Macro Gear Recommendations, Please?

[damon_kirschbaum]

I would appreciate your recommendations about what additional gear I should get to start

taking macro photos.

 

I currently have the following gear: Nikon N80, Nikkor AF 105mm f/2.8D, Nikon SB-80DX

Speedlight, Nikon SC-17 TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord, Gitzo 2220 tripod, and Manfrotto

3265 Grip Action Ball Head.

 

I have considered getting a macro flash bracket from Kirk Enterprises, an "L" bracket from

Kirsk Enterprises, a Nikon PN-11 extension tube, a flash arm from Really Right Stuff, and

other gizmos from Kirk Enterprises and Really Right Stuff. I obviously do not need all of

this stuff. I do want a solid macro photography setup, though. Unfortunately, my head is

now spinning.

 

What gear do you recommend that I get next?

 

If I got a macro flash bracket from Kirk Enterprises and a Nikon PN-11, would that be

adequate?

[vgoklani]

well, not to sound biased, but I think a Nikon 180mm lens with a PN-11 tube is pretty popular. In fact, I am selling my PN-11 tube with Really Right Stuff Plate, and Nikon 180mm AIS ED f/2.8 lens. Unfortunatly this lens will not meter with your N80 body, but the PN-11 tube and Really Right Stuff Plate will work well for you!

[erik_loza]

What type of subject matter are you planning on shooting? FWIW, I tried that grip-action ball head years ago and found myself fighting it most of the time. It moves the entire camera/lens (even worse with a camera and collared lens) off-axis of the tripod's center of stability, which cause the whole thing vibrate like the end of a lever in some cases or just plain fall over many times. I ended up going with a Kirk ball head (the BH-1, though I would've gotten the BH-3 were it available then) and can't say enough good things about it. Speaking only for myself, I just can't imagine doing any sort of serious macro work, particularly in the field or with available light, with out a solid tripod and good ball head. Geometry-wise, the closer the camera is to the axis of the three tripod legs, both vertically and laterally, the more vibration-dampening work the tripod can do for you. The farther away from this axis the camera is when the mirror flips up, the wind blows, you bump the tripod, etc., the more magnified that effect is. You might experiment around with your rig and see how that works but I would strongly suggest a good ball head. Good luck!

[michael_bradtke]

If you use a PN-11 I do not think you will have any metering. I do a lot of macro with a D100 and I use the same 105mm lens. It will get you to 1:1 all on its own. I also use a 12-mm extension tube from Kenko that lets me meter and A.F They make one the same size as the PN-11 but it has no tripod mount.

[damon_kirschbaum]

Erik: I plan to make photographs of nature subjects, such as plants, flowers, and critters. I

have considered getting a ballhead to use for macro photos instead of the grip head. I do

like the grip head, though. It is convenient for making quasi-candid pictures of people

where I do not have time to fiddle with a ballhead, but I want the stability of a tripod. I will

look into the Kirk BH-1 and BH-3 further. Thanks.

[damon_kirschbaum]

Michael: You are probably right about the lack of metering with the PN-11 on a Nikon

N80. It is probably best that I keep it simple and skip the PN-11 for now. Thanks.

[mskovacs]

To start? Just go for it! Its wasteful to buy any of this stuff without first identifying a need. Don't buy into the hype. You have a wonderfully versatile setup that can take you from 1:1 to infinity either with ambient or off-camera flash lighting.

[damon_kirschbaum]

Mike: I think you are essentially right. I do have enough gear to just get out and start. But,

I want a flash bracket because I do not want to hold the flash in my hand, and I would like

to be able to quickly and easily switch from horizontal to vertical without flopping the

head over.

 

An "L" bracket and a macro flash bracket might satisfy my needs for now.

[roland_vink]

If you really want to go beyond 1:1 and use the wonderful PN-11, I'd recommend getting a camera like the FE2 which will retain metering with manual gear. For macro work it works just as well as the N80, you don't really need fancy meting modes or AF. It has changeable viewfinder screens (get the E screen), DOF preview, TTL flash, aperture priority, a good center weighed meter, and mirror-lock-up with the self-timer.

 

A decent ball-head like the Markins, Kirk or Acratech would be another good move. All accept Arca-Swiss type quick release plates. I I use the Really Right Stuff B9 bidrectional plate on my FE2. It's small, light and cheap, and best, you can mount the camera with the clamp running fore-aft so you can use it as a mini focusing slider, perfect for fine tuning focus. I also have a plate for my PN-11, which also fits fore-aft direction.

 

Do some reading and reseach before you buy. I'd recommend reading the books by John Shaw. There is plenty of other good information here at photo.net. Good luck!

