2020-05-01_N-Photo_the_Nikon_magazine

What to look for...

Here are some key ingredients

for your macro lens

AUTO OR

MANUAL?

Many of us would

seldom consider

buying a manual-

focus, rather than

autofocus, lens. For

macro shooting,

however, manual can

often be preferable.

FOCAL LENGTH

A macro lens with a

longer focal length will

have a larger minimum

focus distance,

enabling more

breathing space

between you and the

object you’re shooting.

MULTI-TALENTED

With a typical aperture

r a ti n g of a ro u n d f/2. 8 ,

most macro lenses

c a n a l s o b e u s ef u l fo r

portraiture, and even

action sports and

wildlife photography.

FIXED LENGTH

To ma x i mi ze t h e

working distance

between the end of the

lens and what you’re

shooting, internal

focusing is beneficial,

so the lens doesn’t

physically extend.

VIBRATION

REDUCTION

Optical or in-cameras

stabilization is great

for general handheld

shooting but, for

extreme close-ups, it’s

relatively ineffective

and a poor substitute

for a tripod.

BEST FIT

FX format lenses work

equally well on DX

format bodies and are

often preferred for

macro photography,

a s th ey te n d to h ave

longer focal lengths.

f/8

f/5.6

f/11

f/16 f/22

f/2.8

ome zoom lenses bear the title

‘macro’, even though they only

deliver a max magnification of

around 0.3x or 1:3.3. Similarly,

some macro prime lenses only give a max

magnification factor of 0.5x or 1:2. All of the

lenses we’ve chosen deliver a full 1.0x

magnification. But if you’re shooting with a

DX body, the 1.5x crop of the smaller sensor

gives greater effective magnification.

Macro shooting demands a high level of

precision. Depth of field can be wafer-thin,

even when using medium to narrow

apertures, so focusing is critical. Indeed,

you can be better off using manual focusing

instead of AF, and selecting a magnified Live

View image to accurately focus on the most

critical part of the object you’re shooting.

Some upmarket Nikon cameras,

including the D850, Z 6 and Z 7, have a

‘Focus shift shooting’ menu option. This

enables you to set up a series of sequential

shots in which the focus distance is slightly

altered from frame to frame. The resultant

collection of images can then be merged to

enlarge the effective depth of field with a

process called ‘focus stacking’.

Another challenge is that even slight

movement caused by camera-shake,

mirror-bounce or shutter-shock can

decrease the sharpness of an image. For

extreme close-ups, a tripod, or other sturdy

support, is all but essential. Most Nikon

DSLRs, apart from the most entry-level

models, have an ‘Exposure delay mode’

menu option, which creates a pause

between the reflex mirror flipping up and

the shutter opening. This gives the camera

a chance to settle and for any vibrations to

die down, effectively eliminating mirror-

bounce. You can also use Live View mode,

so the mirror remains in its upward position.

To reduce shutter-shock, the same

cameras mentioned above have an option

for using an electronic front curtain for the

exposure. ‘Silent’ shooting with a fully

electronic shutter can also available. Even

so, you need to eliminate any movement on

the part of the subject you’re shooting. An

effective way of doing this is to use a fast

shutter speed under lighting, or to use a

flashgun, which can help to freeze any

movement thanks to the short duration

of its pulse of light.

Macro prime marvel

Understand how and why you can bring minute models to life

S

'HSWKRIȩHOG

Getting front-to-back sharpness for

objects in macro shooting can be rough

At, or near the shortest focus distance of a macro lens,

depth of field becomes tiny. For example, shoot with a

100mm macro lens at its closest focus distance of around

30cm, and the depth of field is just 4mm, even when using

an aperture of f/11. This series of shots taken of a

matchbox-sized model car at 0.5x magnification shows

the effect of aperture settings on depth of field.

BIG TEST