Hands down best macro video I have ever watched. Outstanding. Thank you.

I have watched multiple videos on shooting macro. By far, this is the best detailed video guide I’ve ever seen for all aspects of shooting macro. Excellent!!👏

Thank you very much, Great tuutorial ❤️

Very informative, good presentation. Thanks

have never delved into the macro universe yet Ben so was really intrigued to watch your video and found to be extremely informative. Loved the images too, especially the spider one. Another great string to your talented bow

Very well done! Thank you for the information!

Thank you so much for this excellent and inspiring guide. At 63 I have only recently got into photography and as part of my steep learning curve I have started trying macro photography with some success. Although I only have a Panasonic FZ330 it has the ability to focus at less than 1 cm. I’m really inspired to try more and especially experiment with lighting. The main upside to all of this is that you can always go for a safari in your back garden😀 Thank you again.

Without doubt the most helpful/best Macro tutorial I’ve seen so far 👍🏻 many thanks

Nice video. Puts everything in perspective, plus you have an easy storytelling manner.

This was absolutely amazing! Thank you!

Very nice and comprehensive video. Thank you very much.

Great video Ben and lots of useful info and tips, thank you.

I am for sure going to look up the how to photograph bubbles! Thanks for the video.

Wow Ben, a brilliant presentation on Macro photography.

Thank you Ben for such an informative video! Well done, covering so much information in a straight to the point fashion. This was very helpful for me as I am interested in doing more in Macro photography.

Excellent video Ben....I'm itching now to get out with my macro lens!

Yet another excellent video Ben. I'll be dusting off my extension tubes having had my macro interest rekindled by this video. Thanks for the inspiration, Ben.

Thank you. I've just been researching getting into macro photography and your video has helped me understand a lot

Cheers Ben really enjoyed that.......👍

What a fantastic video Ben, extremely informative and helpful, thank you.🍷

Thank you.....you enlightened me on this incredible subject 👍👍

I now know my camera does focus stacking. I did not know that before I saw your tutorial, thankyou. Life was quicker with manual aperture rings.

Nice easy to follow vid Ben.

Wow! I just found your channel and this was very well done. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience... Great work!

That has to be the best introductory video to across that I've seen! ....and I've seen loads

A really interesting video Ben :)

I got a lot of useful information from your video, thanks! got my OM-1with 90mm macro today, will test it soon ;)

I just bought my first Macro lens, a 50mm Lauwa for my M4/3 Lumix camera, and I’m enjoying it so far, but I have a lot to learn. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge! Next up for me is a flash with a diffuser.😊

This is good,thanks.

super informative, thank you! I have that 35mm RF lens and wondered why it didn't seem much better than me using extension tubes on an old 50mm lens or zoom lens. But then I reversed a vintage 28mm lens and it was just what I was looking for - Thank you!

You can fit a 22,3 x 14,9 mm subject full size (corner to corner) with the 1:1 macro on the 550D sensor. Extension tubes are great with shorter lenses and closeup filters are good with longer lenses though i like a couple of tubes with a telezoom for butterflies

Thank you very much!

Hello and Thank you so much for sharing your techniques of Macro photography ! You won my subscription.

Ben, thanks for a very interesting and comprehensive video. Here’s a challenge for you considering the current weather; a macro image of a falling snowflake! No doubt would require 100’s or 1000’s of shots to get a good one, very fast shutter speed and your flash lights. 😃

Very informing. Thank you very much. 🤗 Cheers from Denmark. 🇩🇰

Awesome sit

Great video; I tried tubes but couldn't hack it so I bought a 105mm macro and slowly getting better. It's also a great portrait lens as you said.

I would like to have you talk about the the focus limiter switch and when to use each setting

