canon 100mm f2.8 1:1 pics

[TH3D4RKKN1GH7]

Just wanted to say

I don't have much to add to this thread, but I just wanted to let you guys know that your images are amazing. I just started with photography- I'm really a movie director/writer- and its images like those above that make me want to stick with it in the hopes of one day gaining the skill to take shots as breathtaking as the ones you guys have. Cheers.

 

[dllavaneras]

Here's a question: How do you get so close to these insects? Do you wait for them to come to you, or do you slowly inch towards them?

That depends on the bug. Spiders, I inch towards them, and often have to adopt awkward poses to take pictures. They're usually worth it :

For other bugs, like dragonflies and bees, I sit at a specific spot and wait for them. Most of my pics are taken using the "creep" approach, though.

Also, when I try to take macro shots, I find that f/16 or smaller is necessary to get a decent amount in focus from up close. Sure, if I'm taking a 1:2.5 macro, perhaps I can use a larger aperture. However, it seems like you can get closer to the insects than I can, AND you can use a larger aperture. The world is not fair, or perhaps I'm just doing something wrong.

Get the eyes in focus, and the rest is secondary. Also, try to position the plane of focus along the plane of the insect, or along the structures you want in focus. In the butterfly pic, the plane of focus was along the longitudinal axis of the butterfly. In the dragonfly pic, I wanted the top of the eyes and the mouthparts in focus, hence the downward angle.

I tend to avoid using anything over f13 because of diffraction issues.

 

[akdj]

Those are some phenomenal shots guys! Awesome

Stratification, what body are you shooting with?

Dll....when not using a ring flash, how do you mimic it with a standard flash (580ex)? Is it possible? Those are awesome shots. Great job! Are you using APS-C in all shots or FF too?

Jer

 

[dllavaneras]

Dll....when not using a ring flash, how do you mimic it with a standard flash (580ex)? Is it possible? Those are awesome shots. Great job! Are you using APS-C in all shots or FF too?

There's no easy or practical way to mimic a ring flash with an external flash. But that doesn't mean you can't use it for macro! There are many, many ways to do so, and most involve a diffuser of some sort.

You can check out a home-made diffuser made by dark-raptor on deviantArt. Check the gallery and you'll see that you can achieve amazing lighting that way. You can also search for different kind of diffusers on google or youtube.

If a ring-flash is what you want and must have, then you might like to modify the cheap DIY ring flash, but I can't endorse it as I've never seen it in action, never attempted to make one or anything related to it.

You'll see that with macro, many people use two flashes. One for illuminating the subject, and the other for fill light for the background. I've messed around with it before, and the results are very, very pleasing. You can see my setup here and some samples here and here. You can apply the same concept and get your flash on a bracket, and use it as an offboard flash. Depending on the height and angle, you can vary the lighting and the shadows. This is great, since many people dislike the ring flash because of the flat light it gives. Of course, it only gives flat light when the two tubes are used at a 1:1 ratio, but I digress.

Oh, and I use a lowly Rebel XTi (APS-C sensor) for all my shots. I hope to graduate to a FF in the next two years or so.

 

[Abstract]

Oh, and I use a lowly Rebel XTi (APS-C sensor) for all my shots. I hope to graduate to a FF in the next two years or so.

Thanks for the tips.

I don't think there's anything to "graduate" to, but that's just my opinion.


APS-C digital SLRs are better for some types of shooting, regardless of what marketing tells you about full frame being better. DSLRs with APS-C sensors have several clear advantages for bird and animal photography. With regards to macros, they have a clear benefit for macro photography: a greater depth of field at the same aperture and subject distance.

You also get more reach, but you could argue that cropping a higher MP full-frame image would give the same result as an APS-C digital SLR with fewer pixels. Imagine having less depth of field and reach for macro! It would certainly be an adjustment.

 

[dllavaneras]

Thanks for the tips.

I don't think there's anything to "graduate" to, but that's just my opinion.

Thanks!

APS-C digital SLRs are better for some types of shooting, regardless of what marketing tells you about full frame being better. DSLRs with APS-C sensors have several clear advantages for bird and animal photography. With regards to macros, they have a clear benefit for macro photography: a greater depth of field at the same aperture and subject distance.

