Main equipment for macro photography

In fact, the choice of camera brand is not very important, because almost every big camera brand now produces macro lenses and other accessories with different focal lengths. On the contrary, the camera category is more important.

Generally speaking, 135 SLR mirror is suitable for shooting macro lifting materials. The paraxial camera is not suitable because of parallax problem, and the viewfinder can't reflect the image taken by the lens (that is, the framing error), so the ordinary lens can't shoot at close range. As for the large film such as 120 camera, because of the large film, even if the lens used can shoot the same magnification as that of 135 camera, the area of the picture taken is very large, which is inherently insufficient. For example, if you shoot an object of1:1with a camera of1,you will fill a whole frame of film with a scene of 24 mm x 36 mm. On the contrary, if you use the 6x6 film 120 machine, you can only fill the film with a set of 56mmX56mm, and the magnification is insufficient when you enlarge the photo.

Although 135 single lens camera has the inherent advantage of shooting macro, other film cameras are also possible if it is not necessary to shoot very small objects. There is no single standard for photography at any time. For example, at present, many portable cameras have close-up mode, such as shooting large objects such as big flowers.

As for the popular digital cameras at present, it is easy to provide macro function because of the small area of CCD sensor and the short real focal length of the lens (some even only a few mm). Because macro photography uses a higher magnification, it has the effect of "magnifying" hand shock. Coupled with the "light loss" problem in macro shooting, tripod is also very important in macro shooting. At present, there are many different brands of tripods to choose from, but we suggest not to be too stingy with this kind of ring equipment. After all, a high-quality tripod can be used for many years. It is recommended to consider the following points when purchasing:

The firmness of the tripod includes the firmness of each joint and the durability of long-term use.

Weight, because macro photography often goes to the suburbs, this is very important.

The folding length, if the tripod is not too long, can be put in the backpack, which is quite convenient for outdoor shooting.

Height of fully open position. When the tripod is fully extended, it is too short, which is inconvenient or even difficult to shoot in a certain shooting environment. However, according to my personal experience, you don't need a very high tripod to shoot macro. 1.3- 1.4 meters is enough. But if the tripod has other uses, it is necessary to consider personal shooting habits in detail.

The minimum shooting height of a tripod with all three legs open. It should be noted that although many stands have low-angle design, the low-angle design should be used in conjunction with the short central axis, otherwise the central axis of the stands will be pushed to the ground at a low angle, which may not really reduce the shooting height. However, low angle also has its purpose, which is to provide more flexible tripod angle in rugged shooting environment.

At present, a small number of brackets are specially designed for macro, but this design often increases the weight of brackets. In the case of one gain and one loss, it is still recommended to shoot more before understanding personal needs to avoid waste.

In macro shooting, the choice of tripod is more important than tripod. In a variety of designs, personally, it is more convenient to have a ball head. However, even if it is a few thousand yuan, there will still be a slight deviation after macro locking, and the problem of cheap Yuntai is even more serious. When shopping, you can refer to the suggestions of other film friends. Photographic bean bag is a tool widely used by photographers in macro photography in recent years, which can be used as a substitute and supplement for tripod. Photographic bean bags are small bags sewn with cloth and filled with soybeans or similar particles. Because the shape of the bag can be changed at will, it plays a stable role in the free cloud platform with fixed cameras. On many occasions, due to conditions, the tripod can't be used, so the camera bean bag can only be used instead:

1) When shooting at macro, it is too close to the subject to place a tripod, so you can only use a small camera bean bag as a stable platform or fulcrum;

2) The shooting terrain is narrow and uneven, so it is impossible to place a tripod. Only stones, trunks, railings, etc. Can be used as a fulcrum, and the camera bean bag can be used as a camera cushion.

3) When climbing a mountain, the tripod is too heavy and inconvenient to carry, while the bean bag is light and convenient to carry.

Photographic bean bags on the market can be divided into traditional bean bags and light photographic bean bags. Traditional bean bags are filled with soybeans, which are large in size and are not conducive to shape adjustment. The weight is 1, 2 kg, and the light photographic bean bag is filled with polymer foam particles, which is convenient for shape adjustment, weighing about 200 g and easy to carry. It is suggested that cinematographers are preferred. 1) macro lens

Macro photographic lens refers to a special photographic lens that can be used for macro or close-up photography without installing close-up accessories such as close-up lens, close-up ring and close-up track leather cavity. Of course, macro lens is the best choice. There are not a few macro lenses available on the market. Basically, camera manufacturers are standard (50-60mm), medium-distance (about 90- 105mm) and long-distance (180,200). ) to choose. More comprehensive manufacturers also have lenses specially designed for Bessie. Plus large independent lens manufacturers also provide. Because users of macro lenses are generally strict, and manufacturers attach great importance to macro lenses, the quality of all kinds of macro lenses will not be too bad. Of course, different shots are different. Because macro lenses are not cheap, you can look at the opinions of other film friends and spend money on them.

