Macro photography is close-up photography; the classical definition is that the image projected on the "film plane" (i. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing An image (from Latin imago) or picture is an artifact usually two-dimensional that has a similar appearance to some subject &mdashusually e. , film or a digital sensor) is close to the same size as the subject. This article is mainly concerned with Still photography film For Motion picture film please see Film stock. On 35 mm film (for example), the lens is typically optimized to focus sharply on a small area approaching the size of the film frame. A photographic lens (also known as objective lens or photographic objective) is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with Most 35mm format macro lenses achieve at least 1:2, that is to say, the image on the film is 1/2 the size of the object being photographed. Many 35mm macro lenses are 1:1, meaning the image on the film is the same size as the object being photographed. Another important distinction is that lenses designed for macro are usually at their sharpest at macro focus distances and are not quite as sharp at other focus distances.
In recent years, the term macro has been used in marketing material to mean being able to focus on a subject close enough so that when a regular 6×4 inch (15×10 cm) print is made, the image is life-size or larger. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. This requires a magnification ratio of only approximately 1:4, more easily attainable by lens makers.
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Equipment
Equipment for making the image the required size includes:
- Using a special-purpose lens called a macro lens (perhaps confusingly, some manufacturers call it a micro), having a long barrel for close focusing. The single-lens reflex (SLR Camera uses an automatic moving mirror system which permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging A macro lens might be optimized to provide its best performance at a magnification of 1:1. Some macro lenses, like the Canon MP-E 65 mm f/2.8, can achieve even better magnification— up to 5:1 macro, bringing the structure of small insect eyes, snowflakes, and other minuscule but detailed objects into striking focus. The MP-E 65mm Macro f/28 is a Photographic lens manufactured by Canon for use on the EOS photographic system However, it is more common for a photographer to use a "standard" (1:1) macro lens. There are different categories of macro lenses, depending on the focal length:
- 50–60mm range typically used for product photography and small objects
- 90–105mm range the standard focal range used for insects, flowers, small objects
- 150–200mm range gives more working distance — typically used for insects and small animals
- a few zooms provide a macro option, but they generally do not allow a 1:1 magnification
- Placing an extension tube between the camera body and the lens. extension tube is an accessory for cameras with interchangeable lenses, used primarily for Macro photography. The tube has no glass in it; its sole purpose is to move the lens farther from the film or digital sensor. The farther the lens is from the film or sensor, the closer the focusing distance (and the greater the magnification) and the darker the image. Tubes of various lengths can be stacked together, allowing for increasing levels of magnification while simultaneously decreasing working distance. With tubes attached, the camera will often lose the ability to focus to infinity.
- Using a bellows attachment between the camera body and the lens to extend the lens to film plane distance. Similar to an extension tube, but adjustable.
- Placing an auxiliary close-up lens in front of the camera's taking lens. In Photography, a close-up lens or close-up filter is a simple Secondary lens used to enable Macro photography without requiring a specialised Inexpensive screw-in or slip-on attachments provide close focusing at very low cost. The quality is variable, with some two-element versions being excellent while many inexpensive single element lenses exhibit chromatic aberration and reduced sharpness of the resulting image. In Optics, chromatic aberration is caused by a lens having a different Refractive index for different Wavelengths of Light In Photography, acutance is the edge contrast of an image Acutance is related to the amplitude of the This method works with cameras that have built-in lenses. These lenses add diopters to the optical power of the lens, decreasing the minimum focusing distance, and allowing the camera to get closer to the subject. A dioptre, or diopter, is a Unit of measurement of the Optical power of a lens or curved Mirror, which is equal to the reciprocal
- Attaching a telephoto extender between the camera body and the lens. A 1. 4× or 2× teleconverter gives a larger image, adding macro capabilities. A teleconverter is a Secondary lens which is mounted between the Camera and a Photographic lens. As with an extension tube, less light will reach the film or sensor, and a longer exposure time will be needed. However, working distance remains the same as without the teleconverter.
- Reversing the lens using a "reversing ring". This special adapter attaches to the filter thread on the front of a lens and makes it possible to attach the lens in reverse. In Photography, a filter is a Camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted in the optical path Excellent quality results up to 4x lifesize magnification using fairly cheap, "standard" (not specially designed for macro) lenses can be produced. For cameras with all-electronic communications between the lens and the camera body, such as Canon EOS, reversing rings are available which allow all camera functions, including open aperture metering, to be used. When used with extension tubes or bellows a relatively cheap but highly versatile macro system can be assembled.
- Reversing a lens of lesser focal length in front of a normally mounted lens using a very inexpensive "macro coupler," which uses two male filter threads to join lenses. This method allows most cameras to maintain the full function of electronic communication with the normally mounted lens for features such as open-aperture metering. Magnification ratio is calculated by dividing the focal length of the normally mounted lens by the focal length of the reversed lens (i. e. , when a 18 mm lens is reverse mounted on a 300 mm lens a 16:1 magnification ratio is achieved). The use of automatic focus is not recommended due to the extra weight of the reverse-mounted lens. Attempted use of automatic focus with this technique could result in damage to the camera or lens. Working distance is significantly reduced as compared to the original lens.