You did amazing job. New subscriber. Stay connected and have a great day

If you want to use a macro reversing ring or "dumb" extension tubes, here's a WORKAROUND for stopping down the aperture for use with a reversing ring (or extension tubes without contacts) in case you don't have a lens with a manual aperture ring. (You can use the standard 18-55 "kit" zoom). (Note: This workaround is for Canon DSLRs, and it will NOT work with Nikon DSLRs. But for Nikon there's a different workaround - check Mike Browne's macro videos). First mount the lens the normal way (so not reversed), set the camera in manual mode M or aperture mode Av. Then select the aperture that you want to use and half-press the shutter button. (Here comes the fiddly part where you might have liked to have four hands): Press and hold the depth-of-field-preview button and listen for the faint noise of the aperture stopping down. And while you hold the button, remove the lens from the camera while you listen to make sure the noise doesn't come again, because that means you've let go of the button. Look through the lens to check that the aperture is indeed stopped down. If it isn't, try again. When you've successfully stopped down the aperture and removed the lens from the camera, you can now reverse mount the lens and take pictures. Note that unless you use a strong light, you won't be able to see anything through the viewfinder, so use LiveView instead. If your camera has no dof-preview button, check your manual on how to customise the SET button. Now comes my rant: This video is somewhat confused. At the beginning we hear that extension tubes are the cheapest and easiest way into macro. But later we learn that there's a much cheaper way, an old lens with an "adapter". It would have been nice if we had been told the name of this kind of adapter: It is called a Macro Reversing Ring. We're told not to worry too much if the extension tubes have electronic contacts, because in macro we can't rely on autofocus. Well, the contacts do a lot more than allow autofocus: They also allow us to control the aperture from the camera, and they allow us to compose the image in the viewfinder with the aperture wide open and only stop down when we actually take the picture. So MY advice is to make sure the tubes you buy DO have contacts. And please do not buy the cheap plastic ones. I made that mistake, and they ruined my Tele converter. So get some good ones! Talking about macro lenses: If a lens gives a LESS sharp result on an APS-C camera than on a full frame camera, it's because the lens is too old. Always check reviews before buying. Never assume that just because it's a Canon L series lens or a Zeiss lens or whatever, that it must be super sharp. Some are and some aren't. And if your camera is APS-C, make sure to check reviews where it has been specifically tested on an APS-C body! The smaller sensor most often has a much higher pixel density than a full frame sensor, so an APS-C demands much better lens sharpness. Tip: If you're not absolutely certain that you'll very soon upgrade to full frame and that you have the money for the much more expensive cameras and lenses, it might be a good idea to check macro lenses specifically for APS-C. For example Canon has made an excellent EF-S 60 mm Macro which is the equivalent of 96 mm full frame. And there's also the little and very easy to work with EF-S 35 mm Macro (not to be confused with the one mentioned in the video). These lenses both do 1:1. About IS (Image Stabiliser): Like autofocus, if you work really close to the subject for real 1:1 macro, the IS won't work very well either. So don't let the fact that the 60 mm doesn't have IS worry you too much. Personally I never miss it. Other great 1:1 macro lenses include: Venus Laowa 15 mm f4 Macro, Venus Laowa 100 mm f2.8 2X super Macro, Sigma 150 mm f2.8 Macro, all of which I own and love. The Laowa 100 (mentioned in the video) is much sharper than the Canon 100 L, and it has no colour fringing (Chromatic Aberrations). The EF version is available in a version with electronic contacts with all the advantages that come with this, except autofocus. It has no IS, so for handheld portrait work the Canon might be better. The Sigma 150 has sadly been discontinued, but it's very good indeed. If close-up photography is your thing, you might look at the EF 50 mm f1.8 STM or my favourite lens, the EF-S 55-250 STM. And before you buy the expensive Canon MP-E: Venuslens makes what I call a "poor man's MP-E": The Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro. The magnification and image quality is the same, and the price is maybe a third. Beware: the depth of field at 5:1 F2.8 is only 40% of the thickness of normal printing paper. (But the Canon MP-E is no better). Note that these two very special lenses will not work with the inbuilt focus bracketing of modern cameras, as this function requires a lens with autofocus. And these two lenses don't even have manual focus! You can only focus by changing the distance between the lens and the subject.

Macro photographer expertise ❤

Great video Ben. That Nisi close up lens you mentioned, I believe is a diopter. If you get a quality one they are great. I’ve been using one made by Nikon for over 25 years. Using them on step-up or step-down rings, they’ll fit on most lenses. Plus, there isn’t any light loss like you get with extension tubes. AND, you can auto focus them!

Another option for focus stacking is using a Promote remote control. Not cheap but it can be used for other things such as bulb ramping, HDR, time lapse and mixing the above.

