Flower Central

[deebatman316]

The weather has been nice enough to break out the camera for some pictues.

Gear: 5D Mark IV, EF 85mm F/1.8 USM Settings: 1/1250th sec F/1.8 ISO 100

Gear: 5D Mark IV, EF 85mm F/1.8 USM, Settings: 1/320th sec F/1.8 ISO 100

[zakslm]

Demetrius,

Very nice shots!  

The 85mm f1.8 USM is one of my favorite lenses in general.  However for me anyways, I struggle with producing decent results with for macro shots - flowers in particular particularly wide open at f1.8.  I do use a crop sensor body but I don't think that has much to do with it. 

Perhaps it's the somewhat longer minimum close focusing distrance for that lens or possibly the lack of IS, but I think I'd be hard pressed to get results that turn out as nice as your shots.

Regards,

LZ

[deebatman316]

I run into the minimum focusing distance of the lens a lot. But I like that lens very much it is an older copy of the lens I have. My friend's mom bought it sometime back in the early to mid 90s. The only thing that needed to be replaced was the lens cap which is cheap. I can stand further back and frame the picture appropriately in the viewfinder. For a crop body I use the EF 50mm F/1.8 STM with my old EOS 40D. My pictures below were taken with that combination. The EF 50mm F/1.8 STM lens stays on my old EOS 40D. I found that I dislike the 50mm focal length on FF. The only challenge with the EOS 40D is that it doesn't have 100% viewfinder coverage. Like my EOS 5D Mark IV which has 100% viewfinder coverage. The EOS 40D only has 95% viewfinder coverage.

Gear: EOS 40D, EF 50mm F/1.8 STM Tv: 1/1000th, Av: F/1.8, ISO: 100Gear: EOS 40D, EF 50mm F/1.8 STM Tv 1/400th, Av F/1.8, ISO 100

[zakslm]

Demetrius,

I agree the 50mm STM is pretty good for close focusing and prefer that lens and my EF-S 28mm f2.8 STM that can focus even closer. Both lenses produce nice results. I had a 50mm f2.5 Compact Macro that I loved even though the focusing was slow and noisy.  It was ridiculously sharp but the electronics failed and now it’s a paperweight. 

I have a 90D that has a 100% viewfinder and that is certainly a benefit. It also has a 32mp sensor so I have the option of cropping in without much loss of detail. I upgraded from a Rebel T7 and the 90D’s focusing system is superior to the Rebel’s and that’s a benefit particularly for close up shots. 

 50mm f1.8 STM

EFS 24mm STM

I’m going to try to emulate your results with my 85mm, but it will be tough!

Regards,

LZ 

[deebatman316]

The 50mm Compact Macro has an Arc Form Drive AF motor. It is very slow and noisy. I own an old EF 70-210mm F/4 lens. Which also uses an Arc Form Drive AF motor too. It’s slow and noisy but that’s what AF was for the time period it came out. Canon replaced AFD in 1992 with Micro Motor. AFD lenses also work differently when it comes to AF and aperture control. They AF and stop down sequentially instead of at the same time. So these lenses only can shoot 3-4 fps when the camera is set to Servo AF. Communication speeds at the time were slow and SLRs could only shoot about 3-4 FPS anyway. Canon later changed this when they released Micro Motor lenses. USM lenses never had this restriction even back to the very first USM lens in 1987. Which was the EF 300mm F/2.8L USM lens. It was marketed as a fast autofocusing lens. So having the AF & aperture control happen sequentially would slow down professional grade lens.

[zakslm]

Demetrius,

I took up the challenge and took some shots of cactus flowers with the 85mm f1.8 USM wide open at f1.8.  My impression is that it is possible to get decent results but it's easier for me to get decent close up shots with sone of the other lenses we discussed.  I'll keep trying!

EOS 90D, EF 85mm f.8 USM, ISO 100, f1.8, 1/8000th sec.  EOS 90D, EF 85mm f.8 USM, ISO 320, f1.8, 1/1600th sec.

[deebatman316]

Nice pictures zakslm. It takes some time and effort to get the perfect picture. I learned that shooting on lenses such as the 100mm macro. That focusing at 1/1 magnification. You loose light and also there’s something called effective aperture. You for instance have the aperture set to F/2.8 and focused at 1/1 for instance. But the effective aperture is F/5.9 the camera won’t report this change. But if you’re using the camera’s light meter the camera will correct for this. Also even at small apertures such as F/16 there is still little depth of field. A lot of times bokeh will still be present at small apertures. Also traditional hot shoe flashes don’t work very well for Macro work. This is due to the 1/1 magnification and how close you are to the subject. This is why ring flashes are most commonly used for Macro work. Some examples of macro flashes are the MR-14EX II & MT-26EX-RT macro flashes. But they come at a high cost and can only be used on certain macro lenses. Not all of Canon’s macro lenses are compatible with them. Some lenses require special adapters to be compatible with them for use. Canon has only released 4 macro flash units compatible with E-TTL. Those are the MR-14EX, MR-14EX II, MT-24EX & MT-26EX-RT. Even used copies of older macro flashes have a hefty price tag. 

[zakslm]

Demetrius,

I have noticed that bokeh is present at small apertures on my close up shots.  Thanks for the explanation.

 I know for serious macro work, a ring light is essential.  For instance, I (or selected parts of me) have been the subject of documentary medical photos taken with a macro lens and ring light (an R5 with an adapted EF 100mm L macro and ring light).  I know this because I observed and asked and was curious.  

My close up shots need not be 1:1 (I crop in post) and are generally taken outdoors in sunlight.  Since it's a hobby/obsesession, I'm not going to be looking for a ring light any time soon.  If I get the itch again for a true macro lens to replace my bricked 50mm compact macro, I'd probably look for an EF-S 60mm macro or the 100mm macro.  Tamron also has some interesting macro lens in EF and EF-S mounts.  But for the time being, I'm ok with what I have in my bag.

Thanks for the advice and the explanations!

Regards,

LZ

[deebatman316]

I did not originally start shooting Macro photography at first. I learned about the E-TTL flash system first. My friend and her mom are wedding photographers. Which has some overlap with Macro photography. Especially with shooting in low light conditions. I learned off camera flash from them and where to place off camera flash units. How to set up off camera flash units and more. I learned Macro photography myself. When I move to the EOS R series I plan on getting the RF 100mm Macro lens. I’m also thinking about getting a ring flash for it too. No matter how much light you have in Macro work. It’s still not enough light especially when you’re focusing down to 1/1. This is what I explained as effective aperture. Though I don’t know if going to get the MT-24EX or the MT-26EX-RT twin flash units. I already own multiple flash units. But they’re regular hot shoe mounted flash units from Canon. Some of which I was given to from a friend. Who doesn’t usually sell gear. She usually donates it people who need it but can’t afford it.