First Macro shots

photatographer · 15th February 2009

Hi, everyone. Just gotten my Raynox dcr250 and is using it with a 250mm telephoto lense. Below are the pics C&C welcomed.

All of them shot handheld with flash.

Small Spider with a crumpled looking rear end.

Would have preferred the focus to be at the eye ... Ant keep moving ... Hand keep shaking.

Found a fly with a droplet of liquid at its mandibles in my house. Snap it in time before it took flight. As if a fly isn't gross enough ...

Unknown white bug, saw this on several other post but nobody seems to know what it is.

teebs · 15th February 2009

For handheld pics at 250mm is considered good already especially for a first timer...

But just like to point out that my personal experience is that it is very difficult to take macros @ 250mm with the Raynox. If your lens is a zoom lens, you could try using at 150mm which would be very much easier to get the focus as well as the DOF right.

photatographer · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by teebs

For handheld pics at 250mm is considered good already especially for a first timer...

But just like to point out that my personal experience is that it is very difficult to take macros @ 250mm with the Raynox. If your lens is a zoom lens, you could try using at 150mm which would be very much easier to get the focus as well as the DOF right.

Thanks for the generous remarks. I'm using the Sony SAL 18250. However, I found that if I were to shoot at anything other than 250mm + infinity focus I will have a solid black circle framing my shot. Is this normal for the dcr250?

sgfreestyler · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Thanks for the generous remarks. I'm using the Sony SAL 18250. However, I found that if I were to shoot at anything other than 250mm + infinity focus I will have a solid black circle framing my shot. Is this normal for the dcr250?

ya .. it is normal.. so from there, u will crop out ur photo..

ur photo are kina OOF. how do u focus when using raynox250, by using the focus ring?

photatographer · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by sgfreestyler

ya .. it is normal.. so from there, u will crop out ur photo..

ur photo are kina OOF. how do u focus when using raynox250, by using the focus ring?

Erm... moving my body forward and backwards... So the dark circle is normal thanks. Does it happen to every lense?

sgfreestyler · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Erm... moving my body forward and backwards... So the dark circle is normal thanks. Does it happen to every lense?

ya.. is happen. the dark ring is caused by the universal adapter...

teebs · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Erm... moving my body forward and backwards... So the dark circle is normal thanks. Does it happen to every lense?

I also use my EF-S 55-250 lens and Raynox DCR250 occasionally but I don't get the dark circle when I reach ard 135mm. But then my lens diameter is only 58mm...

Not too sure what is the lens diameter of your lens is though. But I reckon if your lens diameter is 67mm, then it could be possible that at 250mm, it will still show a black circle.

photatographer · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by teebs

I also use my EF-S 55-250 lens and Raynox DCR250 occasionally but I don't get the dark circle when I reach ard 135mm. But then my lens diameter is only 58mm...

Not too sure what is the lens diameter of your lens is though. But I reckon if your lens diameter is 67mm, then it could be possible that at 250mm, it will still show a black circle.

Mine is 62mm, will show black circle at 250mm even if I turned the focus ring even a little bit from infinity. Anything below 250mm (Even 220mm) will show the black circle regardless of focus position.

teebs · 15th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Mine is 62mm, will show black circle at 250mm even if I turned the focus ring even a little bit from infinity. Anything below 250mm (Even 220mm) will show the black circle regardless of focus position.

To be frank, in order to get max magnification, you are supposed to turn your focus ring to the min focusing distance, not infinity focus. At infinity focus, you are actually gtting min magnification at that focal length.

photatographer · 16th February 2009

Originally Posted by teebs

To be frank, in order to get max magnification, you are supposed to turn your focus ring to the min focusing distance, not infinity focus. At infinity focus, you are actually gtting min magnification at that focal length.

Oh, focus also affect magnification too! Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Saw that the marcos shots in this forums are very sharp. Do I need to use tripod to achieve that kind of sharpness?

tagorean · 16th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Thanks for the generous remarks. I'm using the Sony SAL 18250. However, I found that if I were to shoot at anything other than 250mm + infinity focus I will have a solid black circle framing my shot. Is this normal for the dcr250?

