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It’s good to hear that you have a lot of misses because that’s exactly what I’m finding. It’s sooo hard to get focus on an insects eyes. I definitely think a flash for macro is a MUST! Not even so much for freezing the insect but to combat the light fall off when getting in close.

Using the burst mode helps. When you and your subject are moving slightly, it increases your chances of getting at least one in focus. Thanks for you videos. They have really inspired me.

The main concepts are very well explained and will be essential to macro beginners.

Great video as always! Thanks! :) I've learned so much from you. You're the best.

Clear and simple information package as always!

Thanks for the video. The technical aspects of macro photography can be quite demanding. I have learned a few new techniques from you.

Another brilliant video packed with excellent tips! Some of them already have been mentioned by you in your previous videos, but it's always good to have some "refreshment" on this topic 😉 Thank you Micael, great job !

Thank you for explaining defraction at closer focal points, it was really helpful

Great video managed to sum up all the key points really clearly! Really liked the point in the DoF section about >4x magnification vs 2x and cropping currently going through the process of understanding that with my first 4.5x lens! Seems like f2.8 is the sweet spot for sharpness on that lens so learning how to do handheld focus stacks if the subject permits

I'm finding the Laowa 60mm you recommended to be a usefull addition to my collection, and with the back screen on and a shroud over my head to keep the light out and breathing on hold, is how I shall be spending the next few months. I find I have a 20mm extension on more than I don't. Last year deep in the depth of a Verbascum thapsus leaves I spied the unmistakable eyes of a jumping spider for the first time in my garden. It's now Spring and minute babies have appeared so it looks like they are staying. I've noted they like the Cast Iron Chiminea on sunny days and hide under the teeth of an old pulley belt which rests around the girth, and they've had hunting success on it so will probably return. For the Chiminea and the concrete slabs a small bit of tape stuck to the outer rim of the lens allows sliding along surfaces without scratching or jerkiness. Multiple shots at slightly different focus spots can easily be achieved as your line of focus can be easily seen and even the DOf effect, and you can paint it over your subject if your lucky, line by line. It's at this point you might notice the Chimenea is boiling hot.

Very informative and interesting. This has helped me a lot!!!

Brilliant informative video. On the topic of diffraction, what it is, why it occurs and why it's more of an issue at at higher magnification. Diffraction is phenomena that occurs which is observed as softness in the resolution of the image . Diffraction is effectively the limitation of the resolving power of the lens. It's analogous to pixel density defining the resolution of the camera. When light hits objects it is either absorbed, reflected or refracted. After light enters the lens it hits things like aperture blades and is reflected, but all these reflections don't end up in the same place, they are spread out over the sensor, therefore the effect is a blurring of the image. As you close down the aperture, light hitting the sensor from these reflections increases as a proportion of the total exposure. Therefore causing more blurring. At higher magnification, the amount of actual diffraction has changed negligibly, as the physical structure of the lens is virtually the same. You're just more zoomed in on the blurriness. Much like you wouldn't want to heavily crop an image beyond what the resolution can handle, perhaps taking a lens to 4x magnification just because you can isn't always the best idea. Wide open softness comes more from the glass than the lens body. Effects like aberration from how light is refracted through the lens plays more of a role.

Great Tutorial !! Very clearly explained. Thanks :)

Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

Great educational video, very well explained :) Thanks Micael

Super usefull tips, thank you Micael

Great video Micael! What also helps is adjusting the dioptric correction from time to time. It makes sense as you get older and older.

I also have the same Laowa for my fuji camera as well I really love it btw great video I've been doing most things the way you describe them but the rule of thumb about the aperture is pretty handy

Great video, thanks. Very informative.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, I found this to be helpful

this video really helps a lot,thanks

This was extremely helpful. Thanks!

Very informative - thank YOU!

Thank you for sharing your great knowledge! As an inspiring macro photographer I find it extremely helpful. Greetings from Poland 🙂

Ive been through it all, I couldn’t have explained it better myself im sure its of a great help for all budding macro photographers Super

Very informative. Thanks for your videos.

