Very first Macros Ever by me.....AT-X 100 PRO D

[mjbine]

I am just getting into macros and purchase the Tokina AT-X 100 PRO D Macro. I only used the pop-up and hand held. I have to order an OCF and start thinking about a better tripod and head. Please let me know what you think. I know that I need to get better and would love any C&C good or bad.

Both were shot at:
1/320
100 ISO
f8@100mm

Thanks for looking

 

[reedshots]

These are outstanding. you can only get better from here.

 

[arne saknussen]

Very nice and sharp. Are you using a ring flash?

 

[Overread]

Certainly off to a good (and bold) start; though some room to improve certainly.

The first thing that hits me is the contrast; in both shots its very high and the result is that you've lost details. Take a look at the blacks around the wasps faces, you can see the blacks running into each other and hiding the detail of the jaw sections. This is something that will increase as you resize down for a wedsize viewing and thus whilst it might look better fullsize, at this scale its really losing you those details.

Thus I'd recomend adjusting your editing to tone back on the contrast a bit with both shots; you might want to use some sharpening just after if you remove a lot of contrast*

At the shooting stage I suspect the high contrast is a result of both the ambient light and also your flash light; where the small size of the popup flash is giving you a very harsh fill light to work with. A few folds of white toilet paper secured infront of the popup flash can help to lessen this softness; though the offcamera flash you have on order; combined with a small diffusion setup (Eg a small softbox) will give you an even softer light to work with (simply put light from a larger light source is softer than one from a smaller sized light source)

*this is because sharpness, as we see it, is partly the result of strong contrast differences between two areas. Thus reducing the contrast might make the shot appear falsly softer than it was before.

 

[mjbine]

No I just used the pop-up flash on my D7000. I am ordering a flash once I get back from vacation along with a tripod and head.

 

[mjbine]

I thought about trying to diffuser the popup but thought since it was small, I didn't have to do that. I will try a bit of practice with the diffuser on a popup before I get the ocf. Thanks for the tips. do you have options about flash brackets for macro and also tripod and head?

 

[Overread]

What to get depends quite a bit on your budget, but for an ideal setup:

1) Flash mounts - My very flexible Macro flashbracket: Lighting Technique Forum: Digital Photography Review this RAM mount setup as shown in the link is one that is proving to be popular with many. It's also one that I've started using and I find it to be a great and versatile setup which is also strong enough to steadily hold the heavier flashes. Note that whilst its price might seem high compared to cheap brackets sold on ebay, my experience is that for most speedlite sized flashes the cheap ebay options are typically not sturdy enough in construction for close up macro work (they wobble far too much).

2) Tripod legs is a big area and tricky without an idea of budget. Manfrotto 055XPROB are a popular choice, but I would recommend an older manfrotto 055 model which does not have the angled centre column design, but rather the original setup which is a removable middle section and then a plate that is put onto the legs - this allows for a low height mounting, but also does not suffer from moving your tripod head to a 90degree angle off its normal position (which the newer design does at low heights).

3) Tripod heads is easy - Manfrotto Junior Geared head - not cheap, but the best budget option for pure macro work - the fine controls on each of the 3 axis makes it very easy to use for macro work and composing a photo; however the fine controls also mean that the head is useless for any motion tracking or fast setups. Otherwise I would go for a 3 way head if you have a smaller budget. I would avoid ballheads totally because whilst they are fast, they nearly all suffer from a small droop when you lock them down and release your hands from the setup. Normal shooting never shows this, but macro does and it makes a significant change to the framing (and its a right pain). Some of the top range ballheads are far better, but they also come with a heavier price tag

4) You'll also need a focusing rail for tripod work - and a cheap set of Adorama focusing rails or the same design from ebay (focusing rails in search will give you loads of vendors) are about the best (far better than the manfrotto) for budget; whilst going higher you hit the likes of the Novoflex rails (very good but very pricey).

 

[mjbine]

Thanks for the info. Just ordered the Ram-Mount stuff. That is really cool. Are you mounting that on a tripod collar? if so did your lens come with a tripod collar or did you purchase that also? The Tokina does not have a tripod collar and I didn't think I could purchase one after-market.

 

[Overread]

If the lens isn't made to take a collar (and not all 100mm macro lenses are) then you won't be fitting one. You might be able to get away with simply mounting the RamMount setup direct to the cameras tripod mount and then moving the joints to get the flash into a usable position. However if that fails a simple metal plate and screw setup (as shown in the link I posted) would certainly suffice for getting the mount a little further forward and giving you a bit more room to work with.
You might get more problems if you use a battery grip on your camera and this might necessitate you needing to get another socket and twin ball joint to add in. I've not done too much with the ram mount and my none-collared lenses mostly as they are both lighter, smaller macro lenses and I tend to shoot onehand with them (camera in one hand and flash in the other).