Macro Photography

[Yahtzee170]

I'm trying to take more shots of my tank and struggling to get the close up shots I want.

I'm using a Sony A7III with a G master 24-70 mm F2.8 lens. I also have access to 16-50 mm F3.5-5.6 and 55-210 mm F4.5-6.3 from a Sony A6000. At this point I can't justify purchasing a specific macro lens. Would an extension tube make a significant difference? Any recommendations for Sony E-mount?

I'd like to get shots like this, but much clearer.

 

[Usctom]

Do you have a tube for the lens? I use a 60mm for colonies and 100mm for stuff far away or frags. You should be fine with the lens you have already.

 

[madweazl]

You can use the A to E adapter from Sony to use the A mount/Minolta lenses. Minolta's f2.8 100mm ($150-300 used on ebay) uses the same glass as Sony's f2.8 100mm macro that runs $1100.

 

[mattdg]

I use macro extension rings with my 5d. Gives me plenty of options with a 24-105 zoom, though there is a significant amount of light loss. I have the best luck with coral 1-5" from the glass. Lot's of aftermarket options that will work with the Sony E mount. Good idea to also invest in a decent tripod.

 

[Yahtzee170]

Do you have a tube for the lens? I use a 60mm for colonies and 100mm for stuff far away or frags. You should be fine with the lens you have already.

I don’t have an extension tube yet. Anything to look for in purchasing one? A quick search showed a range from $20 to a couple hundred.

Would it make sense to get an E to A converter and A tubes? Or preferable to just get an e mount tube.

 

[madweazl]

A few from the combo I referenced above. Handheld with no color correction. Post processing consisted of cropping, exposure, and contrast.

Flatworms crawling around on the purple scroll

Tri-color that was just about dead but is bouncing back

Tyree's pink lemonade

Asterina running around the monti undata

JF lepto

 

[Yahtzee170]

A few from the combo I referenced above. Handheld with no color correction. Post processing consisted of cropping, exposure, and contrast.

Flatworms crawling around on the purple scroll

Tri-color that was just about dead but is bouncing back

Tyree's pink lemonade

Asterina running around the monti undata

JF lepto

Those photos look great. I think I'm going to try an extension tube first to see if I can do something similar, but if that doesn't work I'll try that lens. Thanks!

 

[lpsouth1978]

These shot are great, especially for taking them by hand. However, you can improve on these pictures by utilizing a tripod and macro rail. Take a series of photos moving further away (micro movements) with each shot, and then use Photoshop or lightroom to stack the photos. This will give you a picture that is fully in focus instead of just a small section of it. You can find cheap macro rails on Amazon for ~$20.

 

[Mark3]

This is straight from camera shot jpeg, ... no post processing at all ... I think I got the color balance zeroed in .... it is set cloudy+3 ....what do you think?
Not very colorful, but very close to what my eye sees.

 

[Mark3]

This one is cropped into landscape