[stephen_steiner]

Your tripod, the Gitzo G2220, is a great tripod for macro work. I would suggest a ball head, such as an Arca-Swiss, Acratech or Kirk. I also think the Gitzo G1276M Off-Set ball head is wonderful for macro and would complement this tripod.

 

I think a macro focusing rail is invaluable and, although there are several good ones available (including Novoflex and RRS), the one I like the best is the Bogen 3419.

 

IMO, the best single-flash macro bracket is the Kirk Macro Flash Bracket and the best two-flash rig is the Bogen 3278 Macro Flash Bracket. Novoflex also makes a dynamite, modular multi-flash bracket, but it is heavier and somewhat slower to set-up - a consideration for hand-held macro work, such as insect macrophotography.

[greglyon]

I'd say, get out there and shoot at least a few rolls with your current setup, and if you haven't done so already, get John Shaw's <i>Closeups in Nature</i>. It really goes through LOTS of great ways to get close up, both cheap and expensive.

<p>

Once you've done that you'll be better poised to decide which of the myriad of brackets, tubes, diopters, sliders etc may benefit you most.

<p>

I like adding the 4T Diopter to my 105 Micro when I want to go a bit beyond 1:1. I also bought a male/male filter ring to allow reverse mounting a 50mm on the 105 (and my 200 ais) for when I want to get really close. Either of those are relatively cheap additions to your kit to get more magnification. I also use Kenko AF tubes sometimes.

[david_h._hartman]

<em>If I got a macro flash bracket from Kirk Enterprises and a

Nikon PN-11, would that be adequate? --Damon Kirschbaum<br>

</em><br>

I like the Kirk FB-9 single arm flash bracket with Wimberley

Clamps and plates. I use Stroboframe ball heads for the SC-17 and

flash. The ball is a 17mm ball. The Wimberley plates accommodate

the Kirk macro flash arms and several others.<br>

<br>

I personally dont like a ball head for macro. The head I

like the best is a Linhof Professional Panhead II. Its a 2-Way

pan tilt head. A 3-Way head isnt needed with 105 & PN-11

to 400mm lenses with a tripod collar. On the cheap a Bogen 3126

Micro Fluid Head works fine with a clamp. <br>

<br>

<em>"If you use a PN-11 I do not think you will have any

metering." -- Michael Bradtke<br>

</em><br>

Ambient is gone and I think you have a single spot flash TTL

meter left. <br>

<br>

<em>"I'd recommend getting a camera like the FE2 which will

retain metering with manual gear." --Roland Vink<br>

</em><br>

The FE2 works fine for macro. It gives standard TTL center-weighted

flash metering and of course ambient. I love the FE2. The F3 with

AS-17 will do the same. With the F3 you can add a DW-4, 6x finder.<br>

<br>

Before spending any money I recommend picking up a copy of John

Shaws <u>Closeups In Nature</u>.<br>

<br>

Here is scan of my economy lens cradle made from the base of a

Stratos 835R flash bracket and some 6061 T6 stock. The tube shown

is the PN-11. The white arrow points to where the Kirk FB-9 and

10 macro flash bracket attaches. Yes I hand filed the grove for

an Acra-Swiss clamp. It looks ugly but works perfectly.<br>

<br>

Best,<br>

<br>

Dave Hartman.<div></div>

[david_h._hartman]

A 400/5.6 ED AI Nikkor with a PK-12, PK-13 and PN-11 will give

0.35x with 2.2m of free working distance. A 300/4.5 ED-IF AI will

give 0.5x and a free working distance of 962mm with the same set

of tubes. Thats what the bracket shown about is designed

for. <br>

<br>

The bright block between the red bar and PN-11 can be attached to

a Wimberley P-10 plate or it can be used hand held with the 105/4.0

AI Micro and Kirk FB-9. <br>

<br>

Here is a link to Wimberley...<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.tripodhead.com/index.html" target="_new"><u>Wimberley

Swiss-Acra Plates & Clamps</u></a><br>

<br>

Hope this helps,

[yoni_perlmutter]

the posters above have given you excellent advice and some have mentioned john shaw's book. this is a "must read".

 

tripod/head stability is of the utmost importance. your gitzo is certainly more than adequate for this. for most non-macro/close-up

shooting i happily use an acratech or leica ball head, but for close-up i use the manfrotto (junior) geared head.

 

i use a variety of lenses/accessories to get close and unless i'm

engaged in "critical" work (this often being defined as

"work-for-pay") most lenses/accessories perform quite well enough.

 

in use is a 75-300, an 80-200,105M, 180,and 300 together with some

combination(s) of achromats (500D, 4T and step-downs), 2 TC's -

don't forget these for macro work - and the mighty PN-11 (with kirk

plate). if the shoot is planned i carefully choose my tools, usually

with working distance being the foremost consideration.

