What macro for my xti

[uztaryn]

I want to buy a macro lense for my rebel xti camera. I really want to use it to take pictures of my corals and such.

 

[uztaryn]

Well I bought the 100mm macro lense... Looks like I now need a tripod.

I cannot seem to get the pictures to be focused. The camera appears focused but the actuall picture is not. I think this is due to hand shake.

 

[hollback]

Nice Mark,

That is the glass I was going to suggest but never got around to doing so.

Here are a few suggestions in addition to the use of a tripod:

-Keep the lense perpendicular to the acrylic. With such thick acrylic, taking photos at an angle will add distortion.

-Shoot with manual settings. Increasing shutter speed and decreasing F-stop with limit blur but also limit depth of field and add minimum grain.

-Not all are keepers. Remember not every photo is going to be a masterpiece. For every 100 shots I take I might have 15 keepers and 5 that are awesome.

 

[uztaryn]

Thanks for the info Jason... I took some pictures with it today and most of them didn't turn out too well.

I did see the distortion from an angled shot. I will need to play with the manual settings as suggested tomorrow.

I was in Program mode... Not sure about everything else you said but I will read my manual and find out.

Thanks for the hints.

 

[shawnz28]

I bought the 100mm 2.8 a while back as well, though i have not used it much. I did find when I did get a tripod made a big big difference for me the other problem I think is just my inexperience and not knowing the right settings to make the image look how I want. I think in the future I might get a less powerful/lighter lens to try as well

 

[uztaryn]

Yeah I did "OK" with the stock lense... I also looked at some other lenses but felt like the 100mm was the very best and I should just learn how to use it.

 

[uztaryn]

here is a macro shot with the new lense....

What do you think?

 

[kstuart]

If thats what you're talking about with the picture not being focused, then your problem isn't focus as much as aperture/f-stop. this was probably shot at 2.8 or something low, if you raise that up you'll get more of it in focus but in doing so you'll have to slow down your shutter speed to get the same exposure.

FYI: I've been looking to get one of these lens so if anyone wants to sell one let me know