Insect Macro Photography Basics in 10 Minutes

i have no diffuser so i use a white plastic bag and it works perfectly, also you can use a white plastic bottle too

sorry for the new comment here on an older video. is there a way to get macro lenses with cameras that don't have interchangable lenses? mostly because most cameras with interchangeable lenses are up in the thousands of dollars, but I have a camera that doesn't have an interchangable lens currently :(

Good explanation

Terimakasih telah berbagi.......

how do i go around a the very small field of focus?
i have a sigma 105mm 2.8 macro, i shoot at 1:1 and even at f11 the field of focus isn't enough. Last time i shoot some grasshoppers and only the eye is on focus, even the other parts of the face aren't in focus

No diffuser is far better.

Utan tvivel har du sett en vivel ?

Bryan

We need a tool connecting the camera with the leaf supporting the insect.

Thanks for this video. Lots of photographers whose macro shots are bad are suggesting lenses, but your photos prove you know what you're talking about. I hope I didn't make a mistake by buying a Sigma 105mm macro for a full-frame Sony.

Hi, I have a 85mm ef canon lens. With which add-on can I get a macro lens that allows me to get much closer to objects? There are 6d mark 2 bodies.

can i use a nikon d7200 for this stuff

Terrific video! thank you for sharing your knowlege.

Thank you so much sir i mean alots ❤

I always carry Sigma 180 2.8 Macro whenever I travel. It serves me as a macro and portrait lens. It’s heavy but the optical quality is great.

Parabéns ❤️ 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Cool. Very intresting and very helpfull video review. Sometimes I forget that the camera is not the most important thing. Now, at the camera selection stage, there are two Fuji xt-5 or Sony A7IV candidates. You cool man. Good luck on photo-hunting. Thank you.

Love your videos Michael! Have you done/would you consider doing an episode on macro without flash? I’m usually out hiking with friends or family and I don’t have time or desire to set up a flash and diffuser, though I do have an Olympus 60mm macro lens for my OM-5 that is so small I don’t mind carrying it and it’s even pretty nice for portraits too. Or can you just tell me that I should give up on macro without a flash? Thank you!

this is very useful! thank you

Thank you so much for providing the settings! Just got my first macro lens and a cheap over-the-lens diffuser. But I was over-worrying the flash and exposure settings. Your recommendations were perfect to get me going.

Now if I can only learn to avoid bumping the foliage with the diffuser…

I think the idea is NOT to be able to focus as close as possible, but to get a sharp image as big in the frame as possible. It is even better to have a longer distance in between the lens and the subject so the insects are not disturbed

sounds interesting thanks you seem like a nice guy :)

Great video! So we'll explained too. I bought some Kenko extension tubes, a cheap Godox flash and a diffuser like yours. I combined them with my Canon 24-105 lens using your settings and got great results straight away. Much, much more practice needed though. I never knew there was so much too it!
Keep up the good work, Micael 🙂👍

Micael, does it have to be a flash. Why not use an LED Lumecube type steady light? No sync required. Mine has a removable translucent plastic diffuser cap. Might that replace the unwieldy diffuser issue as well?

Great stuff. Just ordered the Laowa 90mm RF mount per your suggestion. I owned my own studio for 24 years and have been shooting for 37 years AND YET I have never experimented with Macro until now. (well in a few days when I get the lens) - Thank you sir for inspiring me to try something new! I turned on the bell for my subscription and signed up for your newsletter. In one video it looked like I saw a book maybe that you published. Any details on that if you have one? Great stuff. Thanks again.

Hej Micael, strålande video! Men du, macro deffuser, vad heter et på svenska och finns det någon svensk site?

just built my kit out.. using my old canon 5d mark II i picked up an even older canon 100mm f2.8 macro (the old non USM model from the 90's). my flash is a 430ex III-RT.

so far its been fun, its heavy as heck tho, i tried my wifes t3i, i knocked about a 1lb off the setup, but i just cant do crop sensor after going full frame, no matter what the usefulness is for crop sensor cameras lol.
ordering a table top tripod now from amazon and looking at slide rails now too lol

you made a lot of this very easy to follow and learn..

whats your take on diopters filters like the raynox or canon brand? (im a canon snob and would have to have the canon brand ones lol).

cheers
john

very helpful - many thanks!