I have a 30 mm Sony and a 90 mm tameron for my Sony a 58 and 77 and i have to say the tameron is my favourite

Yes used to use a Nikon D 500 and a Tamron 90mm Macro lens got some great shots but the focusing was quite difficult, i then watched some Videos on the Olympus cameras and decided that was me, light and compact, First one was the Em1 Mk iii and have just purchased the OM-1, both are fantastic for Macro. Have both lens, the 30mm and the 60mm plus I add the Raynox 250 for extra magnification with flash and homemade diffuser ! Cheers from New Zealand

Thanks for that 🙏🏻 Watch this space 😉

Elegantly avoided naming the exact number of a spiders eyes

Nice

I'm so broke for starting new hobby lol. I just ordered a Kodak 15x Macro lens for Mobile phones. I hope it will do the job done.😅

Just found your channel. Awesome video with extremely well explained detail. I’m new to macro and have borrowed a friend’s canon 100 mm macro lens to put on my canon 6d. This is to try the genre before investing in a lens. I have a question regarding your advice on shutter speed. You suggested no slower than 1/100 but can that be less if you’re on a tripod? Is so, what would you suggest? Thank you, I really enjoyed your video.

Hi Ben, thanks for the great video. I have just purchased my first macro lens (Canon 100mm for my R6) and my early attempts at using it were not great. Thanks to your video I now know that the problem was that I was trying to get too close to the subject, with f2.8 aperture. I'd be interested to understand the options regarding the switches on the lens (Full, etc.), I'm assuming this switch is used based on the distance of the subject from the lens?

Rather than guessing the effect of a stack of extension tubes on a 16-35 lens, try it before giving numbers for working distance. There is a lot of good in your video but when you tell people to but manual focus extension tubes to use on their regular lenses without an aperture ring I hope you realize they will have the same problem as when you reverse lenses.

I've watched your video and I was wondering if using the pop up flash on the camera with a defuser that attaches to the front of the lens would work just as well as a external flash?

Gawd, I really wish someone doing these tutorials, telling us we can use an old manual lens (I have an old Rokinon 49mm f28 manual lens I want to try), would get into the actual detailed info as to the lens thread size info so we could know what sized step up or down ring we'd need to get- also as someone mentioned below, you are going to need a reverse mount adapter, also getting some more detailed info as to what size you'd need for that (and I think you need to have both the ring and reverse mount adapter?) , would also be helpful. Giving us the full story with specific sizing info examples is critical, just throwing it out there vaguely isn't helpful at all.

Excellent tutorial. Question, I currently have a 60mm 2.8 macro lens, will extension tubes give me a 1 to 1 with more working distance to my subject? Thanks in advance. Mahalo

hello ben and thank you so much this was the best about MACRO i have found just loved it all the best from trev in sussex uk

Just bought a set had 2 only

Do you recommend any dedicated focus stack software for macro. I use Affinity Photo’s focus stacking. But are there any better ones?

Hi Ben! Thanks for an awesome macro photography video. Part of my gear: Canon M50, recently acquired TT Artisan 40mm Macro Lense, connection tubes are on back order. I'm loving 1:1 but want to get closer... 2x or 3x... sounds like 5x will be well above my skill level for now. Do you know of any vintage macro lenses to consider? Thank you! JoseTheVegan on KZfaq

Suggest the Best cheap and best mobile mcro lens

I have a old Canon AE1 with a 28mm and 50mm lens that I would love to use on my Canon EOS 1100D Is there a certain brand adapter you would recommend to reverse mount? Thank you for your video

Canon have produced a 180mm L series lens

1:1 at F4.8 that is.

Your comment of the crop camera I'd wrong. Did you measure the space between the mm marks at 1:1 they are 1mm. The crop sensor does not show a magnification of 1.5 it only shows less of the image.

I had the Nikon 200mm macro but adapted to r5 it just doesn’t provide a good image, too much chromatic aberration, it worked beautiful on Nikon d500 but even on z6 don’t give a good image, probably the mew technology increase the defects on old lenses like this

Not quite true. With the camera on select the f stop you want. Press the depth of field preview button and whilst holding that button, release the lens and take it off. The lens is now set at the f stop you selected and the blades do not relax.

I like the macro of waterdroplet.

It’s ok talking about macro photography for people who have interchangeable lens cameras but what about people who don’t. For instance I have a sony rx10 m4

H😊

cannon has a 1.4x macro lens "very impressive"... ***Laowa enters the chat***

Nice advert for Canon, not so much other good brands.