Macro questions

[faisal]

The general rule of being able to hand hold a non-stabilized lens is shutter speed = 1/focal length so hand holding my Sigma 105mm macro basically needs a shutter speed of 1/100.

Now I remember reading somewhere that the minimum shutter speed to hand hold increases if the magnification increases when doing some macro work....is this true?? If so, is there a general rule regarding this...??

Also if I pop a 2x teleconvertor on the 105mm, the minimum shutter speed becomes 1/200 while giving me the magnification of 2:1. If I use extension tubes to get the same amount of magnification will there be a similar increase in the shutter speed...??

Thanks in advance....

[VTEC_EATER]

I would highly recommend a tripod for macro work or some sort of rig that will give you greater stabilization than just hand holding. Many say the VR on Nikon's 105/2.8 is pretty much useless at macro levels. And that is supposedly 3-4 stops.

[Csae]

From, my understanding, yes the more MF the higher the shutter speed needed.

IS Helps but not by much because of subject movement.

[laydros]

Another issue is that your DOF is incredibly shallow with a macro lens, so f/2.8, while probably fairly sharp, isn't going to get much more than the eye in focus for a smallish bug. Therefore you will typically want a smaller aperture, cutting your shutter speed. Most worthwhile macro is shot either with great light, flash, or on a tripod.

However, in my limited experience with my Macro at high focus levels, while shake shows up more than at longer subject distances, it isn't a huge difference. For instance if I can handhold a shot at 1/100, 1/200 seems to be plenty at 1:1, not taking into account the shallow DOF.

[faisal]

@VTEC_EATER....I'm not really a tripod shooter so prefer hand holding. Got a really heavy tripod so never keen on carrying it around....I don't mind bumping the ISO up for that higher SS, just want to have some sort of a general idea regarding the limit for hand holding a macro shot....

@laydros.....Well I was thinking of making those DIY flash diffusers that people tend to use with macro photography to solve the light issue....
So basically a SS double the focal length would be preferred....will give it a try...thanks...

[laydros]

@VTEC_EATER....I'm not really a tripod shooter so prefer hand holding. Got a really heavy tripod so never keen on carrying it around....I don't mind bumping the ISO up for that higher SS, just want to have some sort of a general idea regarding the limit for hand holding a macro shot....

@laydros.....Well I was thinking of making those DIY flash diffusers that people tend to use with macro photography to solve the light issue....
So basically a SS double the focal length would be preferred....will give it a try...thanks...

What kind of DIY macro diffuser? Like on of the rigged up ring lights, or something else?

[Csae]

Well, as with all photography flash can be used to freeze your subject, regardless or shuterspeed.

[Rooz]

depends what it is. if you;re shooting bugs for example then the flash used to freeze subject doesn't really apply at very low SS.

[michaelb]

Faisal - I do 95% of my macros hand-held. But most of my macros aren't even close to 1:1 - there more like close-ups than true macro.

I do find that the closer I get, the higher SS I need because camera shake gets exaggerated, as does subject motion.

I can usually shoot at 1/FL on FF, sometimes 1/(2XFL), but again, the closer I get the more SS I need.

I prefer ext tubes to a TC for macro work, but for me macro means flowers or leaves and not bugs so working distance isn't a concern for me. I do plan on experimenting more with my TC this spring though.

When you use a TC, as you say, your SS needed to hand-hold increases. I notice the same thing when I use ext tubes simply because of being close to my subject and movement being exaggerated as I explained above.

Coldrain (an old member here) used to post some really nice flower shots here using a Soligor 1.7X TC on his 70-200 f/4, almost all hand held if I remember correctly. You can probably still search for them here.




This was taken hand-held with my 70-200 f/4 with ext tubes at 135mm and 1/125s on the 5d....
http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Summer-09/IMG40221-24/585903945_MZjhi-L.jpg

Hand-held - 200mm f/2.8 with ext tubes, 1/200s on the 5d....
http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Summer-09/IMG4306-281/593903013_YMwLD-L.jpg

Here's a recent one with the Sigma 105 on the 5d2, ISO 800, 1/100, again hand-held...
http://brownphotography.smugmug.com/photos/754775513_Yiqhu-L.jpg