You also get more reach, but you could argue that cropping a higher MP full-frame image would give the same result as an APS-C digital SLR with fewer pixels. Imagine having less depth of field and reach for macro! It would certainly be an adjustment.

It's a tradeoff. Sure, due to the larger sensor size, you have less DOF on a FF than on a APS-C sensor at the same aperture, but you can stop down a lot more without running into diffraction issues because of the larger LGU (light gathering unit). Because of the better high ISO performance of the FF camera, I can get better lit backgrounds instead of very dark/pitch black like I sometimes get with my current camera.

I also take other kind of pictures (low light portraits and landscapes), so a FF has it's advantages there.

 

[spinnerlys]

Sorry to "resurrect" this thread, but I'm currently deciding which ring flash to get, as I'm about to purchase the Canon 100mm Macro lens, if I can find one, as Canon seems to have some delivering problems right now.

Till today I found the Canon MR 14 EX ring lite flash and the Sigma Flash Macro Ring EM-140 DG.

Has anyone any experience with those flashes and the Canon lens and could share it?

Also are there any other ring flashes out there you could point me to?

Thanks.

 

[dllavaneras]

Till today I found the Canon MR 14 EX ring lite flash and the Sigma Flash Macro Ring EM-140 DG.

Has anyone any experience with those flashes and the Canon lens and could share it?

I have had the Canon Ring Lite for about a year and a half now, and it's great! I can set the camera to manual, 1/200 sec, f9-13 and the flash outputs the correct amount of power to give a proper exposure. Since it has two tubes, you can set the ratio for each tube, from 1:1 (both output the same amount of light) to 1:8 (one tube lights 8 times as much as the other.) And that's only in ETTL mode. In manual mode you can select the output of each tube from 1/1 to 1/64.

Since it clips onto the front thread of your lens, you can place the tubes vertically, illuminating from the sides, or turn it and place one tube on top and the other below (my personal choice). This affects the lighting direction. It's also possible to turn one tube completely off.

It also has focus assist lamps, two small lights that illuminate your subject (see pic below) so you can focus. I've used AF in pitch darkness with these lights and gotten great pics and focus, so they work just fine.

It has its drawbacks, of course. The most annoying is the circular reflections you'll encounter on reflective surfaces, such as eyes and shiny bugs. You can see some examples of this on water drops, spider eyes I and II, frog eyes and shiny insect parts (look at the tip of the "face"[rostrum]).
The other drawback is that since it's a macro flash, the range is pretty limited. So you better try to keep those bugs close!

Oh, one other cool thing is that this flash can act as a master. This means you can trigger an external flash wirelessly, if it's set as a slave. See the last pic below for a possible setup, and see here and here for two comparisons. Top pic is ring flash only, bottom pic is ring flash and external flash for fill light.

All in all, this is a great piece of equipment. I haven't used the Sigma (Or the more expensive Twin Lite), but I'm very happy with my unit, and if you can either tolerate or work around its shortcomings, then you'll be very happy.

Feel free to ask anything you like! FYI, virtually all of my macro pics on my site (link in my sig) were taken with this flash.

PS: All pictures used in this post were taken by me, so if you have a question about a particular pic, shoot!

 

[spinnerlys]

Thanks for the reply dllavaneras.

Are you sure you're not a Canon salesman?

I just ordered the 100mm lens and the MR 14 EX flash, as I finally found a retailer who had both available (the lens is hard to find right now, as Canon has shipping/delivering delays up to some months as it seems) for a good price.

I also browsed some flickr accounts with tags of the 100mm macro lens and the ring lite, and it finally convinced me to go that route.

It's money spend better than with an iPhone, which I would have bought with that excess money as it seems.

Now I have to anxiously await the delivery and get some batteries for the first shoot.

Have a good day and thanks again.

 

[dllavaneras]

Thanks for the reply dllavaneras.

Are you sure you're not a Canon salesman?

Hehe, I was actually working on a review of this lens for my photography club, hence all the pictures. I'm glad I was able to help!

 

[John.B]

The rumor (and its only a rumor, mind you) is that the 100mm macro lens will be one of the first to get the new hybrid IS system.

Some would advise you to wait on that 100mm macro purchase until August or September, if you didn't have to have it today.

