Camera Labs

Here is it.
Feel free to comment.
Do I miss out anything??

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Stephen Ho
Nikon D40 l AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) l
www.flickr.com/photos/vandcoler

Nice! 1st and 3rd in particular.

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Graham
Flickr

Hi vandcooler,

Love the first one, in particular. I'd be sorely tempted to Photoshop the background completely black and round off the little bit of stem right below the first flower to get an even more "abstract" effect but, hey, it's not my picture and I'll be delighted if I ever manage anything so good.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Lovely shots, Stephen!
Is this just with the kit-lens? You added some (3.0x) to your signature. Is this the magnification you get from it or is this the diopters of a close-up-lens that you're using?

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I actually prefer the second! Lovely details...

Thanks for all the compliment.
But is there anything else should I concern besides the steadiness when taking shot, using tripod.

Due to Im taking all these without using a macro lens.
I never use a Macro lens before, and planning to have one of it.
What is the most obvious different when a shot taken by a Macro lens?
Is it a Macro lens able to give us better detail about the subject and better focus??

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Stephen Ho
Nikon D40 l AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) l
www.flickr.com/photos/vandcoler

Ya, as I'd mentioned, is just with the kit lens only. the (3.0x) is the magnification power limit for the lens. Im just quote it direct from the specification for this lens itself.

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Stephen Ho
Nikon D40 l AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) l
www.flickr.com/photos/vandcoler

The macro lens will let get you get even closer up to a magnification of 1:1.
if you need this...
And it should have a slightly better IQ in the range up to 1:5 then the standard lens.
But I'm quite surprised: Are you sure that the kit-lens goes down to 1:3? Or are we talking about shooting distance (=0.3m)? Because 1:3 is quite a feat! To get to larger magnifications you could also get a 25mm extension tube, or a 2 diopter close-up lens preferably the Canon 500D: it's an achromat and said to be the best quality close-up lens you can attach to your front-lens. That would be less invetsment and easier to carry around

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thanks for your suggestion and explanation on macro lens, Thomas.

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Stephen Ho
Nikon D40 l AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) l
www.flickr.com/photos/vandcoler

I think 3.0x refers to the optical zoom? 55 / 18=3 (approx.)

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Graham
Flickr

Sorry to bump in but presently I'm quite interested in Macro Photography but do not wish to invest on a macro lens yet till I'm comfortable with Macro. I heard a lot about Diopters where I was told that this is a cheaper substition for Macro photography. I do have a Sigma 50-150mm F2.8 lens and would it be a good idea to convert this into a macro lens by using the so call "Diopter" for the time being?
What is actually a Diopter and how does it works and if you were to recommend, which model will be good? ( I'd already done a search but still don't quite understand )
I also understand that Macro lens are usually Prime lens but I do come across some macro lens that are zoom lens ( 70-300mm Macro ) Is this tele zoom a true macro lens or do you think I should stick with a prime macro leans if I were to acquire one in the future?
Vandcooler, sorry to hijack your post but nice pictures anyway

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You will never have what you like until you learn to like what you have

"Diopter" is just a measure of how strong a close-up lens is.
The focal length of a close-up lens with x diopters is 1/x meter.
So a 2 diopter lens has a focal length of 1/2m=50cm
That's what the Canon 500D close-up lens is.
If you put a 2 diopter close-up on your primary lens you cannot focus further away than 50cm (from the front-lens) but you can get much closer, when you focus your primary lens to it's closest distance.

Now, let's get practical (from the Excel-Labs of Dr. T ):

On a 50mm prime lens which goes as close as 45cm normally (with a magnification of 1:7 approx.) the 2 diopter close-up lens should get you down to 28cm with an approx. magnification of 1:4.

On a tele-lens (or zoom) at 200mm focal length that normally focusses down to 1.44m (magnification of 1:5) the 2 diopter close-up lens will let you get down to 1:1.5 at 60cm distance from focal plane!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Bemyself,
it is fine for me. I've learn more from your question.
Thanks again Thomas for your explanation.

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Stephen Ho
Nikon D40 l AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (3.0x) l
www.flickr.com/photos/vandcoler

Thomas,
Thanks for your explanations. Can you suggest which route I should take? A macro len or a Diopter considering that I'm still very new in photography? I know you will end up saying it's up to me but I would like to hear from you expert first. And also regarding my question on zoom macro len, it's a true macro len? Sorry to keep bombarding you with so many questions but this is the place where I can get true and genuine opinions
Vandcooler,
Thanks once more for letting me share this thread
Regards,
Bemyself

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You will never have what you like until you learn to like what you have

I'd suggest you try a close-up-lens with 2 diopters first. Don't be shocked to find out that a good one like the Canon 500D costs around 100$. But on the other hand cheap close-up-lenses really ruin the image-quality.
If you are really going deeper into macro-photography, you could easily sell it at a good price (because it's the best).
Watch-out that different manufacturers declare different magnifications as "macro" for their zooms: normally one should expect going to 1:1 magnification, but many just go down to 1:2. That may be enoughfor your purpose, as 1:1 photography has other challenges that make it hard to make good pictures. The large magnifications comes with very, very small dof and a huge magnification of any sort of shake (even from a tripod).
That is why I just recommended to go with 2 diopter the close-up lens!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses