Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Fantastic set!!! Dennis

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thank you Frank. Always a pleasure hearing from you.

Dennis

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Great Photeaux! But...I get frustrated trying to figure out which lens?? Macro, Telephoto "macro"...What? Spring is coming, and I'm going try some of this! Hopefuly, this year, I'll have some grow boxes with flowers to attract butterflies.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thank you very much flyboy61. I took all of these photos months ago but I can't tell you now much I appreciate you seeing and commenting on them now. It does bring back some great memories of where I was and how I came to take these photos.

I used a Sony RX10IV at pretty much 600mm for all of these photos. It acts as a macro lens for that camera and works for me at up to about 5 feet away. If you are looking for suggestions on what to use it would help all of us posting an answer to know what you have now. Be advised your question will probably fill about 20 pages of good ideas combined with some nonsense that have nothing to do with your questions. You will receive a myriad (I never get to use that word much) of answers relating to mirrorless Vs DSLR cameras, 300mm lenses used at long distance, different brands of cameras, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Fuji and so on as everyone touts their favorite camera and lens. IF you do ask may I suggest you start your own thread.

Not knowing what kit, equipment, you have now I can only suggest a 105mm macro lens. That is pretty much standard. Nikon has an older lens up to 200mm that is a great macro lens but I have never used one. I have used mainly Nikon cameras since 1966 and love Nikons but I have used many others as well. I have never had a malfunction with any camera that was the camera's fault so they are all good in my eyes.

If you go to the Macro forum here you will find information on speed lights, hand held brackets with the camera and speed light attached etc. Last I checked there were many examples pictured. Generally speaking the on camera flip up flash units do not work as well as a separate speedlight. Give that area a look to get some examples.

I wish you well and please submit your photos whether good or bad. The only way I learned was to submit photos and I was told what I did wrong and to keep practicing. We have some REAL experts here that I hope will chime in to give some more advice.

Dennis

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Thank you, Dennis. I have the 105, and when it was new, I was not getting as sharp pixes as I would like. I Finally figured out...I was getting too close! Macro lenses DO have a minimum focusing distance! DUH! One of my many faults is I look through past posts, and somehow, never read the dates! I figure good photos, no matter how old, deserve a comment.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I appreciate that very much. Thank you again. As for the 105 it does indeed have a minimum focusing distance. One thing I believe many insect/macro photographers do is to put the lens at the minimum focusing distance and then, insect permitting, close in to take the photo. I pretty much always set my aperture at f16 because the depth of field is so shallow. You will generally need extra light which is where the speed light comes in. You would need to play with speed light and exposure but somewhere around 1/4 power is a good starting point in my opinion.

Dennis

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Thanks!

tinusbum Loc: east texas

lots and well shot too!