Beginner using Sony a7ii - equipment list

Just bought that first macro lens? Post here to get helpful feedback and answers to any questions you might have.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

rjm121989
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:10 am

Beginner using Sony a7ii - equipment list

Post by rjm121989 »

Hello all,
First post here. I am new to the super macro world but have become fascinated and wanting to get in even closer and sharper!
I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as far as upgrading my current set up possibly?

I have searched this sight and have found TONS of useful info so far that has helped me along the way but have not come across anything pertaining to my setup.

I specialize in Product/Advertising Photography so I have some equipment available.
I have listed my current equipment below.

Sony A7ii -
Laowa 25mm
Extension tubes (16mm +10mm)
Sony 90mm Macro
Sony 24-105

STACKSHOT
Zerene Stacker (recently switched over from Helicon)

3 X GODOX GS400II Strobes
4xGODOX Speedlights
soft/strip boxes
light modifiers (reflectors,snoots,etc)
savage plastic diffusion material and other home made diffusion

For me the Laowa is really good up to about 3x but anything above 3-4x it starts to go downhill.
I never take this lens over f5.6, when shooting 4x or even 5x with tubes im normally at f 2.8

Based on the site, it sounds like my next step would be possibly getting into the objectives? This is where I begin to get lost lol.
Was also thinking of possibly using the Laowa on bellows maybe? never used bellows before but I would imagine the image quality would not be that great, but again im new to this so I don't really know what im talking about

Side note- I am taking pictures of insects and flowers (trichomes)

Any tips would be appreciated! :lol:

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23543
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

Welcome aboard!

Yes, beyond 3-4X you really need to start using microscope objectives to take advantage of their higher resolution due to wider apertures than conventional macro lenses.

To get started, read the FAQ: How can I hook a microscope objective to my camera?

--Rik

rjm121989
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:10 am

Post by rjm121989 »

Thanks Rik!
I read the link provided, surely helped understand a bit more, I appreciate that.

I happen to have a canon 75-300mm that I could attach to my sony body.
If I read correctly, as long as I am focused to infinity and @ 200mm on the lens, I could attach an objective and use this?

If that is do-able, I am curious how image quality would be, or if I should get the tried and true Raynox 150 tube lens set up.

Thank you!

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23543
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

Even better, if you set the zoom telephoto to any focal length other than 200 mm, the main effect is only that the magnification changes. For example, with an objective that is nominally 10X and intended to work with a 200 mm tube lens, setting 200 mm on the telephoto really does give you 10X onto the sensor. If you zoom longer or shorter, then the magnification onto sensor just scales proportionally, so setting 300 mm would get you 15X onto the sensor.

There are second order effects that can become troublesome. Zoom telephotos are prone to vignette when used with objectives, and the vignetting gets worse at shorter settings of the zoom. This can become a problem pretty quickly on your full frame sensor. I don't have that lens to test, but as a wild guess based on memories of other people's reports, you'll probably be OK from 200-300 mm, but get vignetting much below that.

Image quality is mostly determined by the objective. The main advantages of the Raynox 150 setup are that it's easy to replicate, it never vignettes, and the image quality is known to be good enough to meet most people's requirements. There are other lenses that work even better than the Raynox, but they tend to be more expensive and/or hard to obtain.

--Rik

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic