Johnhoward28 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 So, I am tired of lugging my full size DSLR around and want something more compact and lightweight. I would just like to hear some comments from Sony APS-C mirrorless (i.e. A5000 through A6500) users that shoot for Macro stock. I would just like to hear about your triumphs and struggles and why you would or would not buy one macro stock photography? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm currently using the Sony a6000, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be fine for macro stock. The camera has an excellent sensor. The challenge, I guess would be finding a compatible macro lens. Sony makes an inexpensive, lightweight 30mm macro lens for their APS-C cameras, but it's limited due to the short focal length. I've only dabbled in close-up photography (not true macro) with extension tubes on both my legacy manual focus lenses and my Sony e-mount AF lenses. However, I find the tubes very awkward to use. I'm sure there are lots of adapters available for real macro lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I tried it and found the Sony macro lens disappointing. I'm at the point now where macro lens quality is the most important point in choosing a camera system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Hmmmm. I thought he was distinguishing "macro" stock from microstock.... Was that silly of me? He doesn't say macro photography. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 12 minutes ago, NYCat said: Hmmmm. I thought he was distinguishing "macro" stock from microstock.... Was that silly of me? He doesn't say macro photography. Paulette Not silly at all. I think you might be onto something there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnhoward28 Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 15 minutes ago, NYCat said: Hmmmm. I thought he was distinguishing "macro" stock from microstock.... Was that silly of me? He doesn't say macro photography. Paulette You are absolutely correct, but the inadvertent misunderstanding was useful as I do take a lot of macro shots of insects, so I am very interested if there is a solution for that in an A6000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnhoward28 Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Brian Yarvin said: I tried it and found the Sony macro lens disappointing. I'm at the point now where macro lens quality is the most important point in choosing a camera system. So, have you found a good solution for macros in the Sony APS-C Mirrorless platform? I have never owned one, but they say there are adapters that allows you to put just about any lens you want on that mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I can only speak to the full frame Sony, but have a suggestion for a much cheaper alternative too. I just bought the 90mm f/2.8 Macro FE G Master lens - the guy at B&H gave me great advice correctly telling me it doubles as a beautiful portrait lens. It's new but so far I like it a lot - beautiful bokeh on portraits & macros. You can't get the same kind of depth of field and bokeh with an APS sensor as you can with full frame, but I wouldn't let that stop you. It's a great lens, and would be particularly good if you were considering moving up to FF in the future. I would also suggest that you consider the Nikon 52mm closeup filter for macro. It is a really a small lens that is about three times as thick as a regular filter and screws onto the front of any brand of lens that takes a 52mm thread filter. It can be used with a step up or step-down ring to fit lenses close to that size. They come in different strengths depending on what focal length lens you'll attach it to, and turn your lens into a pseudo-macro. I used the +2 and +4 when I first started taking photos, and I still take them along with me if I don't want to lug a large macro lens, despite having bought a dedicated macro for my Nikons. I've gotten some nice shots with them on my Nikon 50mm, 35mm, and on my Olympus 40-150mm lenses. They let you focus closer. The link above is to their modern successor. You might look on eBay too. Hoya has sets with +2, +4 etc too. I took this with one of them threaded onto my Olympus 40-150mm, and the bokeh is pretty nice despite it being a micro 4/3rds sensor. I've blown it up pretty large and sold it as fine art too. Here is a true macro taken with my Nikon 105mm micro-Nikko (i.e. actual macro lens). The bokeh is smoother but the close up filters are really high quality Nikon glass and give you an inexpensive "macro." The photos pasted small so here are links to the photos if you want to take a look: Bee with Close Up filter True Macro: https://tinyurl.com/ycylxsvu I haven't uploaded any taken with the Sony 90mm macro yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 1 hour ago, Johnhoward28 said: So, have you found a good solution for macros in the Sony APS-C Mirrorless platform? I have never owned one, but they say there are adapters that allows you to put just about any lens you want on that mount No, between the macro business and the very poor tech support, I finally sold all my Sony gear. Now, if I have to do macro in the field, I use a Canon sl1 and the Canon 50mm compact macro. If I have any sort of question at all, Canon will answer me without a trace of snark or superiority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kuta Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Sigma has a new 70mm macro available for Sony e-mount. Put that together with a Sony a6xxx and you're in business with a 105mm-equivalent f2.8. It's a Sigma Art lens, so presumably excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I have to put my two cents in. I shoot with a mirrorless Fuji X-T2. Their lenses are exceptional. I have Some primes, a 35mm, 56mm, and the macro 80mm. All are excellent. So are the zooms, and I have from 10-24 to 100-400 and in-between. Any of these cameras are great for macro photography if you’re talking about for Alamy rather than micro stock. Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnhoward28 Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 29 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said: I have to put my two cents in. I shoot with a mirrorless Fuji X-T2. Their lenses are exceptional. I have Some primes, a 35mm, 56mm, and the macro 80mm. All are excellent. So are the zooms, and I have from 10-24 to 100-400 and in-between. Any of these cameras are great for macro photography if you’re talking about for Alamy rather than micro stock. Betty That Fugi is a nice camera but out of my range right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Who's playing silly with red arrows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Bill Kuta said: Sigma has a new 70mm macro available for Sony e-mount. Put that together with a Sony a6xxx and you're in business with a 105mm-equivalent f2.8. It's a Sigma Art lens, so presumably excellent. ... and a bit on the pricey side. There's also this combo that would work with APS-C mirrorless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan_Andison Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 As already mentioned, take a look at the 90mm Macro lens. This lens is an excellent lens, extremely sharp and great for macro, studio and portrait work. It's very much worth the investment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 If you can live without autofocus shooting macro then the world is your oyster. So many to choose from and, mostly you can find an adapter to make them fit. e.g old Tamron 90 mm. That's a FF lens so should excel on the crop frame body. I generally use a (£25) Zeiss Flektogon 35 mm that has macro capability, and generally photo stack using PS, but I've also shot with an old 100 mm FF Pentax on extension tubes. You don't need a to spend a fortune to take Alamy acceptable macro images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvallee Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 26 minutes ago, Bryan said: If you can live without autofocus shooting macro I do a lot of macro photography, either on a tripod or handheld. Macro should never be autofocus. You have to be accurate to the millimetre at the right place. A focusing bracket would never be at the right place. The trick is to switch to manual focus and focus either by turning the focusing ring, but much easier, to either move forwards or backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 14 hours ago, Johnhoward28 said: So, I am tired of lugging my full size DSLR around and want something more compact and lightweight. I would just like to hear some comments from Sony APS-C mirrorless (i.e. A5000 through A6500) users that shoot for Macro stock. I would just like to hear about your triumphs and struggles and why you would or would not buy one macro stock photography? TIA I use the Sony a6000 for macro stock images on Alamy. Also use that body with the Sony FE90mm f2.8 Macro G OSS lens for macro shots. The a6000 being an APS-C sensor with the FE lens gives an effective 135mm focal length. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 8 hours ago, Bryan said: If you can live without autofocus shooting macro then the world is your oyster. So many to choose from and, mostly you can find an adapter to make them fit. e.g old Tamron 90 mm. That's a FF lens so should excel on the crop frame body. I generally use a (£25) Zeiss Flektogon 35 mm that has macro capability, and generally photo stack using PS, but I've also shot with an old 100 mm FF Pentax on extension tubes. You don't need a to spend a fortune to take Alamy acceptable macro images. I've used my legacy Minolta 50mm f/1.7 Rokkor lens (cost $40 CAN) with extension tubes. The results are very good, but the manual focusing doesn't work at all with extension tubes. I have to rock back and forth, and I have trouble nailing the focus. Any tips for the manual-focusing challenged? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 17 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: I've used my legacy Minolta 50mm f/1.7 Rokkor lens (cost $40 CAN) with extension tubes. The results are very good, but the manual focusing doesn't work at all with extension tubes. I have to rock back and forth, and I have trouble nailing the focus. Any tips for the manual-focusing challenged? Not sure why that should be the case John, I've successfully manually focused using extension tubes. From memory I would normally have the camera on a tripod and get into the focus zone before fine tuning. Using my NEX6 I used to rely on the magnified image, but with the 6500 the contrast detect feature appears to be much more reliable and I use it most of the time. I occasionally switch if off when shooting landscapes as the red highlighting becomes a distraction from composition. So focus first then switch off, I have a button programmed for the purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 20 minutes ago, Bryan said: Not sure why that should be the case John, I've successfully manually focused using extension tubes. From memory I would normally have the camera on a tripod and get into the focus zone before fine tuning. Using my NEX6 I used to rely on the magnified image, but with the 6500 the contrast detect feature appears to be much more reliable and I use it most of the time. I occasionally switch if off when shooting landscapes as the red highlighting becomes a distraction from composition. So focus first then switch off, I have a button programmed for the purpose. Interesting. Turning the focusing rings on all of my old Minolta lenses has very little or no effect at all when using extension tubes. Hence it's impossible to fine tune without moving back and forth. Perhaps it has something to do with the design of Minolta lenses. Or perhaps it's just me. I've become an AF junkie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 52 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: Interesting. Turning the focusing rings on all of my old Minolta lenses has very little or no effect at all when using extension tubes. Hence it's impossible to fine tune without moving back and forth. Perhaps it has something to do with the design of Minolta lenses. Or perhaps it's just me. I've become an AF junkie. I've just checked with an old Pentax 50mm on a short extension. You can use the focusing ring, but you do need to use a tripod to hold the assembly steady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 1 hour ago, John Mitchell said: Interesting. Turning the focusing rings on all of my old Minolta lenses has very little or no effect at all when using extension tubes. Hence it's impossible to fine tune without moving back and forth. Perhaps it has something to do with the design of Minolta lenses. Or perhaps it's just me. I've become an AF junkie. it's not Minolta's fault, an ordinary lens just doesn't have the racking range needed for macro. Back in the day, macro setups with bellows often had a separate rack, attached to the camera tripod thread, to move the camera and lens together. My Illumitran still has one. Basically you set image size (or strictly reproduction ratio) by racking the lens, then focus by racking them together. Have a look at this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/302374561995?chn=ps Two separate movements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 2 hours ago, spacecadet said: it's not Minolta's fault, an ordinary lens just doesn't have the racking range needed for macro. Back in the day, macro setups with bellows often had a separate rack, attached to the camera tripod thread, to move the camera and lens together. My Illumitran still has one. Basically you set image size (or strictly reproduction ratio) by racking the lens, then focus by racking them together. Have a look at this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/302374561995?chn=ps Two separate movements. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. P.S. I have a set of cheap focusing rails. Pain to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kuta Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 18 hours ago, John Mitchell said: ... and a bit on the pricey side. There's also this combo that would work with APS-C mirrorless. Thanks for that inspiration, John. I already have the Sigma 60mm and have been looking for an excuse to get extension tubes for my Sonys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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