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How to do macro photography on a budget and with a kit lens

by 10 Comments

If you’d like to explore macro photography and you’re not willing to invest thousands of dollars in professional macro lenses, photographer Adam Kappa has quite an affordable solution. He shares the setup he uses for macro photography which all of us can use with minimum investment. It involves a kit lens, a cheap external flash, macro tubes and a DIY diffuser. So, with less than $100 of additional gear and some DIY magic, he achieves really great results. Take a look.

You will need

Assuming that you only have a camera with a kit lens, this external flash and the extension tubes will cost you under $100 together, which is a pretty good deal.

Taking photos

Adam zooms to 55mm, turns off the image stabilization and uses manual focus. The focus is set to infinity, and instead of focusing with the focusing ring, Adam prefers moving the camera back and forth to find the perfect focus.

As for the camera settings, Adam sets the shutter speed to 1/200, because that’s the sync speed of the flash. He sets the aperture to f/14 because with extension tubes the depth of field is too shallow if you use a wider aperture. ISO is 500 in order to avoid too much noise. Of course, depending on your camera, lens, lighting conditions and so on – feel free to experiment.

These are some of the images Adam took using this setup:

Considering that the gear is really basic and some of it is even DIY, I think these results are quite impressive. Not everyone wants or can invest in pricey macro lenses, but many of us would like to explore macro photography. Even if your niche is completely different, macro photography is fun to play with, and Adam’s setup is something most of us could try out even if we don’t have fancy gear.

[How To Do Macro Photography On A Budget via Reddit]

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  • KC

    Great article. That’s one of several ways of getting up close “cheap”. You can also try a +10 conversion/closeup lens (essentially magnifying glasses).”Closeup lenses” come in strengths from +1 to +10. A +1 can be handy to get a little bit closer with any lens.

    There’s lens reversal rings, even bellows. Another bit of fun, bellows and an old enlarger lens can work fine for macro work. I would add a focusing rail.

    It’s a fascinating type of photography and there are many ways of doing it. In terms of lighting, a “short” lens may actually get in the way of your lighting. You can go “macro” so much, the lens can touch the subject. It sounds wrong, but sometimes a long lens works better, so you get a bit of back distance.

    Of course, a proper macro lens would be ideal. As an interesting aside: often a “point and shoot” can do lite macro work.

    • Dunja0712

      Great comment. 🙂 There are so many things I’d like to try. I particularly find bellows interesting. Right now, I’m using Raynox DCR-250 (I think it’s called “snap-on lens” in English) and a 50mm lens, they give great results.

  • WillMondy

    The article says that he sets focus to infinity and moves the camera back and forth.
    Surely he sets it to minimum focus? Infinity would focus on the horizon, not on the small insect in front of you!

    • Dunja0712

      He says it in the video, and twists the lens all the way to the left (if I remember well, Canon’s lenses focus to infinity when you turn them that way). Maybe if he focused on smaller distance, he would need to get too close to the insect and it would get away.

    • Paul H

      What the article has not mentioned, and I assume has happened is that he has probably attached an extension tube between the lens and the camera first. The tube significantly shortens the distance between the camera and subject and limits the depth of field (hence he suggest an f stop of 14). The article does mention at the beginning that extension tubes are a part of the macro kit you need to buy first. It is a good article and has for me pointed out some of the errors I have been making.

      • Adam Kapustynskyj

        Hi Paul you’re right, all the kit is listed in the video as well as over on my blog (https://adamkappa.co.uk/lake-district-blogger/macro-photography-for-beginners)
        If you have any questions feel free to ask, I might make a follow up video at some point.
        Adam

        • Paul H

          Hi Adam
          Is there any way we can calculate or is there an App that you can recommend that gives the changed depth of field for lets say a 55mm focal length with a 25mm extension tube?

          • Adam Kapustynskyj

            Hi Paul
            I’m not sure about any apps I’m afraid, I’ve just experimented with loads of different settings so now I know without thinking about it what settings I need to use, it’ll take a bit of practice but it’ll work out better in the long run

    • Adam Kapustynskyj

      Hi Will
      It seems to work best at infinity with the extension tubes on, if you focus any closer you have to move closer to the subject – increases the chance of the insect flying away. I’ve put a little more info into the blog aswell – https://adamkappa.co.uk/lake-district-blogger/macro-photography-for-beginners
      Adam

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