A first try at macro shooting.

[epiphany]

A butterfly captured flittering at Fort Canning Park

[rainman]

Not bad...just a bit out of focus...

good composition and good catch

[epiphany]

thanks rainman

[JAG]

nice colours

[JAG]

and good 1st try, i must add

[stroma]

Originally Posted by epiphany A butterfly captured flittering at Fort Canning Park

Agree with all the comments so far.. Nicely composed, just the right DOF, and beautiful colours.. could just be a bit sharper (focus-wise not Unsharp mask- wise). Isn't MACRO Fun??

[epiphany]

thanks for the comments guys you all are too kind. and yes, macro is undoubtedly fun ;P

by the way, any recommendations for a relatively cheap macro lens? i'm interested in obtaining one, but have no clue as to what might be good

[Steviemac]

I'll also add my praise for a first attempt at macro ,it takes a bit of practice and steady hand to get right , very nice

[evq]

i'm interested in shooting macro. Heard that i only need a extension tube between my camera & lens to shoot macro. Can anyone advice on what type to get. eg recommanded brand, type, price... Thanks in advance! I'm new.

[deadpixel]

Originally Posted by evq i'm interested in shooting macro. Heard that i only need a extension tube between my camera & lens to shoot macro. Can anyone advice on what type to get. eg recommanded brand, type, price... Thanks in advance! I'm new.

Extension tubes are ok for subjects that do not move or subjects that don't mind your being around them. E.g. flowers and other other still-life objects. If you're planning on shooting bugs, then get a dedicated macro lens with a medium telephoto range, such as Tamron's 90mm, Sigma's 105mm or Canon's 100mm.

When using a 50mm lens with tubes, you'd need to extend your lens by approximately 48mm to get 1:1. this results in the front of your lens moving in as close as 2cm from your subject. Any bug that isn't dead would be long gone. In contrast, a 105mm lens gives you a space of about 14cm between your subject and the front of your lens for 1:1 shots.

If you want a longer working distance and don't mind smaller 1:2 shots, you can also try out the reasonable Sigma 70-300mm APO Super II. It's priced at about SG$100 more than the set-of-three extension tubes from Kenko and Triplus. And for those dreaming about adding the extension tubes to the Sigma 70-300 to get incredible magnification, forget it. The longer the focal length of the lens, the less the magnification effect. With all three tubes in for a 68mm extension, you'd only get 1:1, up from 1:2.

[evq]

Understood. Thanks for the great advance, deadpixel.