Thanks mate ❤

I use iphone 14 and kase macro filter, and they also work in macro photography!

hi, could you test the Godox Ring48 flash please ? and what is the best for macro : ring flash or cobra flash + diffuser ?

Excellent Micael, thank you very much

Love your macro videos. My problem is that I don’t have the strength to hold my camera with one hand!

Thank you very much, Micael, for your very helpful videos! I am starting out on this wonderful journey of macro photography. One question I have is: some time ago when you first reviewed the Godox V350, you pointed out a couple of concerns about this flash but I see now it's one of your favourites. I got the Meike MK320 and I am also considering buying this Godox flash for macro and general use. Do you think it's worth it? In fact, I am interested in the TT version because it's a lot cheaper. And I'm wondering if I should wait and invest in a more powerful flash instead, like the V860ii or V860iii. Your video content is wonderful and your advice is much appreciated!!!

LOL I don't use or own anything what you said and I have pretty nice macro pictures of flowers and insects. No flash, No DSLR or Mirror camera, No defuse light thing..... I do it the hard way, just 1 cheap bridge camera and the Raynox DCR-250 , its extremely dificult to focus and takes sweat and exercise, but hey, I take 20-40 photo's of one insect for 20 seconds or so, got 2-5 good ones, sometimesq better then a guy with gear of 800+ bucks, im sitting at 275 bucks LOL, the pleasure and satisfaction is in how difficult you make it yourself NOt Money to do easy way, Its cheating for me, I do it like sport is done ;) The real deal not the gears deal, a real mens work

Now you settle on using the AK or Cygnustech diffusers. What's the pro and cons of using these on-camera diffusers against off camera ones like the globe diffuser you used in the past ?

Your video inspired me to get me a used e-M5 mk 2 / 60 mm macro and a V350flash because as a Nikon Z9 shooter with a 105 mm makrolens and a V860 flash my hand and wrist gets very tired from theese 3 kgs of weight . I am impressed over the Olympus so far. But I am wondering, because when stacking is selected, the shutter will not adjust to any shorter than 1/20. That gives some rather overexposed images - trial and error with that, and the bug has flown away. This weekend I tried an E-M1 mk2 - like yours - and that one would accept adjustment to 1/50, wich is one+ stop better, but still a very slow shutterspeed compaired to the normal sync speed. How do you get around that?

Some insects are in fact friendly😁

Great video

I have TT Artisan 50mm F2.8 Macro and I think it's a manual focus. Any effect on motion blur with manual focus lens or because of stabilizer? Thank you Sir.

A useful reminder to use a flash and diffuser, which I often don't. A Question: Can you use extension tubes with a dedicated macro lens and if so what effect would that have? Thanks for another very good video.

Hi during night do this white balance of 5500 work for macro photography

I think you made this video for me...because I can't figure out this damn OM-1 and 60mm yet hahaha

Simply spectacular!!!

excellent video as always thanks for sharing SAVED

Hi Micael. Thanks again for your helpful videos.
I wanted to ask you about focus bracketing and the use of flash: I use a Panasonic G9 which, like your Olympus, has focus bracketing. However, I noticed that it does not activate if I mount my flash (YONGNUO YN560 IV) on the camera. It's a completely manual flash so I wonder if we need a TTL flash to make the focus bracketing work at the same time as the flash. Of course, this incompatibility seems strange to me because it should only start the pulse, what changes if I set the flash power manually? Anyway, when you do macro with the Godox V350o flash do you set it to TTL? Thanks if you can answer me.

These refreshers are always such a good reality check. I really have to start using diffusers to get the improvement you have demonstrated. Being lazy and good photography do not go hand in hand, I'm learning that 🙂
Very useful video

Nice introduction, I can imagine a lot more people enjoying macro photography with this information. Your approach is what really got me into it.