Macro camera lens is a kind of camera lens for shooting tiny objects or retaking small pictures. This kind of lens has quite high resolution, minimum distortion and aberration, high contrast and good color reproducibility. Macro photography lens has good resolution at close range, and can keep the image quality unchanged in the whole focusing range.

General photographic lenses are mainly used to shoot scenes within the usual shooting distance, and cannot be directly used for close-ups. Close-up shooting with general photographic lens can only be carried out after adding close-up accessories such as close-up mirror, close-up collar or close-up leather cavity to the lens. However, if the general photographic lens is added with close-up accessories such as close-up mirror, close-up collar or close-up leather cavity, it will be in the "close-up" state and cannot quickly return to the ordinary photographic state from the "close-up" state. In other words, it is difficult to alternate close-up photography with ordinary photography by adding close-up accessories to ordinary photography lenses. Macro photography lens is different, its close-up does not depend on other close-up accessories, all close-up operations are carried out on the lens itself, and it can focus continuously from close-up to infinity, so that the speed from close-up to ordinary photography can be quickly adjusted, which provides convenience for photographers to alternately take close-up photography and ordinary photography.

Macro photographic lenses generally have two structures. One macro photography lens adopts the structure of built-in telescopic lens barrel, and the other adopts the structure of changing the front and rear positions of the optical lens group in the lens. The former, in ordinary photography, the photographer can focus normally only by turning the focus ring of the lens. If he wants to take a close-up, as long as the focus ring that has been rotated to the close-up position continues to rotate, he can move the entire optical system of the lens forward synchronously with the built-in lens barrel to increase the image distance and achieve the purpose of close-up. If you want to shoot the natural ecology outdoors, it is recommended to choose a long lens or even a telephoto lens. The reason is that when taking macro shots, the lens is often quite close to the subject, and small insects are easily scared away. When shooting flowers and plants, the tripod and the fuselage are also easy to knock over the subject or things next to it. A lens with a longer focal length can pull the camera farther, so it is easier to shoot. (For example, when the shadow of the 50mm lens of1:1is enlarged, the lens is only a few inches away from the subject, and the difficulty of outdoor shooting can be imagined. When shooting some sensitive insects, it may be difficult to shoot even the mid-range lens. In this environment, telephoto lenses have advantages. Unfortunately, telephoto macro lenses are often expensive (nearly 10,000 yuan), and the design of suspension lenses also reduces the effective focal length of many telephoto macro lenses at macro, which shortens the focusing distance. Pay attention to it when buying. In the case of low requirements or limited budget, rangefinder is actually a method.

There are also zoom macro mirrors on the market. Although this lens can't provide the magnification of 1∶ 1, taking Nikon75- 180Macro as an example, its magnification is about 1∶ 1.3, which is quite good. Because the zoom lens has great flexibility in shooting ecology, it is definitely worth it if the budget allows. Unfortunately, this kind of lens is not provided by every manufacturer.

2) Macro ring

According to the lens formula: (1/u)+(1/v) =1/f (where u is the distance from the main body to the lens optical plane, v is the distance from the lens optical plane to the film, and f is the lens focal length).

If enough V (also called extension, that is, the distance between the lens optical plane and the film) can be provided, each lens can shoot close objects (that is, macro scenes). The fact is the same: although the general lens does not provide much extension, you can shoot macro scenes as long as you connect the macro ring.

3) Close-up filter

Close-up filter is the most convenient macro accessory, as long as it is added in front of the lens, the macro effect can be obtained. Generally expressed by numbers, the larger the number, the greater the amplification effect. Generally, a close-range filter of +3 can be added in front of a 50mm lens to obtain a magnification of about 1/2X; Different numbers of close-range filters can be used together, and their numbers will add up (of course, the more you add, the faster the optical quality will decline).

After adding the close-range filter, the lens can only focus in a small range, and because the design of the close-range filter is relatively simple, it also has a great impact on the optical quality. When in use, important subjects can be placed near the center of the photo to make the image quality better. A close-up filter composed of multiple shots can provide better prime numbers. However, in addition to the high price, it is rare to sell in Hong Kong. However, you may notice that there are many accessories for digital cameras or dv on the market, and some accessories for close-up photography are such products. Unfortunately, the price is very high, and the size may not match the camera lens.