 

no matter which SLR kit i'm using, i always have at least

one of these lenses & accessories with me.

 

also for this type of shooting i use an F3HP with 'E' screen

with the 6X chimney (DW4) for "critical" stuff or sometimes

my F801 but in manual mode.

 

IMHO the F3 has about the best viewfinder i've ever looked through and

the F801's is more than good enough. probably the F4/F5's have good

viewfinders as well.

 

for the F3 i use an SB17/22s and for the F801 i use the SB22s,

always off camera.

 

i normally don't go beyond, say 1.5-2:1 and am usually at around 1:1.

 

the PN-11 is great in that it not only gives you 52mm of extension

but it also allows to to slip painlessly into vertical orientation.

 

but you might like to use the PN-11 with a manual camera as you would

lose all metering with the F80 i believe.

 

have fun with your photography.

[yoni_perlmutter]

i should like to add one more point. i know that MLU is a frequently

discussed subject and that it seems to attract a wealth of posts.

 

i do quite a bit of close-up photography and i do use MLU but very,

very infrequently. in almost every case where i use fill-lash (nearly

all the time) i do not lock the mirror on the F3. i check my slides

with a 4X schneider loupe and i scan with a 4000 dpi scanner and i'll

be damned if i can tell the difference between using MLU and not.

 

i have used MLU when shutter speeds were low and the use of flash

was not possible and for longer lenses + accessories where the

combination hangs off the lens mount in an "awkward" way.

 

in these circumstances (amplified resonance) i use MLU, but it's more

intuition than science.

[david_h._hartman]

The price of Arca-Swiss style ball heads, clamps and plates add up fast. If you can make parts as I did, save your money for tubes, SC-17, maybe a flash arm.

[damon_kirschbaum]

Would I be able to meter with a Nikon FM3A, a Nikon PN-11, and a Nikkor AF 105mm f/

2.8? I already have an FM3A. Perhaps using the FM3A would be better than using the N80.

[arnabdas]

Assuming one is interested in doing handheld, all-flash macro work with the 105/2.8 micro (with or without PN-11) -- both the N80 and the FM3A are viable tools. The FM3A will probably have a slight edge over the N80 for faster films and/or bright ambient light -- due to higher sync speed. The FM3A also has a better viewfinder but for maximum focusing ease you should replace the standard K3 screen with a B3 (or E3 with gridlines) screen in the FM3A.

 

Though the PN-11 does not transmit CPU information, the N80 will still be able to do straight TTL in all-flash lighting situations.

 

A flash bracket is a necessity esp. when using the PN-11 for beyond 1:1 magnifications, because a shoe-mounted flash would not clear the edge of the lens due to short WD. I have no experience with commercial brackets but my eldest brother (a surgeon by profession) has made me a butterfly bracket which is a joy to use. Try using a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce diffuser for more pleasing lighting.

 

The FM3A is a bit tricky to use in macro fill-flash scenarios using TTL and takes some time to get a handle on. For that purpose I'd lean towards the N80 (unless you are willing to face the challenge of manual flash with the FM3A) and use the flash exposure compensation feature. You should always use a tripod for macro fill-flash shots. The PN-11 cannot be effectively used with the N80 for fill-flash lighting because ambient metering will not work.

 

For ambient-light only shots, the FM3A + PN11 + 105/2.8 micro is a combination that has worked extremely well for me.

[damon_kirschbaum]

Does anyone have any feedback to offer about the Nikon SB-29S Ringlight Speedlight?

What would be nice about using the ringlight would be that I would not need a macro flash

bracket. I understand that the lighting effect of the ringlight would be different than the

lighting effect of a flash mounted on a macro flash bracket.

[mskovacs]

OK "I want to achieve this" so "I need to buy this" is a much saner approach Damon!

 

Yes a flash bracket is useful if you want to handhold. I'll buck against the ballhead folks and suggest that a decent 3-way pan and tilt head is much more useful for macro and is easier to deal with for flopped verticals. You can adjust each dimension independently of the others while a ballhead is free to move when unlocked. I would aim to get a focusing rail before I worried about a super expensive ball head.

 

I inherited one of those grip action Manfrotto ballheads on a small Manfrotto tripod and its not really the most stable thing. Works OK for following action with my Rollei TLR but this camera doesn't have mirror slap issues and has a square format that takes vertical flops out of the picture.

[joseph_smith3]

In addition to the above, learn how to use your flash in fill flash mode with the flash synch set at rear curtain. Flash is very important in macro work. To learn it, but the Magic Lantern Guide for a SB 26 by Moose Peterson. The techniques explained there ought to work on your SB 80 flash with your n 80.