I very much enjoyed your teaching style Micael. By showing 'what' you mean and not just talking about it is a great help. e.g. the effective aperture formula. My 'challenge' is trying to hold my Canon 5D MkIV steady with my macro lens. I find tripods are not that flexible when chasing after insects :-(

Very goog tips, especially regards DoF. Thanks!

I learnt a lot from your videos. Thank you.

Very helpful. Thanks so much

Hi Micael! Good stuff, simply explained. I think you covered it all from a helicopter point of view, so now you may also go into the practical details maybe one chapter at a time. I’m particularly curious about the optimal flash utilization, including wireless syncing, light distribution, etc. as many interesting subjects are non-stationary in nature.

Micael, excellent class very clear and helpful. thank you so much

Really helpful. thanks

Great👍👍 Helps me!

Excellent video point by point. Please make a special video on DoF in macro.

2:46 I do like that also but besides that, I use the depth of focus preview button to see what exactly is in focus and what is not.

Thanks for sharing this!

I will try your tips.. thanks for this video

It's really great I loved the video thanks

Quality as always

If you have a mirrorless camera then turning on focus magnification is a good idea when doing manual focus, but another useful tool is to turn on focus peaking. When you turn on focus peaking the part of the LCD display, or viewfinder that is in focus will change color. The mirrorless cameras I have used (Samsung NX300, and Sony a74) have focus peaking, and I think you can do focus peaking on most mirrorless cameras.

Hi Michael. Great video thanks. What do you think of using some of the small adjustable LED panels for lighting for macro vs a flash?

A little bit of basic physics, common sense advice, great job Micael.

Hi Micael, cracking tips for macro work, you did mention about commenting if anything was left out, so if I may with greatest respect for for skill.....after 11yrs of macro work I do find that stabilization of the lens has helped a great deal, this may depend on the geolocation of the photographer (as in weather conditions) just getting one stop extra through stabilization can really help with lowering the ISO and resulting in a cleaner shot, in Wales we don't often have that much sun to help with light lol. When using flash as a light to stop movement an image needs to be taken before to ensure it comes out black, if a shutter speed of 'X' is used and a scene can be seen, the shutter speed needs to be increaseed as when a flash is used a double exposure will result, Once again Micael thank you for the great tips, keep up the good work matey.

Excellent advice.

Fantastic work, following.

Besides the great video, It's nice to see Ricoh GR at your shelf ;-)

Thanks for the content.

GREAT LESSON

Thanks for the tips

Great lesson simple and important for the subject and thank you. Can you give me please an example, a proposal, which fast flash is proper for my Nikon Z6?

Надо пересмотреть ещё раз. Спасибо!

Thank you

I've been using autofocus in macro for 15 years now - even early DSLR from Nikon like D70 and D50 can focusing in macro. Now i using m4/3 olympus and panasonic cameras with olympus 60/2.8 macro lens - no problem with autofocus.

Relating to DoF - would be cool if Venus Optics would make a more compact and lightweight Laowa mirrorless design 2x 100mm f/4 FF lens. And also add weather sealing. Thanks for the nice video! 😃

nice tips. Talk about macro video

Should I continue to use f8 at 2X magnification with a 61mp A7riv? Does the high pixel count change how I should use my aperature?

Hi Michael, thanks for this newbie guide. Do you still focus manually if you focus stack?

for wide DOF i have fifth point - it is not always necessary to strive for the maximum increase, because by increasing the focus distance, we also increase the value of DOF without aperture increasing.

Thanks for this! My only question is when you are shooting targets in darker spots it can be impossible to see them in the viewfinder to get the correct focus. I've been using bright monitoring on my sony camera to fix this to some extent but its got its own problems (framerate can drop making it hard to focus). Is the only solution getting a flash with AF assist LEDs? Or just never take macro pictures in dark locations?

What post processing do you use' and how important is your monitor in post?Loved those images.

When you use flash it goes at the beginning of the shoot or at the rear ?

Hi Michael, thank you, very good video. I took macro photo with reverse lens, but I want to buy my first macro lens. I'm looking for the Laowa 100mm or the 65mm. I use a Canon mirrorless camera and I have an adapter ef-m to ef. Which one of these lens do you suggest for begining? Thank you very much.