4) Reverse the lens

Another cheap macro method is to use an inverted ring to connect the lens filter ring to the camera. This method can provide better optical prime numbers without losing light. The problem is that the inverted lens is almost focused on one point, and the camera has no aperture control, so it is quite inconvenient for shooting ecology to narrow the aperture of the lens for metering.

When using inverted loop, the shorter the focal length of the main lens, the greater the magnification. Generally speaking, a lens with a standard or shorter focal length will be used.

5) Others

Macro photography has many changes in the lens ring, and the commonly used macro mirror with telescopic leather cavity is used. This combination can shoot a larger magnification, but the equipment is more troublesome and may not be suitable for outdoor use.

The book also introduces the use of two lenses stacked together to obtain greater magnification, or the use of focal plane to connect the camera and so on. If you are interested in these special methods, you can refer to related books. When the environment is dark and it is difficult to use a tripod, the flash is the only way to shoot. General TTL flashlights and leads can be used, and ideal results can be obtained without special adjustment. Of course, to get the natural effect and balance the background light, you need to experience it yourself.

The macro use of flash is actually quite advanced technology. In order to simplify the calculation, TTL flashing light is the most convenient method. However, it should be noted that the position of the flash at the top of the machine may not be appropriate, because the parallax problem may prevent the light of the flash from reaching the scene to be shot. Generally, cinematographers will use the flash to get off the plane, but this requires TTL flash (which is quite expensive) to be used in conjunction with the flash holder. The ideal natural flash position must also be tested and experienced.

Actually, manual flashing lights can also be used. Basically, you can set the flash to manual mode with small output, and then shoot the test piece at different magnification to determine the applied aperture, so you can shoot at the same setting in the future. In theory, the aperture used by different magnifications should be roughly the same, and the practical application should not be too complicated.

One thing that needs special attention when using general flash is that the position of the flash at the top of the machine is not suitable for macro use. In addition to the too positive light, there are also problems that the flash cannot be aimed at the main body or is blocked by the lens. When using manual flash, it should be noted that different flash requires different aperture values. The flash doesn't need much output, because the macro shooting distance is quite short, but the flash with large output has the problem of too much firepower. If TTL flash is used, the distance may be too short, and TTL system may not be able to cut off the current, resulting in overexposure. If the film used is fast, the problem will be even bigger, so pay attention to the flash and camera indicator light.

As for the position of the flashing light, you can make it yourself or buy a simple flashing light bracket to solve it.

As for the ring flashing light, it is specially designed for "macro". But its "macro" is mainly used for re-shooting, so the light source of the photo taken by the ring flash lamp is relatively flat. Of course, the ring flash is undoubtedly the most convenient macro method. Macro shooting has many different accessories, and different experts also have their own unique methods. The following is a brief list of accessories introduced by many books or predecessors:

Black card: It can be used as a windshield when there is wind, and it is also used as a "background board" for the scene by film friends to simplify the background.

Flash bracket: Because the top of the machine is not an ideal flash position, you need to set another flash position. There are many different flash brackets on the market, and some movie friends made them themselves.

Focus track: Fix the focus track on the tripod, and then fix the camera on the track. The focus base provides a mechanical structure to move the whole camera back and forth. This accessory is very useful because macro photography often moves the camera back and forth. However, pay attention to the weight and firmness of the focus base: an unstable focus base may increase camera vibration.

Reflective plate: Reflective umbrella is used to diffuse light, which can supplement light for insects in dark places in a more natural way. Some reflectors are specially designed for macro, and there is a space for the lens to stand out. This is very easy to use when shooting large objects. I used a reflective umbrella in this design. Once the main body is set, you must ensure that the lighting is balanced, which helps to show the details. Check for multiple shadows for the second time. Once you are sure that there is nothing wrong with the placement of lighting equipment, start reading objects with a photometer.

Umbrella: creates a scattering light source for the scene under strong sunlight.

Large plastic bowl: there is an opening at the bottom of the bowl, which extends into the lens to cover the object and make a scattering light source.

Cable release: necessary. In general, positive films can control exposure and color well. Macro photography generally needs to use a fine aperture (to increase the depth of field) and a long lens, but it will encounter scary winds and bugs, so high-speed film has its advantages. Of course, if you master external photography skills, you can also use slower film to get smaller particles. Everyone's creative requirements are different. It is not a problem to use color negative or black and white film. Many modern digital cameras also have quite good macro performance, which is also a good choice besides film.