A few from this afternoon: I"ve been having a HUGE problem with sharp focus, and these show only a modicum of improvement. But I went against my better judgement and upped the ISO to...

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

I"ve been having a HUGE problem with sharp focus, and these show only a modicum of improvement. But I went against my better judgement and upped the ISO to 800. I know it's better to have it as low as possible, but i wasn't getting any good results. I've been thinking that it's because of motion, and I needed to get the shutter speed up to at least 200. My flash isn't in sync past that speed so I left it there and upped the ISO until I got enough exposure.

Anyway - here they are. All have been cropped.

midge #1: 1/200-sec at f/14

midge #2: 1/200-sec at f/14

isopoda) pill bug or rolly -polly

boxelder bug nymph

Artsmith Loc: Grayson, Georgia

Box elder looks pretty sharp to me. I have the same problem with focus can't seem to get it sharp.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I downloaded both midge photos to reveal your apertures. I added info to your description.

Midge #1 is back-focused, a problem I solved by relying on A-F for my macro-photography.

Midge #2 is fore-focused, catching just the wing surface & tail.

B9th #3 & #4 look like adequate DOF to carry both insects.

Through your eyepiece, you view your subjects wide open (f/2.8?), where the plane of focus is extremely narrow. When you trip the shutter, your aperture closes to the pre-selected f/stop, at which time your DOF increase 1/3 forward of initial focus plane, & 2/3s back of focus plane.

Are you focusing manually, or A-F?

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Nikonian72 wrote:

I downloaded both midge photos to reveal your aper... (show quote)

I'm focusing manually. I'm trying to do this hand held because a lot of insects don't lend themselves to a tripod. So getting that 'set' focus is a challenge. I've read that some people set the focus to full 1:1 and then instead of actually 'focusing', they move the camera in and out until the subject comes into focus. I've tried both ways and still can't seem to catch it in the middle.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

gym wrote:

I'm focusing manually. I'm trying to do this hand held because a lot of insects don't lend themselves to a tripod. So getting that 'set' focus is a challenge. I've read that some people set the focus to full 1:1 and then instead of actually 'focusing', they move the camera in and out until the subject comes into focus. I've tried both ways and still can't seem to catch it in the middle.

I successfully use A-F with my 105-mm lens. My speedlight set-up allows me to shoot ALL of my macro hand-held at 1/200-sec at f/22 (+ or - a stop). I shoot between 7-inches to 12-inches, depending on how much DOF I need.

You have nothing to lose by trying A-F at about 9-inches, or so.