Hi all, I've been meaning to try to sharpen my photography skills, which meant upgrading my old Lumix P&S. I recently bought a Sony NEX-6, and was trying out a local friend's macro lens. However, even with the lens the pictures appeared slightly blurry. Any suggestions for a specific macro lens (or any other lens, for that matter) that I should look into? Thanks! -CB
I really like the Sigma 150 macro but I don't think your friends lens is the problem. I'll guess camera shake is causing part of the problem. Are you using manual focus.
Two good observations made here: -- Manual focus: Override autofocus. Particularly important with slabbed coins. -- Vibration: I do two things: >>>> I have a remote shutter release. Mine is wireless but a cable will work well. >>>> I set a delay for the exposure of a couple seconds after shutter release. Gives it a chance to settle. Particularly important if you don't have a remote shutter release. And don't bump your table.
To echo what Kanga said, my photos got better (not that they are great NOW haha) when I use the Timer feature on my camera. They all have them I think. I don't have a macro lens but the timer / remote is necessary when aiming for details, no pun intended. -L
Thanks for all the responses! I believe I was using manual focus, though I might have tried both when I shooting some sample pictures. I also have a tripod which, for some strange reason, has gone unused for quite some time now -- I'll try using that + timer to steady the camera while shooting. I'll be looking into the Sigma 150 lens as well! Thanks again for the tips! -CB
A tripod is good to use for steadiness. But I prefer a camera stand. For me tripods always cause difficulties. There is ALWAYS a leg in the way, either in the shot or casting a shadow,
This is my favorite lens. It gives me lots of room between the lens and the coin to play with the lighting. The only problem is the weight and the price. It requires a really sturdy stand.
There's some great advice here. As ldhair mentioned, the 105 mm sigma is a popular lens. I'm using the 40mm nikon macro lens which I just got for christmas. It's definitely not an ideal length for macro, but the 105mm is beyond my price range. Make sure you have very good lighting. You can buy or make a light box. It will help diffuse the light properly. Just google "light box for macro" and you will see how to make one from a cardboard box. Using proper lighting will make a huge difference. As others mentioned, using a tripod or copystand is pretty much a must. As for focusing, use a live view to zoom in and manually focus. Autofocus really won't cut it with macro. You will also want to use a pretty narrow aperture. If the aperture is too wide, you will have an extremely shallow depth of field. You won't need a very large field for coins, but if it is too small it will make getting sharp pictures very challenging. For instance, if you use a 105mm lens 12 inches away from your subject and an aperture of f/8, you will have a depth of field of just 7/64ths of an inch. At f/22 you will have 19/64ths of an inch. Using an aperture this narrow will mean you will need a lot of light.
If you understand what depth of field is [ zone of focus ] you can obtain better photos. You will need small f stops like f11 f16 .Set your ISO at a much higher number and use a tripod or very good lighting.
With a 150mm macro lens I would not expect depth of field to be a problem. I've got a 60mm Nikkor macro (they call it micro) and I DO have to consider depth of field. Took me a while to figure out why the center of the coin was in focus but the rims were fuzzy. I finally made the adjustment and all's well now.
