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| Sigma 50mm Macro |
Recently I decided to try my hand at a little macro photography. I'd already taken a few shots using a 50mm lens with some auto extension tubes. The shots were OK but nothing to write home about. So I decided to treat myself to a dedicated macro lens. I dropped into Jacobs in Derby and took a look at the various macros lenses they had on offer. There were a few but I finally settled on the Sigma 50mm f2.8 DG Macro. It's a Nikon AF fit so it works really well with my with my D300s. The lens is light and easy to use and it extremely quick at finding focus.
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| LED Macro Ring |
Some time ago a picked up a Macro LED ring from Amazon. I use the LED ring in as shown in the illustration on the left. I always shoot in RAW which gives me the maximum flexibility in post processing. I was surprised and pleased at how well the macro LED light works. Unlike a flashgun It gives a constant light which allows the user to view the subject and set the exposure in manual mode with continuous illumination. Although the light works with 4 x AA batteries, which is useful for portable work, I recommend using the supplied mains unit where possible.
The following two shots are of an old two shilling piece and shows the ability of the macro lens at two different settings.
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| ISO 250, 0.4 secs at f36 1:2 magnification |
This shot was taken at 1:2 and illuminated with the set up above. You can see how detailed the image is including the scuffs and scratches acquired during everyday use over it's 60 odd years.
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| ISO 250, 0.4secs at f36 1:1 magnification |
This is the same two shilling piece but this shot was taken with the lens set at 1:1 magnification. This means that the image on the camera sensor is life size. The lighting was exactly the same at the image above. As you can see, only the crown is in shot. The only cropping done to the image was to make it square which resulted in a slight loss of image on either side.
I took a number of macro images during this initial shoot. The rest of the images from this session can be found on my gallery page at
please check it out.
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