- The shallow depth of vision in macro photography requires narrow aperture. Flash or low shutter speed is required for filming with narrow apertures. The normal flash unit do not deliver adequate lighting. Ring flash or twin light horse shoe flashes solve this problem. They are mounted in front of the lens with special adapters. These units are quite expensive when compared with normal flash units.
Technical considerations
Limited depth of field is an important consideration in macro photography. In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image This makes it essential to focus critically on the most important part of the subject, as elements that are even a millimetre closer or farther from the focal plane might be noticeably blurry. In Geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where Light rays originating from a point on the object converge. The Millimetre ( American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to Due to this, the use of a microscope stage is highly recommended for precise focus with large magnification such as photographing skin cells.
Compact digital cameras and small-sensor bridge cameras have an incidental advantage in macro photography due to their inherently higher depth of field at any given angle of view and working distance. Bridge digital cameras are a type of high-end Digital camera. For instance, some popular bridge cameras produce the equivalent magnification of a 420mm lens on 35mm format but only use a lens of actual focal length 89mm (1/1. 8"-type CCD) or 72mm (1/2. A charge-coupled device ( CCD) is an analog Shift register, that enables the transportation of analog signals (electric charges through successive stages (capacitors 5"-type CCD). (See crop factor. In Digital photography, a crop factor is the ratio of the dimensions of a camera's imaging area compared to a reference format most often this term is applied to ) Since depth of field appears to decreases with the actual focal length of the lens, not the equivalent focal length, these bridge cameras can achieve the magnification of a 420mm lens with the greater depth of field of a much shorter lens. In Optics, particularly as it relates to Film and Photography, the depth of field (DOF is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image High-quality inexpensive auxiliary close-up lenses can be used to achieve the needed close focus; they function identically to reading glasses. Glasses, also called eyeglasses or spectacles, are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the Eyes normally for vision correction, This effect makes it possible to achieve very high quality macrophotographs with relatively inexpensive equipment, since auxiliary closeup lenses are far cheaper than dedicated SLR macro lenses.
The problem of sufficiently and evenly lighting the subject can be difficult to overcome. Some cameras can focus on subjects so close that they touch the front piece of glass in the lens. It is impossible to place a light between the camera and a subject that close, making this extreme close-up photography impractical. A normal-focal-length macro lens (50 mm on a 35 mm camera) can focus so close that lighting remains difficult. To avoid this problem, many photographers use telephoto macro lenses, typically with focal lengths from about 100 to 200 mm. These are popular as they permit sufficient distance for lighting between the camera and the subject.
Ring flashes, with flash tubes arranged in a circle around the front of the lens, can be helpful in lighting at close distances. A ring flash, invented by Lester A Dine in 1952 originally for use in dental photography is a circular photographic flash that fits around the lens especially for use in Ring lights have emerged, using white LEDs to provide a continuous light source for macrophotography.
Homemade flash diffusers made out of white Styrofoam or plastic attached to a camera's built-in flash can also yield surprisingly good results by diffusing and softening the light, eliminating specular reflections and providing more even lighting. Specular reflection is the perfect Mirror -like reflection of light (or sometimes other kinds of Wave) from a surface in which light from a single incoming
Examples
 The skin of a North American Cantaloupe, taken with a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2. Cantaloupe (also cantaloup) refers to two varieties of Muskmelon ( Cucumis melo), which is a Species in the family Cucurbitaceae (a 8 1–5× Macro lens and Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX |
 Hibiscus petal, taken through Canon PowerShot A95 |
 Colony of aphids on a stem, using an inverse mounted lens on a Canon G3 |
 Thumbnail on the Macro photography page, taken with a Pentax *ist DS and macro lens |
 Lily Flower taken with Canon PowerShot A550 |
 head of Tipulidae (150mm Sigma and Nikon D80) |
 Magnification of 1:1 (Coin 21mm CCD 23. Hibiscus, or rosemallow, is a large genus of about 200&ndash220 species of Flowering plants in the family Malvaceae (the mallow family A petal (from Ancient Greek petalon "leaf" "thin plate" regarded as a highly modified leaf is one member or part of the corolla The Canon PowerShot A is a series of Digital cameras released by Canon. The Canon PowerShot G is a series of Digital cameras released by Canon. PENTAX *ist DS is a digital SLR Camera produced by Pentax. The *ist DS produces a 6 The Canon PowerShot A is a series of Digital cameras released by Canon. 6mm) |
 Magnification of 2:1 (Photographed zone 11. 8mm CCD 23. 8mm) |
See also
External links
- Macro Lenses — Special lenses for close-up work. Wildlife photography is the act of taking photographs of Wildlife. Nature photography refers to a wide range of Photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as Landscapes Wildlife, Cloudscape photography is Photography of Clouds or sky An early cloudscape photographer Belgian photographer Léonard Misonne (1870-1943 was noted For the art of designing external spaces see Landscape architecture. A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an Image created by Light falling on a light-sensitive surface usually Photographic film or an electronic
- Use of Microscope Stage for Microphotography
- Photo.net how-to — Guide to macro photography
- Make your own reversing ring out of a Pringles can
- Information about reversed lens with photo of setup
- Information on inverted lenses
- About Macro Photography and Macro Lenses
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