My macro gear

[morfa]

I always enjoy reading about other photographer's gear and technique so I thought I'd share some of my own. It's nothing special but hopefully you'll get something out of it!


Click image for a larger view

This is my favorite macro gear for the time being. Note that I usually use either flash or tripod though, so combining them like this was more in order for me to cram as much as possible into a single image. And I do of course make a lot of variations on this theme. Sometimes I use a Micro-nikkor 55mm f3.5 or a Tamron 90mm f2.5 instead of the little Nikkor GN 45mm f2.8 shown here. Sometimes I leave the Raynox DCR-250 out and sometimes I switch it for a Raynox MSN-202 or Nikon 4T Close-up. Also the polarizer and the angle-finder are far from permanent but comes on and off as I see fit.

The mounts on the bottom of the mini-ballhead and on the PN-11 are both female so a small fix is required to attach them together: just saw off the head of a regular 1/4" bolt. The threaded stump you are left with is a male-male tripod adapter. If you are worried about it getting stuck in either piece of equipment you can file a groove in both ends to be able to loosen/tighten it with a screwdriver.

Since both the slot on the ballhead and the tripod-mount on the PN-11 turns 360° this setup provides good flexibilty when it comes to flash positioning.


Click image for larger view

Prior to this setup I've tried many different solutions with flash brackets, flexible arms, grips etc but this is by far the one I like the most. A problem with many of these setups is that they tend to become ungainly to work with since the weight center often gets shifted quite a bit from the central axis of the camera/lens. This puts a torque on the gear that can be quite exhausting when used for extended periods of time.

This is the simple, home made diffusor I often keep mounted on the SB-400 to avoid harsh highlights and shadows. Here I've put the flash on a gorilla-pod but I usually use this diffusor in combination with the setup above.


Click for larger view!

The diffusor is made from a plastic ice cream container with an elliptical footprint. I think a rounded diffusor shape is better than a square one since rounded highlights (in droplets, eyes and other highly reflective objects) looks more natural to me.

At the center of the bottom of the container I've made an opening to fit the diffusor onto the flash head (I used a sharpie for this). The SB-400 conveniently has indentations on either the side of the head so if the size of the opening is carefully selected the diffusor will stay on the flash without any additional support.

The lid of the ice cream container constitutes the most important part of the diffusor. I got the idea for this from the way dentist's lights usually look. There are also setups used for fashion/portrait shooting called "beauty dishes" that are based on the same principle (link to beauty-dish DIY-tutorial on DIYphotography.net).

The idea is to prevent "hard", unidirectional light coming straight from the flash to hit the subject and to instead increase the proportion of multidirectional or diffused light.

I've cut out most of the lid leaving the edges, the central part and two narrow strips keeping them together. To increase the diffusion I've covered the openings with a sheet of semi-transparent plastic film (stapled to the central part of the lid). On the inside of the central part of the lid I've put a V-shaped piece of cardboard covered in reflective aluminum foil and transparent tape. This is to increase the output power of the diffusor. Without it most of the light from the flash would bounce right back into the flash head. This way the light is forced to bounce around inside the container before making its way towards the subject. To further increase the output power I've lined the bottom and parts of the walls of the container with aluminum tape (I found the diffusion effect to be better if I didn't line the outmost portion of the walls but left some of the white plastic in the open).

Here are two boring shots just to illustrate the effect of the diffusor

Without diffusor

Click image to enlarge

With diffusor

Click image to enlarge

Here is how the shots were made (Fujifilm S5pro + Nikkor 28mm f2.8):



As you can see the diffusor is very close to the subject and this is necessary to get the desired effect (otherwise you'll need a much larger diffusor). This diffusor is designed to be used at very close working distances – primarily with the setup at the top of this post.

I should mention that even though this diffusor is quite effective in softening the light it's not ideal for all subjects. In some cases the shape of the diffusor's face can be become quite visible and annoying in shiny parts of the subject. This is very prominent in this shot of a jet black ant (Lasius fuliginusus) drinking sap:


Click image to enlarge

For subjects like this I now use a slightly different lid (yes - I had to buy and eat more ice cream ) where I've replaced the completely blocked mid section with a thin piece of white styrofoam (cut out of a take-away sushi tray) glued onto the semi-transparent plastic sheet. Good for use with chafers etc:


Click image to enlarge

I think that is about it. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions and see my "User gallery" beneath the avatar to the left for more examples!.

Cheers

/morfa

[overread]

Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm -- dear powers what have you created there!!
That is one impresive bit of customising kit cross platform. Must say that the idea of using the tripod collar to hold a flash mount is something that I am now keen to try out. Seems to keep things very much closer and simpler to the camera, rather than having longer arms and bits holding the flash. Though I am now thinking that my softbox might be a bit big for that kind of setup.

