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Macro Photography
At left are a couple of Ant Robots built at the MIT AI Lab by
James McLurkin. Photographed with Canon EOS-5 and Canon
50/2.8 macro lens (lit by off-camera 430 EZ flash). This lens only
goes to 1:2.
At right is a detail of the ant claws, which was taken with the
Raynox MicroExplorer. The Raynox is a set of close-up lenses
available for about $150. I mounted the 6X lens on a Canon 35-
350L zoom lens (the kit also comes with 12X and 24X lenses). Yes, in the end I stuck a
magnifying glass in front of my lens.
More
Here is the original ant claw picture. You can see that vignetting was severe at f/16. Fortunately, I
could see this in the viewfinder to a large extent with the DOF preview and Adobe PhotoShop
papers over a lot of photographic sins. Vignetting is the principal drawback of the MicroExplorer
and it is apparently worse at small apertures.
A couple more example MicroExplorer shots (at left is an Ant robot
detail; at right is a quarter on a $20 bill, full frame at f/8 (I think)). Note
that vignetting is not as severe as it was at f/16 (above left).
● Macro threads in the Q&A forum
● review of Canon MP-E 65 1X-5X macro lens
Macro photography is an equipment-intensive endeavor. If you need to add to your armamentarium, check out the photo.net
recommended retailers.
Top photo: Salmon roe. Nikon 60/2.8, Fuji Velvia, SB-24 flash, SC-17 extension cord, from Travels with Samantha, Chapter XII.
Frog: Canon EOS 50 macro. 430EZ with Off Camera Cord 2. From my Costa Rica story.
Orchids: Canon EOS 50 macro. Tripod and natural light. Fuji Velvia. From Hacienda Baru in Costa Rica.
Text and pictures copyright 1991-1997 Philip Greenspun.
philg@mit.edu
© 2000-2003 Luminal Path Corporation and contributors. Member content used with permission.
http://www.photo.net/macro/primer (7 of 8)15/11/2004 6:47:08 PM