Supermacro

[john70490 3]

I posted the following on Scubaboard but didn'tr get much response, so I'm hoping to do beter here:

I will be going on a trip to the Red Sea in a couple of weeks and plan to experiment with supermacro for the first time. I have the 60mm D lens, which I have used for several years and am very happy with. I plan to combine it with a 1.4x teleconverter and +4 diopter. I realize that the depth of field will be very small and wonder if the set-up will make it difficult for the camera to autofocus. Would it be better to skip the tc and just use the diopter? I have a good focus light but the light conditions and visibility in southern Egypt are so good that I have rarely had to use it in the daytime on past trips. Grateful for comments and tips.

Edited September 28, 2011 by john70490

[johnspierce 25]

I posted the following on Scubaboard but didn'tr get much response, so I'm hoping to do beter here:

I will be going on a trip to the Red Sea in a couple of weeks and plan to experiment with supermacro for the first time. I have the 60mm D lens, which I have used for several years and am very happy with. I plan to combine it with a 1.4x teleconverter and +4 diopter. I realize that the depth of field will be very small and wonder if the set-up will make it difficult for the camera to autofocus. Would it be better to skip the tc and just use the diopter? I have a good focus light but the light conditions and visibility in southern Egypt are so good that I have rarely had to use it in the daytime on past trips. Grateful for comments and tips.

 

Working distance on that 60mm with a 4+ diopter will be really small. - you would only be taking photos of small stuff that is not skittish since you would be really, really close.

 

Either the Tamron or Kenko 1.4 teleconverter will work very well with that 60mm D lens.

 

JP

[john70490 3]

Working distance on that 60mm with a 4+ diopter will be really small. - you would only be taking photos of small stuff that is not skittish since you would be really, really close.

 

Either the Tamron or Kenko 1.4 teleconverter will work very well with that 60mm D lens.

 

JP

 

Thanks John! I plan to use the set-up for tiny nudibranchs etc. A friend of mine has taken some amazing shots with the 60mm lens and +4 dioter (no teleconverter). As I have both the Tamron TC and a +4 diopter, I thought I would try both together or is that a bad idea? Would the TC alone or +¤ diopter alone be a better choice?

[twinner 5]

The 60mm + the Teleconverter would be my first choice. If you need more magnification you could use a wet diopter. That would give you a bit more flexibility.

[john70490 3]

The 60mm + the Teleconverter would be my first choice. If you need more magnification you could use a wet diopter. That would give you a bit more flexibility.

 

OK, I have a Woody's diopter too.

[TomR1 5]

For the 60mm I would use the 1.4x TC. Obviously the light hitting the sensor will be less making it harder for the camera to focus. The woody's diopter will reduce the working distance still more.

 

I would have your buddy use a flashight (maybe with a red lens) to illuminate your subject instead of a focus light. I use this technique with a 105MM and a +10 diopter.

 

Attached is full frame.

[Aussiebyron 57]

I just recently started to play with my Nikkor 60mm AFD and Kenko 1.4x Teleconverter and I was actually very impressed with its preformance and the images obtained. The autofocus was only a fraction slower than the 60mm alone and I with the 60mm with 1.4x TC was quicker than my 105mm alone. I used a iTorch video as a modelling light which helps. I havnt had the chance to use a dioptre yet but am very keen to see the results.

 

Here are some shots from last week with the Nikon D7000 and 60mm 1.4x TC combo:

 

 

 

 

Regards Mark

[TomR1 5]

Mark,

 

Your pictures are great. I particulary like the two nudis. I have a shot like that but without the color. (It was a dull day and I needed the 60 not the 105) However, unless your critters are dramatically smaller than the same critters that I've shot, you are not to 1:1. (Look at the exif data for focus distance)

 

When you get to minimum focus distance, even without a diopter, you will find that the camera has little trouble focusing. The advantage of the T/C is that it preserves working distance as you go beyond 1:1 as long as you have light on the subject.

 

Once you add a diopter the DOF drops to essentailly zero and any movement will break the focus lock. However, that's what you need to do to get serious magnification.

 

To give you an idea about the magnification of the above shot, look at the green leaf to the right, and behind, the pigmy. That is a piece of halimeda grass magnified 2.25:1, well beyond 1:1. The attached crop of the pigmy's head was done in RAW to preserve all the pixels. Ever see the crown on a White pigmy's head close up? Take a look. (FYI a White Pigmy is about 1/2 the size of a red pigmy)

 

My process is to get closer than minimum focus distance, have the shutter on focus priority and teh camera on "C" continuous focus with zero delay. I then slowly back away from the subject. When the subject comes in focus the camera takes the shot. I use single center spot focus.

[john70490 3]

Thanks Mark and Tom! Lovely shots! I'll use the TC then. I'll try it with and without the Woody's diopter.

[natteek 0]

Or you may try to find more information about Supermacro equipment of Reefnet at www.reefnet.ca. It's called Subsee. There are 2 models of Subsee which are Subsee+5 and Subsee+10. There is a tool in its website to simulate your macro with Subsee to see what magnifier you will get on your image.

 

For example, I am using Canon 100mm Macro with Subsee+10. I will get the object 2.1x bigger than using only 100mm macro.