I did some exploration with my Four-Thirds Lens http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=458602. I find it useful to understand what putting the Raynox 250 in front of your lenses will do to your images.
Not sure if it's of help to you.

photatographer · 17th February 2009

Originally Posted by tagorean

I did some exploration with my Four-Thirds Lens http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=458602. I find it useful to understand what putting the Raynox 250 in front of your lenses will do to your images.
Not sure if it's of help to you.

Wow, saw the overview very comprehensive. Really gives me a good idea of how the dcr250 behaves under different situations. Thanks.

teebs · 17th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Oh, focus also affect magnification too! Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Saw that the marcos shots in this forums are very sharp. Do I need to use tripod to achieve that kind of sharpness?

Ideally u don't need that. I never take macros using tripods yet...

But if you use the DCR250 with your 250mm lens at the 250mm end, you're going to be faced with an extremely thin DOF which means you'll probably need to stop down your lens to f/16 and below in order to get a reasonable DOF that will enable you to focus properly. Thus, in this case, you may need to use a tripod if your shutter speed is very low.

I seldom use the DCR250 with my 55-250mm lens beyond 150mm.

photatographer · 17th February 2009

Originally Posted by teebs

Ideally u don't need that. I never take macros using tripods yet...

But if you use the DCR250 with your 250mm lens at the 250mm end, you're going to be faced with an extremely thin DOF which means you'll probably need to stop down your lens to f/16 and below in order to get a reasonable DOF that will enable you to focus properly. Thus, in this case, you may need to use a tripod if your shutter speed is very low.

I seldom use the DCR250 with my 55-250mm lens beyond 150mm.

Tried it with my 'beercan' no vignetting at 150mm

Can apply your advise liao

I was shooting F22 + half power flash overhead... You use available light only?

teebs · 17th February 2009

Originally Posted by photatographer

Tried it with my 'beercan' no vignetting at 150mm Can apply your advise liao

I was shooting F22 + half power flash overhead... You use available light only?

You can use available light only when the light is behind you and the subject is in the light.

When I use the external flash with my 40D, typically I set the flash power to 1/4 to 1/8. This is beacuse I use the flash as fill flash only meaning I use it to lighten the shadows only.

photatographer · 19th February 2009

Tired taking using 100mm and F13 plus Using tripod, turn out much better than F22 (The bad chroma is gone). Now it is beginning to look sharp

photatographer · 23rd February 2009

Taken at 105mm, F11, Handheld with flash.

What you guys think? Better than the first batch?

teebs · 23rd February 2009

Obviously. The DOF is much better when u use at 105mm compared to 250mm and thus focusing becomes easier...

parampita · 24th February 2009

Good job, my friend. Much more focused than your previous shots.

Originally Posted by photatographer

Taken at 105mm, F11, Handheld with flash. What you guys think? Better than the first batch?

photatographer · 25th February 2009

Originally Posted by parampita

Good job, my friend. Much more focused than your previous shots.

Thanks, I'll continue to work at it

15th February 2009	#1
photatographer Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Singapore, West Posts: 389	First Macro shots Hi, everyone. Just gotten my Raynox dcr250 and is using it with a 250mm telephoto lense. Below are the pics C&C welcomed. All of them shot handheld with flash. Small Spider with a crumpled looking rear end. Would have preferred the focus to be at the eye ... Ant keep moving ... Hand keep shaking. Found a fly with a droplet of liquid at its mandibles in my house. Snap it in time before it took flight. As if a fly isn't gross enough ... Unknown white bug, saw this on several other post but nobody seems to know what it is. Last edited by photatographer; 15th February 2009 at 09:41 PM.

15th February 2009	#2
teebs Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,377	Re: First Macro shots For handheld pics at 250mm is considered good already especially for a first timer... But just like to point out that my personal experience is that it is very difficult to take macros @ 250mm with the Raynox. If your lens is a zoom lens, you could try using at 150mm which would be very much easier to get the focus as well as the DOF right.

19th February 2009	#16
photatographer Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Singapore, West Posts: 389	Re: First Macro shots Tired taking using 100mm and F13 plus Using tripod, turn out much better than F22 (The bad chroma is gone). Now it is beginning to look sharp

23rd February 2009	#17
photatographer Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Singapore, West Posts: 389	Re: First Macro shots Taken at 105mm, F11, Handheld with flash. What you guys think? Better than the first batch?

23rd February 2009	#18
teebs Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,377	Re: First Macro shots Obviously. The DOF is much better when u use at 105mm compared to 250mm and thus focusing becomes easier...