 

Get started with your current equipment. And then decide if you need the Pn-11 tube, etc. Personally, I think you will and it will mean another camera body that will meter with the PN-11 tube, like the N90s. You can add a tripod mounting plate to the Pn-11 that takes a flash arm. I use this set up with my 105 macro lens and my 200mm MF macro lens. For critical focusing, I find that the 105 works better mounted on a tripod with the pn 11 tube. The balance is better.

 

Good luck! Joe Smith

[john_n._wall]

Your investment plans for macro gear sound like real overkill. You are considering far too many options, many of which are for very specialized situations. I'm disappointed that so many people are encouraging you to break the bank on a big pile of gear that you've then got to haul around.

 

Before going into all that debt, I strongly suggest you learn the parameters of what you are trying to do. The best way to do this is by buying John Shaw's Close-ups book and at least have a look at two or three other books that deal with gear and technique for macro work. They are

 

Paul Harcourt Davies, THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLOSE-UP AND MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY (1998)

 

Craig & Nadine Blacklock. PHOTOGRAPHING WILDFLOWERS: TECHNIQUES FOR THE ADVANCED AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL (1987)

 

Larry West (with Julie Ridl). HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH INSECTS AND SPIDERS (1994)

 

IF you are going to do flower and other close-up work, all you need is a way of focusing close and a sturdy platform to hold your camera.

 

To get close, use a macro lens or put close-up diopters on your regular lenses [Nikon 3T and 4T (52 mm) or 5T and 6T (for 62 mm)] or the Canon two-element diopters. You can get close with extension tubes, too. You probably don't need all these things, just one way to get to 1:1 magnification. The books discuss the relative merits or one or the other approach.

 

And you will need a sturdy platform, which means a good tripod (Bogen 3021 or similar made by Gitzo) -- the books will discuss the pros and cons, but get a good one. Most folks do use a ball head with the Arca-Swiss quick-release system -- either the Arca Swiss or the Kirk or other heads -- some folks find the Markens or Acratrek or whatever it is to be just as good.

 

You do not need a flash bracket unless you are going to use flash -- most macro shots are taken in natural light from a tripod. You will need to shoot on overcast days or in the shade or in the soft light at the beginning or end of the day. Or you can get a diffusion disk to soften the light. A small collapsible reflector can help with macro work too.

 

The purpose of using flash in macro work is to enable you to hand-hold the camera and use the flash as the primary light source. This is good for shooting moving objects up close that move quickly like butterflies or insects. Look into flash if that's what you want to do, but I see no particular reason for shooting flowers with flash.

 

The focusing rail helps you focus precisely, but again you don't need one if you are careful, or you can get a focusing slider that has the same benefit for much less money.

 

The L-bracket is good if you are using a lens set-up that does not have a tripod mount on the lens. The point of the L-bracket is to allow you to change from a horizontal composition to a vertical composition without moving the tripod head. If your lens has a tripod mount on it, you can do this by rotating the lens in the mount. So you don't need the L-bracket.

 

There is so much macro gear out there but money is best spent on film so you can shoot lots of images and develop good technique. Once you have a good tripod and head and a lens that gets you close, the real fun begins -- learning how to get the lighting and composition you want and learning how to make the best use of VERY shallow DOF.

 

The answer to great macro shots is in the technique, not in tons of gear.

[Mary Doo]

You received a lot of advice!

 

The most importance pieces I need for nature macros, beside the obvious such as a good macro lens, a steady tripod, and remote cable control, are:

 

(1) The Wimblery Plamp (http://www.tripodhead.com/plamp.html) <- useful for holding or steadying the subject, holding back background distractions, or holding in some desirable background.

 

(2) Reflectors <- bounce light on to the subject.

 

(3) Kenko Extension tubes (especially needed for your relatively short 105mm) <- better than the Nikon counterparts because these retain autofocus.

[david_h._hartman]

<em>"...and at least have a look at two or three other

books that deal with gear and technique for macro work." --John

N. Wall<br>

</em><br>

By chance I was just leafing through Paul Harcourt Davies

book, THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CLOSE-UP AND MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY this

eveing. I wasn't at a bood store or I'd have bought it. There

were many very fine photographs and very good schematics showing

the lighting setups he used.<br>

<br>

I can be found, 4th from the bottom, at this link...<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.fetchbook.info/Close_up_Photography.html"

target="_new"><u>http://www.fetchbook.info/Close_up_Photography.html</u></a>

<br>

<br>

Regards,<br>

<br>

Dave.

[david_h._hartman]

No, actually "It" can be found...