Your kit certainly gets you fantastic results! Thanks for sharing the details

[SteB]

Thanks very much for posting this morfa. I have been really impressed with the lighting on your macros. Its always interesting see the set ups others use because it gives you new ideas to use for my own approach. Very well put together and I'll have to digest it a bit more.

[overread]

been thinking about this type of setup some more - so far the only downside I can see is the lenshood. With a setup like this would the hood be likley to introduce a shadow effect with the flash - ergo your use of a lens shade.
I don't know if I want to shoot without my hood (its just too good at keeping things from hitting the front of my lens) or though maybe with a higher flash unit (like a 580) the shadowing would be less of a problem?

[William]

Very intresting reading, morfa! Thank you. I found the information about your diffusor particulary intresting and I got a horrible craving for ice-cream reading it. More round highlights are indeed more pleasing and this is nothing I have thought much about before.

[Juza]

Excellent post Morfa, very interesting and useful! In the next days I'm going to highlight this post with a link in home page - I have really appreciated it

[mackay123]

impressive set-up!, and fantastically explained and illustrated, you really know your stuff morfa!

[morfa]

Thank guys – I'm glad you found it worth reading through my long post

overread > Yes a hood would probably cause problems in more than one way. Besides casting a shadow, at the small working distances this setup is used (often <5cm) there really is not much room left in front of the lens. Some lenses need a hood to produce satisfying results and that seemingly disqualifies them for this kind of use. There are cheap, compact solutions that might work better than you'd think though:

A wide step-down ring (such as for instance a 52-28mm) works in exactly the same way the HN-35 shade pictured in the setup above. On crop-sensor bodies in particular you can often get away with a surprisingly narrow opening without introducing a vignette and this works very well to protect the front element from things like stray-light from a nearby flash head. A DIY-solution is to convert a lens-cap into a similar shade by simply making an opening in the center of it. This way you can have the opening in exactly the size you need (try it out with a piece of cardboard first). The shading can be made more efficient by placing the cap at a small distance from the lens. You can use stacks of empty filter-rings (filters with the glass removed) to do this. One last tip: For lenses with 52mm lens threads Nikon's ancient K-extension tubes are perfect for this (and for use as regular hoods for that matter)!

Juza > Apart from your photography what strikes me as most admirable with your site is your willingness to share your "secrets". I think this is very commendable since you are a professional and I'm sure that has helped to set the friendly, creative and helpful tone on this forum.


/morfa

[rosemarie]

Thanks, mofa! This is an excellent article (not just a 'post') that I'll be returning to and learning from again and again. (I have a supply of spreadable-cheese-container lids waiting to be employed.)

[overread]

Ok I might need talking out of this idea...

I have been thinking about trying the setup above and yet I think with a 580M2 as a flash it might be to tall for such a setup - plus I already see shadows on the underside of a shot whilst the flash is camera mounted - so I expect to see an increased shadow with the above setup. However I got to thinking - if I got a cheaper and smaller flash head, something like a 220EX and connected that to the tripod collar and then set the collar to sit below the lens - whilst keeping the 580 on the hotshoe on the camera and then use it to connect to the 220EX. I would then have a lightsource both above and below a shot - even if the 220EX has less power and can't give as much light as the 580 it would brighten up the lower half of a shot and counter a bit the shadow caused by the top flash. Also the 220EX is a lighter flash so weight increase would not be too much.
First big downside is that its going to make holding the setup a little tricky since the tripod collar and flash will both be sitting right where my hand will normally be - however the 150mm is a longist lens so I should be able to find space to fit my hand on.

Anyone think this idea has any merit or am I heading for something that will be more trouble than its worth - ie should I just hold off for a ringflash/twinhead flashes

[SteB]

I think the 580EX should work fine with the Sigma 150mm like this. Whilst I don't have the 580EX and only the 430EX I have just tried it and it is fine. Remember that because of the working distance of the 150mm the 580EX head would still be well in front of the subject. Far from getting more shadows with the flash closer, you will get far less shadows. The closer the flash is to the subject, the greater the effective reflector size is to the subject. Even the bare head of a normal flashgun can give fairly shadowless lighting if it is close enough to the subject. It is also worth bearing in mind that you can use more than one small ball head screwed together for a longer adjustable bracket - it works and I have tried it. In fact several small ball heads screwed together can be a cost effective alternative to some of the more expensive macro flash brackets available. Some sort of softbox either of the type morfa shows or a commercial one makes the effective reflector size even greater. I have known about this means of attaching a flash for a while but haven't used it because I keep the tripod collar free as I use it to attach the camera to a small monopod and Manfrotto shoulder brace I often use for macros.

