Help!!! Is my lens crap, or is it my technique?

[FlightIsPossible]

Well I went and bought a EF100mm 2.8 USM Macro lens and I had very high hopes for this product... the problem is that every picture I take is just terrible... on every level. I used to take Macro pics on my PowerShot SX120is and it totally blows these pics out of the water. Every experience I have had with my new camera(EOS 7D) has just been nothing less than awesome... until this lens. I am not sure if its my newbie crap technique, or if its just a bad lens... or maybe I have unreasonable expectations... no matter the cause I am extremely disappointed in the quality of the pics that I am taking. Can someone please shed some light on my situation, it has become somewhat frustrating. I have tried every setting imaginable and I even switched it to "auto" to see if I could get a decent pic... no luck. I have tried everything my newb brain can think of... used my tripod... tried using manual and auto focus... it just doesn't matter.

Here is a Macro shot that I took with my PowerShot SX120is... I could only dream to take a photo this crisp with my EOS 7D and this lens...(I am not saying this is a exceptional photo, but I am trying to prove a point.)

Here is the garbage I am producing with my EOS 7D with 100mm macro lens... I used dead bugs just for practice. I used a tripod for all 3 pics. This first one was focused on the grasshopper...

This one was focused on the ladybug

Spider

I took over 200 photo's and those 3 were the very best of the insect shots I got. I bought it for taking insect pics. I don't fully understand macro photography at this point, but I do know what looks good(to me)... and my 7D macro shots are garbage. The detail is so poor that if I attempt to crop/trim the pics they look even worse.

So, is it me? Do I really suck this bad? Is it a crap lens?(it got decent reviews) Just lost at this point...

Thanks for any insight, will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Robin Usagani]

You need more light, smaller aperture, faster shutter. Some of your shutter is way too slow for a macro shot especially with a 100mm. Some of your shots were also shot with 2.8 which is very thin DOF for macro shot.

 

[FlightIsPossible]

Thanks... I was using a tripod tho. I assumed I could use a slower shutter speed since nothing was moving. I am a newb tho and have no clue... just trying to work of my own logic at this point

 

[Robin Usagani]

OK, if you use a tripod and the subject isnt moving then you are good. Set your aperture to like 8 or 11 with ISO100. Your shutter will be really slow... like a few seconds.

 

[Bend The Light]

Looks like you have Depth of Field issues...What aperture were you using? A wide open aperture is going to take your depth of field to the width of a spider's behind, or less!

The powershot is a tiny sensor and tiny lens compared to the 7D and macro lens. Depth of field is larger with that combination...in fact it's why people with compacts or superzooms can't blur the backgrounds on shots as nicely as with dSLR cameras with wide apertures.

I think the quality in the shot where you focussed ont he ladybird is good (bright, sharp etc.) but just minimal DoF. Whe I shoot macro with my 90mm f2.8 lens, rarely have an aperture wider than f8...and mostly go up to f11, or smaller. Light is a problem, then, but with LV it can be done better...

Hope that helps.

 

[Bend The Light]

Thanks... I was using a tripod tho. I assumed I could use a slower shutter speed since nothing was moving. I am a newb tho and have no clue... just trying to work of my own logic at this point

Yes, you can have a slower shutter if it's static...so shut down the aperture EVEN smaller (higer f number) to get more DoF. Use LiveView to see what you're doing as the viewfinder will be dim.

 

[FlightIsPossible]

I did try to take pics in different aperture. i tried about everything I could think of. And I was in direct sunlight... what kind of light is needed for macro? A spotlight directly on the subject?

 

[FlightIsPossible]

Thanks!!! i think the highest aperture I went to was 5.6 i will go try a smaller one and see if it helps. i will be back in a little while to post if it got any better. THANKS AGAIN! Like I said, I am a newb with dumb newb question lol. maybe I should read a book about the subject before trying it lol

 

[KenC]

Flash is often useful, or you end up with multi-second exposures if you're at a low ISO, e.g., 100, and f16. Macro exposures are also longer than exposures at normal distances so the normal exposure guidelines will not work and you'll have long shutter speeds even in good light.

 

[Bend The Light]

Sunlight is fine, generally...for example...this taken with the 90mm at f8 in the garden last summer...see the narrow DoF even at f8 in the light?


Grasshopper in my garden 4 by http://bendthelight.me.uk, on Flickr

When I was out and about, I used an old flash on a bracket, triggered by the camera. The flash was diffused with part of a plastic milk bottle.
But often, my natural light, in the garden, shots have been better. Try to avoid REALLY bright light as hotspots can ruin a generally otherwise well shot macro...diffusion of the light is important.

Another thing I did recently was to get a cheap macro ringflash...I paid less than £20 from eBay for one...gives a nice diffuse LED light and avoids DIY diffusers!

 

[PrestonS]

I think you just need to work on your DOF and nail your focus. See this for a depth of field calculator.

Online Depth of Field CalculatorIf your camera has it, try live view, zoom in on the LCD and manual focus or just move the camera back and forth slightly to adjust your focus. The depth of field in macro is VERY narrow which is what makes it challenging. You'll get it, just keep working at it.

 

[bazooka]

Try f/16 and adjust shutter speed and ISO to suit. The 100mm 2.8 macro USM is a sweet sweet lens...


Netherlands Silver Quarter by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr


Sand Crab by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr


Morning Snail by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr


Backyard Bee 1 by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr


Backyard Ladybug by Tim Herschbach, on Flickr

 

[Robin Usagani]

Also, sometimes it is better not to push your lens all the way to the minimum focusing distance. It is better to be farther just a bit. Shooting slightly farther than the minimum focusing distance will significantly increase your DOF as well but your subject will be smaller. You can do digital crop a little bit to compensate.

 

[FlightIsPossible]

Nice, all those pics that you guys posted are the kinds of pics I WANT to take. Very nice, that is the kind of pics that inspired me to buy the lens in the first place.

Here are a few pics I just took using smaller apertures... i think I used 11f and 18f... can't remember. They did come out much better. Under less than ideal circumstances, would you say this is typical for this lens? So there is nothing wrong with the lens, its all me and my newb technique right?

Thanks again for all the suggestions and insight... I wouldn't have guessed that a 16f aperture would be what you would want... but then again, I have no clue what I am doing... which is why I made this post lol. All very helpful suggestion and I certainly appreciate it!!!

Here are the pics I just took... sorry the grasshopper is a bit mutilated, he has been threw hell during my learning experience lol

 

[FlightIsPossible]

To me, those pics still look like garbage. The detail I would expect just isn't there. And forget trying to trim the pic, the detail just gets worse.