Thank you Micael. This was very instructive. You said that IBIS makes no difference, but didn't explain your reasoning. Can you let us know why?

Thanks

Look, I don't know what you said there, although my English is probably slowly progressing .... but I already wanted to throw out my Laove lens for 300 euros.! I watched your video, took out a camera, and macro photos began to turn out!!!! I can proof with my foto!

What lens are you using on your Fuji? Thank you for the video!

I am looking into your favorite macro lens. Yours is a 60mm, yet in the site you posted, yours looks like a 100mm. how old is your lens? Have they changed them this much in size?

Is it okay if i can buy lens from my xt30? i think macro is very fun and challenging. I am newbie in photography. Thanks for this kind of video

The first thing I noticed about macro photography is that trying to shoot spiders with a Nikon DX 40mm is quite scary.

Hi Micael, I recently purchase Laowa 60mm, when I trying came across that its difficult to get equally sharper photos. ex. if shoot a flower some petals are sharper while some are blur. thanks if you can let me know how to over come this.

Focus Peaking may be the greatest setting on my A7II lol, especially with my eyesight

Of course that, if you don't use flash, the use of very small apertures has another problem, the image gets very dark, if you don't use to high ISO values, or to long exposure times.

Hi, may i know you use film simulation(fuji camera) for macro photography? thanks.

Good video. I'm a beginner, in fact I am planning to buy my first camera and lens within the next month. I thought about Canon EOS RP (+ adapter) with Canon 100 mm IS macro lens. Too overkill or will I be satisfied for the near future? Cheers.

If you focus by moving the camera, then hand hold. Correct? If so can you focus stack without using a tripod? Thanks for any help.

Thx for this vid' 1 flash question : how can i shoot under shutter speed sync (1/200s) like you do on exemple of ladybug without having my image half black because of the curtain ? Thx.

Thanks for the video. Perhaps its a bit incomplete without a discussion of using flash.

Niceee

Hi MW, we have a few things in common. We both are wearing black T-shirt. My photos are same as the lighting covering left bottom and left bottom of this video....sorry just kidding! Very nice video, nicely summed up. Thankx a lot. I am not on Instagram or Facebook. Any other way I can send you my images for a review/advice?

Im selling all my gear keeping my olympus 12-100mm And selling 3 systems and going for the om-1 a 60mm macro lens 45mm And a zoom 100-400mm I'll keep my panasonic 12mm unless they come out with a wider lens

And how can I shoot a scenic shot on macro ? I mean what occurs other than diffraction and photo noise ? How can I reduce that blurry picture when I zoom in ?

I use focus stacking, but not so easy.

Sounds like I should be looking at videos on how to shoot macro with flash that doesn't look like flash

For the life of me I can’t get the focus correct on my laowa 100mm 2.8. Particularly on the eye. I want to get it tack sharp but it seems to focus around eyelashes and the middle of the eye is “ok” sharp but not super sharp. This is with an f11 aperture and focus peaking. I believe it may be a depth of field issue but I really want to fill the frame with the eye

So, as per formula, our lense should be as per nominal appetite or effective aperture???

I also prefer manual focus.

Thanks for the Good Macro video.I am a beginner also. What is your Instagram page . I Realy need help I'm using a Cannon 1300d T6 camera with Sigma70-300 macro lens ,also 50mm,90mm Tamron lens.Sometimes I get confused or forget what to do.

Do you ever use a tilt lens to get more depth of field in macro photography?

this might be a dumb question.... but I'll risk the internet scorn and ask anyway. if I understand properly the wider the angle of a lens the more DOF it will have. is it easier to get sharp photos with the 25mm 2.5-5x than the 60 or 100mm 2x? I'm going to get a new macro lens, I have a Tamron G2 90mm 1x and I'm worried that I will get too frustrated with sharpness at 5x. do I have to stack every time of does it get sharp images with enough DOF SOOC? thank you if anyone has time to answer

All 4 of these were “focus”.

Thank you

Thank you