Playing with the 5DII

[rpcrowe]

I was playing with my 5DII with my old 90mm Tamron f/2.8 (non-Di) macro lens to see what kind of close-up quality I could achieve...



ISO 100, f/7.1 @ 1/500 second

[Wavelength]

Classic

[Sam W]

Beautiful image!

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[ionian]

That's a beautiful picture Richard, it just pops.

[Tony M]

That's very nice Richard.

I have just bought a Canon EF 100mm F/2.8 L IS USM macro lens 2nd hand from a friend, and took my first photo of a flower with it the other day. It was my first attempt at macro photography and I was surprised by the shallow depth of field. I expected it to be shallow, but essentially it's 0 at the f/7.1 aperture that you used. But of course at less than 100% resolution the image looks sharp across most of the flower.

This is an observation, not a criticism, and I look forward to learning more about macro photography, especially with Spring on its way.

Tony

[DEAN01]

Wow! Great shot, Richard.

[DanK]

That's very nice Richard.

I have just bought a Canon EF 100mm F/2.8 L IS USM macro lens 2nd hand from a friend, and took my first photo of a flower with it the other day. It was my first attempt at macro photography and I was surprised by the shallow depth of field. I expected it to be shallow, but essentially it's 0 at the f/7.1 aperture that you used. But of course at less than 100% resolution the image looks sharp across most of the flower.

This is an observation, not a criticism, and I look forward to learning more about macro photography, especially with Spring on its way.

Tony

Yes, DOF is very shallow, and that is a function of the magnification, not the particular lens. Canon reports nominal rather than effective DOF at macro distances (check out the macro tutorial on this site for an explanation). Using that, you can get quite serviceable shots for some purposes at f/13 or so, even with a modest extension tube. I do this for bugs, but unless the bug is really small, you have to keep it pretty much parallel to the sensor to get much of it in focus.

Flowers can be tougher. When they are nearly flat and can be kept parallel to the sensor, like in Chauncey's shot, DOF is not such a problem, but often they are often deeper. I do focus stacking for the great bulk of my flower images, which takes care of the shallow DOF but requires that you shoot in a wind-free environment and keep the camera from moving between shots.

[Tony M]

Thanks Dan, I'll check out the tutorial. I have a glass conservatory which will be useful as a location for focus stacking. My wife will be happy with all the flowers I'll start bringing home.

[rpcrowe]

This flower was pretty flat across the top so DOF was no problem. There was a bit of a breeze moving the flower slightly so I used a fast shutter speed of 1/500 second to freeze it.

I did minimal PP, just some RAW entry sharpening, some additional structure and (unusually for me) an increase in saturation. I darkened the area around the outside of the flower using the CS6 burn tool at about 40% exposure...

[bnnrcn]

Beautiful

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely done, Richard.