OTOH, I am thrilled with the sharpness of my non-IS 100mm f2.8 macro. Not the most versatile, by any means, but it kicks butt at what it does do well.

 

[akdj]

Thanks so much dllavaneras...very informative.

I've been an amateur shooter for almost 20 years now Make my money doing weddings....BUT, I am totally into the Macro shooting. I picked up the 100mm 2.8 about 3 weeks ago (after seeing your pics as well) and am messing around with the "Foil and paper plate" tactic LOL. Works awesome. Going to PP some pics this weekend and we'll see if anything turns out. Not a lot of bugs in Alaska (other than mosquitos), but I have run into some pretty cool Dragon flys and Frogs. My son and I are going on a frog quest tomorrow morning, as we do every Saturday AM He's 4 and shoots his own pics. What a blast. He's really digging the Bug Shots too.

Thanks again for the macro lesson....you are shooting some phenomenal shots. It may be "fun" to share some of those in the Canon v Nikon thread Seems many folks feel like you need to spend 8k to get pro shots! I wouldn't be able to tell your "lowly XTI" from my 5D2 or my buddy's D3x!
Great Job!

Now....to save for the ring flash

J

 

[spinnerlys]

Hehe, I was actually working on a review of this lens for my photography club, hence all the pictures. I'm glad I was able to help!

Another question for you, dllavaneras: Do I need the Canon 52C Macrolite Adapter to put filters on the 100mm Macro lens when the MR 14 EX is attached?
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-52C-Macrolite-Adapter/dp/B00009R6VH

The package came today, but I couldn't get it. Have to wait to Monday for my new "toy/ols".

 

[John.B]

Another question for you, dllavaneras: Do I need the Canon 52C Macrolite Adapter to put filters on the 100mm Macro lens when the MR 14 EX is attached?
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-52C-Macrolite-Adapter/dp/B00009R6VH

I'm not dllavaneras, but...

As far as Canon macro lenses are concerned, it's the EF-S 60mm that uses 52mm filters. The EF 100mm uses 58mm filters (at least mine does ). You'd be better off with the 58C.

 

[spinnerlys]

I'm not dllavaneras, but...

As far as Canon macro lenses are concerned, it's the EF-S 60mm that uses 52mm filters. The EF 100mm uses 58mm filters (at least mine does ). You'd be better off with the 58C.

Thanks for the answer, I should have noticed the diameter.
But it is necessary as it seems to have that adapter if you want at least some kind of UV filter for protecting the glass.

Can this filter be mounted the whole time, and only the ring lite has to be dismounted if one wants, or do I have to unscrew the filter together with the ring lite?

 

[John.B]

I really don't know why Canon doesn't spell this out better. I'll try to explain it...

Basically, if you look at your 100mm macro lens you'll see that it has a 360° groove/ridge around the business end of the lens. The MR-14EX "clips" into this with two releases, one on either side of the ring light.

The problem if you use a filter is that the filter depth changes the distance between the business end of the lens and that groove/ridge. This effectively moves the groove/ridge too far back, so the ring light has nothing to "catch" against.

So you either have to leave off the filter (and my B+W MRC UV filter never comes off my 100mm lens ) or you have to create a new groove/ridge on the other side of that filter.

Which is exactly what the Macrolite Adapter 58C does.

HTH

 

[spinnerlys]

Thanks for pointing that out more clearly.

So I have to get another accessory as it seems. Canon sure likes to get money for their stuff and more.

But what the hell, I will have to suffer some loss (money) to gain some win (better macro shots) somehow.

Till the next question.

 

[dllavaneras]

I really don't know why Canon doesn't spell this out better.

Neither do I. It's so simple to explain, yet Canon seems to like making it some sort of cryptic affair.

Personally, I don't use filters on my lenses (although that may change when I get the 10-20mm), so I've never had to use any kind of adapters.

And yes, spinnerlys, getting great macro shots come with a great investment in equipment (in the DSLR world, anyway), but the results are definitely worth it! Having a macro lens opens your eyes to a whole new pile of shooting opportunities.

 

[John.B]

But what the hell, I will have to suffer some loss (money) to gain some win (better macro shots) somehow.

The ring light is a great tool for some things, but it isn't mandatory for getting good macro shots.

