Thank you for your answer. I am likely to get the WeMacro rail very soon. :-)

Hey Sippy,

After following this thread since you started it, I'm now REALLY intrigued by this workflow. Realizing you are using 50mm lens (in reverse, if I understand), have you used this WeMacro rail with a Macro lens? I shoot with a full frame (Nikon D750) and have their Nikkor 105mm Macro lens, would this work as well as your setup? I have Helicon Focus, and I realize that allows me to do the focus adjustments, but I'm curious about this setup as well.

Thanks!
-Mike

Nicely done! Do you use software to help attain the 10 Micron steps?

I recently purchased Helicon Software, but have not found the time necessary to dive into it. I've only played around with it a little.

This.

Also, if you're shooting at a faster rate, you may not be able to get as many frames per second with RAW+jpeg, because the camera is writing twice. It may not be very noticeable, but it will fill the buffer faster. If you're out shooting landscapes, or travel photography, this will not matter. You'll only notice if you shoot sports, wildlife, and the like.

I hate when my sarcasm doesn't come across in written word...

You should stop being friends with this person.

I dont find the actual sunset/sunrise to be all that interesteing, however, what a sunset or sunrise does to my surroundings is what I'm after. Colors change in clouds, leaves, water, everything. I sometimes find I cannot click the shutter button fast enough to capture all that is changing around me.

I'm fortunate that I live on the Hudson River, up on some hills, so I can see all the way to CT from my backyard. I cannot see the actual sun setting to the west, because of the hills, but what that sunset does to the clouds over the river, and over the rest of the landscape is incredible, and it delights my family and me every single time we see it.

There is a specific shade of purple that I have ONLY seen in the clouds during sunset. The largest Crayola box doesnt even have that color.

But seriously, stop being friends with that person.

I have two of these, and really like them a lot. Not that it matters in regard to performance, but they look way cooler than other drives I've seen. If they're going to sit on my desk, might as well enjoy looking at them...

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=g+drive&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&typedValue=&Top+Nav-Search=&token=dd86fd7d1d0a67fdcfed7c9764dcc65f

While we're discussing covers potentially being "better" than originals, here is one that I've always enjoyed more than the original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsCfdwpc2ok

[known unpopular statement] I've never been a fan of the Beatles. Nothing against them, I recognize how important they are to modern music, but they just never did anything for me. [/known upopular statement]

This is eerily similar to the version from Disturbed, when they covered it several years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

I use the Peak Design Slide strap, it has quick connects that I use on the left side mount of the camera and on a screw-in connect on the bottom of the camera. Now, the fun part: when I'm using a tripod, it is almost always outdoors (I rarely shoot anything indoors that requires a tripod). When I'm outside, I re-connect the strap to each of the side mounts of my camera when attaching and removing my camera from the tripod. Do I need to? Probably not, I have a very good tripod, so the chances of my camera just falling off is slim. However, the first photograpy class I took, a very experienced photographer wasnt paying attention when she went to remove her camera from her tripod, and I watched her camera and lens topple to the ground, shattering the front element on the lens. I don't recall exactly which lens it was, but it was rather large, and the expression on her face told me it was expensive.

is it overkill to keep my strap on the camera while mounted to the tripod? Most likely. But I can put the strap around my neck each time I attach or remove the camera without much worry. And, if its windy, I remove the strap via quick connects, and then re-attach it when I need to move the camera.

Boy, I put a long tail on that kite, didn't I? :-)

I have one, and while rarely used, I find it is fantastic for night photography. As a fan of nationalparksatnight.com and their instructors, I have been considering trading it in at B&H and going with the Irix 11mm or even the 15mm. I don't think I'd use it much more than I use the 14-24, but based on the photos I've seen, my night photos will look just as good, and I'll put a significant amount of money back in my pocket to purchase something cool down the line (*cough, Peak Design tripod *cough).

I use the Nikon 105mm lens for my macro shots, its fantastic! i upgraded from the 60 or 65mm lens (can't remember which one they offer), primarily because I wanted to photograph some bugs, and the longer focal length allowed me to do that without scaring them off.

I have found that I prefer the longer focal length for all my macro subjects, because once you start using lights for your subjects, you can keep the lens farther away, and thus, you won't project shadows onto your subjects with a shorter lens.

Nothing worse than lighting a subject on the dining room table only to find out that once my camera was set up, it was too close...

Well, the advantage of an iphone is that it knows you cant see both highlights and shadows as well, so it makes those adjustments automatically, and displays it as such.

With a "traditional" camera, there is some post processing needed. In your example, I would have taken multiple exposures, bracketed, then used the computer to blend them together, in an HDR-type photo. Your phone did that for you, so it clearly saved time.

I think where everyone agrees that a DSLR or Mirrorless camera is superior is in the resolution. Try blowing up the iphone photo, and you'll see the imperfections, whereas on the DSLR or Mirrorless, you could print a huge photograph, and it would still look sharp.

I dont try to convince people that one is better than the other. I rarely carry my D750 anymore, unless I'm going to an "event" of some kind. My iphone X does a great job of capturing whatever I am looking at.

Great spot to photograph, and great results. Nice work!

If you already know what type of photography interests you (landscape, portaits, street, etc), then I would recommend searching the internet for sample photos of that/those subjects and the D3500. See what they look like, and see if you can find "reviews" that focus on that/those subjects.

From there, if you are comfortable with the operation of the camera, then I say go for it. I went with a Nikon D3200 as my first real camera, and I went with it based on my stepdad's recommendation. Really, it was nothing more than that. Could I have gotten the same results using Canon, Olympus or the like? Yes, most likely. But I had someone that I trusted give me his recommendation, and that was enough for me.

You really can't go wrong, no matter which brand you choose. They are all relatively equal, provided you compare Full-frame with other FF, APS-C with other APS-C and so on.

Lastly, I would recommend going to a store that carries this camera, and hold it. Scroll through the menus, just get a feel for the camera, rather than just order it online. This isnt necessary, but you dont want to realize after the fact that you simply don't like the way it feels in your hands.

Best of luck, it sounds like you've done some research, so you're on the right track. I'm sure others will chime in.