I'm dialing up the way back machine for this image (I took it back in May of 2007). It's a reminder for me of three things: How far I've progressed as a photographer since I took this frame, the need to back off and show my subjects in their surroundings more, and to look around for opportunities to take a shot that I really didn't intend to take. I was chasing a butterfly and not having any luck at all when I turned to my right and saw this beetle that seemed to be watching me chase the butterfly. Could have sworn I heard him laughing... ;)
John, good day!
ReplyDeleteI saw you had a 100mm macro lens in this shot, and after that in the later posts you're saying that 60mm range is much better for flash lit photos.
I understand you have a MP-E lens which is 65mm, but if there was a 100mm lens with the same magnification and, of course, being able to put the dual flash just before the lens opening - what would be your thought on it?
Asking it because I am waiting for the EX-26-RT to come and I have both 60mm and 100mm "L" lenses, and with the diffused speedlite 60mm works better - to me the reason is that it's simply shorter so the diffusion is better and more light comes to the subject. But what do you think? Having in mind that you can use a dual flash on both and both have 1:1 magnification.
Thanks!
Hey Roman,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't even been shooting macro for a full year when I took that shot, and since then I've learned a lot about flash photography. The larger the diffuser, or the close it is to the subject (so larger in the subject's field of view), the better the diffusion. That's why I got away from using lenses in the 100mm range, and I think that any lens in that range is a poor choice for macro work no matter what light source is primary (natural or artificial). The reason why the diffusion looks better with your 60mm macro is because the diffuser is closer to the subject. For actual macro work (1x and higher) you're EF-S 60mm is a better choice than your 100mm L. Both of those lenses lose focal length at minimum focus, with your 100mm lens being about 72mm and the 60mm dropping down to 37mm. So it only takes 37mm of extension to get the 60mm to 2x, but it takes 72mm of extension (twice as much) to get the 100mm to 2x. If I were you I'd use the 60mm for actual macro, and use the 100mm for closeup shooting at a distance where the IS will actually work (at close focus IS is useless).
I shoot either macro with the MP-E 65mm or closeups with a 100-400mm L telephoto. I can afford the 100mm L but don't own one cause I don't have a use for it, and if my MP-E 65mm breaks I use the EF-S 60mm + extension tubes to shoot above 1x. Hope that answers your question.
Thank you for your advice, it does answer my question :-)
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