Posts Tagged ‘Macro lens’

Extreme macro photographs show super close-up views of items, revealing details that cannot be seen by the naked eye, and opening up a new world of subjects.

Standard macro lenses 'only' go to 1:1 or 1:2 magnification. Extreme macro refers to images taken at magnifications greater than 1:1. To get these images requires more than just a standard macro lens, but the equipment doesn't necessarily have to be expensive.

In this article I'll look at some of the options available if you want to be able to capture extreme macro photos. And I'll also cover how to deal with some of the issues that come up when shooting at such high magnifications.

If you have an interchangeable lens camera and you're interested in capturing photos that are more than simple snapshots, then there will likely come a time when you want to purchase a new lens for your camera. Although some photographers seem to always be obsessed with the latest and greatest camera bodies, in most cases a new lens will do much more for your photography than a camera body will.

The problem can come in choosing a lens - there are so many different lenses to choose from. Different focal lengths, zooms, and fixed focal length lenses, with and without image stabilization, and at many different price points. In this article I'll look at the different features you should consider when looking at a lens, and how to decide which lens is best for you.

Focusing for macro and close-up photography is usually best done manually. At close-focus distances lenses can sometimes find it hard to lock focus. If a lens racks the focus out to infinity and then back again before it finally focuses on the subject, this can take some time. It may not even be able to find focus on the subject, and leave you with an unfocused image in the viewfinder.

DSC_1355 by Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix) on flickr (licensed CC-BY) - photo taken using manual focus