The twinflash works well with the 150mm and I often use it with that. However, the main reason I use the twinflash with the 150mm rather than the single flash on a bracket is simply so I can quickly put on the MP-E 65mm if I need more magnification I and don't have to mess about changing flash brackets - it is simply a case of changing lenses and clipping the bracket onto the end of the other lens. However, unless you raise up the twin heads the light is quite flat on the 150mm as they are close to the lens axis and there is only a shallow angle (when you are using it with the MP-E 65mm the angle of the flash is far steeper and the reflector size effectively far bigger. If I was only using the 150mm I would choose to use the single flash on a bracket as it is capable of providing better lighting.

[overread]

Well I have at last got all the parts together to assemble the flash tripod ring holder as shown above.


Sadly that was the best background I could find - especailly for my sisters little point and shoot.

Anway first difference I noted was the weight - its now further forward and the flash is higher up off the camera, that tends to be most noticable when aiming the setup at a downward angle. When at the horizontal the change in weight is not too bad - though it does make one wish for a bit more weight in the camera (though not much!).
I did some quick and dirty tests with the flash in different vertial positions.
I shot handheld at a coin balanced on its edge and angled the camera downwards. I shot like this because its the closest to how I shoot in the field - a tripod and fixed angle (along with a coin that does not fall over) would be the ideal, but I wanted to see how it was for me shooting as normal. To change the angle of the flash I adjusted the ball head only.
I tested 3 different positions -note that I remained in the vertical for these tests (again the most common position the flash is likley to be in)

1) flash positioned as close to the lens as possible - a very forward angle.


2) flash positioned at a midpoint between 1 and 3.


3) flash positioned at the full vertical as shown in the display shot above


4) control shot - flash back on the normal camera mount


Opinion - firstly the biggest difference between the angles when shooting is not shown clearly in these shots, but its that that further forward the flash the more shadow it creats itself, especially if the shot is taken from an above position. When angled all the way forward its very difficult to frame the shot due to the lack of light.
Reflection wise the flash appears to be fairly standard at each of the positions - although the middle one shows more blown highlights I belive this is more due to the fact that I was metering the flash on the darker areas of the coin rather than the brighter - thus leading to the overexposure.
Its also clear that when in the fully vertial position the light from the flash is not striking the subject with the same degree of power - too much light is directed away from the subject which is a waste. When camera mounted the flash is lower down than it is on the collar setup and also positioned further back - so more light reaches the subject.
On the new setup - when shooting with flash from above - I think the best position is the middle selection - that being the one which gives the most light whilst also not inhibiting the focusing and framing of the shot.
Very quick tests with the flash in other postions around the lens (either side and below) show that the flash can be positioned closer in these cases because of the lack of a shadowing effect.

[morfa]

Thanks for the info overead! I'm looking forward to seeing some real world shots with it! I haven't tried this with the Sigma 150 myself (yet) but it looks like it could be worth a shot.

/morfa

[SteB]

Nice info overread. One of the reasons I got the 430EX for a normal flash is because of the weight of the larger flashguns when they are mounted high up. They create a lot of torque (twisting). I have used larger flashguns like the Metz 54MZ in a similar position and it puts a real strain on the wrist tendons after long periods of insect macro photography. The only reason I don't use this flash arrangement with the Sigma 150mm (I have tried it) is that I like to be able to mount the 150mm on a tripod when necessary. Generally I use the single flash for fill in at slower shutter speeds and I am nowhere near as good as morfa at handholding with these slower shutter speeds and end up with too much ghosting.

I've edited this to make a couple of points I forgot to mention before.

Firstly, because of the working distance of the 150mm a quite effective place for a normal flashgun is just in the hotshoe with a softbox. In fact if you just elongated the softbox slightly and angled it down it will almost be in the optimum position. However, it only really works well like this in the landscape orientation and in the portrait orientation it will give odd shadows.

Secondly, one of my brainwaves (and I apologise if someone else has thought of this already) is to use several small ball heads screwed together to make a longer arm that has far more positional flexibility than a single ball head. You can buy several small ball heads for much less than one those fancy over-engineered macro brackets that can cost more than the flash - plus they can be used for other things. I know it works because I've tried it. For instance using the tripod collar you could move the flash backwards and still angle it downwards. I think the ideal position for a larger flashgun would be for it to sort of horizontal just above the lens with the head in its raised position as it would give a much lower centre of gravity and be far more manageable.

[mindaugasdd]

This real "unimorf" morfa . I like to see other people macro setup's. Sometimes i can get some interesting ideas in my own setup, or maybe setup some similar to that, what i so.