I photograph a *lot* of botanicals in the 1:2 to 1:1 range with my 100mm using just daylight. If I'm going for a specific effect, the ring light can sometimes work against me. Yesterday I worked on shooting the edge of a rose petal in sharp focus with light glistening off water drops; the ring light can sort of do that but sometimes it creates too much "flat" light or can sometimes create an odd "circle" in reflections. In this case, sunlight worked much better, though not using eTTL makes me have to think a little more about exposure as the light changes.

I'm thinking of trading up to the MT-24EX to get a little more flexibility, though I'm also intriged by the flash bracket dllavaneras uses to mount that slave flash.

 

[John.B]

Duplicate post.

 

[spinnerlys]

The ring light is a great tool for some things, but it isn't mandatory for getting good macro shots.

I photograph a *lot* of botanicals in the 1:2 to 1:1 range with my 100mm using just daylight. If I'm going for a specific effect, the ring light can sometimes work against me. Yesterday I worked on shooting the edge of a rose petal in sharp focus with light glistening off water drops; the ring light can sort of do that but sometimes it creates too much "flat" light or can sometimes create an odd "circle" in reflections. In this case, sunlight worked much better, though not using eTTL makes me have to think a little more about exposure as the light changes.

I'm thinking of trading up to the MT-24EX to get a little more flexibility, though I'm also intriged by the flash bracket dllavaneras uses to mount that slave flash.

The lens and ring arrived today, and wow, they are quite heavy.
Combined it should be 1.2kg, but my Gorilla Pod seems to handle it quite well.

And it will take some time until I get used to the flash and its settings in manual mode.
It's my first external flash, as I was quite opposed to flash photography in my early ears of doing SLR shots.
But since I had time to experience with the built-in flash of the EOS, mostly indirect or through a tissue or something else, I quite like to do some flashes in my pictures.

I'll see and will post some results in this or the photo of the day thread.

Thanks for the suggestions.

PS: What would be a good way to learn working with my new ring lite? I already read the manual and know how to set something, but am still unsure, if the results change on some occasions.

 

[choiboyogg]

you cannot go wrong with this lens.
i sold it once to buy the canon 180 L 3.5 and it was a mistake.
went back to the 100 2.8 and love it even more

 

[spinnerlys]

So, played a little bit with the lens and the ring lite.
I'm liking it a lot.

Something I don't like is the short cable, when putting the lite somewhere else, for example under an ashtray made of glass with white paper surrounding it (following image).

Is there some kind of adapter cable that I can connect to the flash shoe of my camera and to the shoe of the flash?

cropped through flickr

 

[dllavaneras]

The lens and ring arrived today, and wow, they are quite heavy.

Yes, they're quite heavy, and the setup is large. It tends to tire you after a few hours of shooting, but I've gotten used to it =)

you cannot go wrong with this lens.
i sold it once to buy the canon 180 L 3.5 and it was a mistake.
went back to the 100 2.8 and love it even more

Really? What made you return it? I didn't want to buy the 180mm because of the longer working distance. The 290mm equiv. focal length would mean that my shutter speed had to be higher than 1/200, which is my camera's highest flash sync speed. I know there's a high speed sync option, but the range is limited.

So, played a little bit with the lens and the ring lite.
I'm liking it a lot.

Something I don't like is the short cable (...) Is there some kind of adapter cable that I can connect to the flash shoe of my camera and to the shoe of the flash?

I'm glad you like the ring lite!
As for the adapter cable, there's one by Canon and several third party ones. I bought the flash bracket and an off-shoe cord for just a bit more than the price of the Canon cord. There are mixed reviews about the Adorama cord, but I've found that when it doesn't fire, a quick clean of the camera contacts fixes the problem. To be honest, I've used the flash bracket far more than the off-shoe cord.

 

[John.B]

The 290mm equiv. focal length would mean that my shutter speed had to be higher than 1/200, which is my camera's highest flash sync speed. I know there's a high speed sync option, but the range is limited.

The minimum focus distance and working distance are unaffected by whether the camera has a crop sensor or full frame sensor. The crop sensor obviously affects framing, but why would you need to figure an equivalent focal length for lighting macro work? I would just use 1/200 sec. (i.e. >1/180mm = 1/200).