First time with Z MC105 lens

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

B

bluebird

Member
Member's gallery
Have been putting the Nikkor Z MC 105 lens through its paces, please note I am no master at macro, but so far I have been well impressed with this lens. I would appreciate some CC and or any tips. Z6II ZMC 105mm 1/160 @ f14 ISO100 ,ring flash.
Fly.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
That is a WOW image!

I really wish you guys would stop posting images from the lens, they are creating "issues"!! ;)

Lens: $1000
Nikon Z7II with adapter: $3250

$4250 = Big Trouble from the Wife! (Maybe she won't notice?)

But the results appear to be well worth it!!!

(I'm getting closer and closer to selling the boat! to pay for it and the 500 PF !)
 
Member's gallery
Andrew Lamberson said:
That is a WOW image!

I really wish you guys would stop posting images from the lens, they are creating "issues"!! ;)

Lens: $1000
Nikon Z7II with adapter: $3250

$4250 = Big Trouble from the Wife! (Maybe she won't notice?)

But the results appear to be well worth it!!!

(I'm getting closer and closer to selling the boat! to pay for it and the 500 PF !)
Click to expand...
The 500pf is fantastic as well and it’s so light. Maybe you can sneak those items by the wife lol. Just have them delivered when she’s gone.
 
Member's gallery
bluebird said:
I would appreciate some CC and or any tips.View attachment 23088
Click to expand...

So, if you look carefully at the lower part of the leaf between the camera and the fly, you can see that the thin DOF is right there, and then the focus starts to fall off by the time you get to most of the fly's body (the front leg is partly in focus.) Generally, you want the focus on the eye, and this is doubly true of anything with cool-looking compound eyes. My understanding is that the ML cameras don't support AF fine-tuning (or it isn't needed) so this may just be a case of stopping the lens down a little more to get a deeper DOF (remember to turn up your flash power to compensate) or placing your focus point on the eye if you weren't already doing that.

On flies in particular, you want to make people say "wow!" when they see the eyes. It's really their most interesting feature.

Not that this photo is anything special, but even in the small version I can post here, you can see what I mean about compound eyes:

P1340678_DxOb.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
brachypelma44 said:
So, if you look carefully at the lower part of the leaf between the camera and the fly, you can see that the thin DOF is right there, and then the focus starts to fall off by the time you get to most of the fly's body (the front leg is partly in focus.) Generally, you want the focus on the eye, and this is doubly true of anything with cool-looking compound eyes. My understanding is that the ML cameras don't support AF fine-tuning (or it isn't needed) so this may just be a case of stopping the lens down a little more to get a deeper DOF (remember to turn up your flash power to compensate) or placing your focus point on the eye if you weren't already doing that.

On flies in particular, you want to make people say "wow!" when they see the eyes. It's really their most interesting feature.

Not that this photo is anything special, but even in the small version I can post here, you can see what I mean about compound eyes:

View attachment 23108
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice will take on board re focus on the eye parts, as I said I am no master at macro and this was one of my first attempt with this lens, I did not want to stop down to much to increase DOF was concerned with diffraction at smaller apertures, but this is something I need to experiment with to find the sweet spot on this lens. Many thanks for the advice.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
bluebird said:
I did not want to stop down to much to increase DOF was concerned with diffraction at smaller apertures, but this is something I need to experiment with to find the sweet spot on this lens.
Click to expand...

In my experience, the range of apertures you shoot with a macro lens are pretty different than what you would normally use for other genres of photography (in that they're stopped down a lot more.) I almost always use f11-f16 on a DX body which would be the rough equivalent of f16-f24 on an FX body. I would never use those aperture ranges for anything else that I shoot...I almost never go down to f8 for anything. As you said, experiment and figure out what works best for you.

Photo stacking does kind of solve the DOF/diffraction problem, if you're willing to do it, but on many subjects it's useless because they're moving around. Many macro photographers either refrigerate or kill their subjects to keep them still for the process. I'm not in that camp, but it's an option that can yield impressive images.
 
Member's gallery
It also plays a big part in it if you have a high megapixel camera or not. Like if I’m shooting with my Z7ii ,I can use the same aperture and get back almost double the distance I can with my z6ii. I can crop in and still get very good depth of field. There’s a lot of variables for sure when it comes to macro photography. One other good tip is to go out earlier in the morning because the insects don’t tend to move as much as whenever the temperature gets warmer. I can take a fly if my camera is on a tripod and do a short burst of in camera focus shift usually with no problem. then you have to have another software such as Helicon focus which is what I have then there’s still a considerable amount of touching up you’ll have to do in Photoshop or in the focus stacking software itself which is not as good as photo shop in my opinion. I typically stay in the range if I’m doing a single shot of f/11 to f/16 and watch my distance to the subject. With focus stacking I normally go down to a 5.6 to F8. It’s all subjective of course but it does take practice. Just remember the closer you get to the subject the less depth of the field you’re going to have an any given adventure.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
Thanks to all the guys for the CC and tips will be putting it in to practice as soon as the weather picks up lol. sh 1209 might just have to look into the Z7 II your images are superb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top