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This material is provided free and in good faith to camera clubs where I have presented to assist members by providing links to additional information, tips, suppliers etc.

The material is copyright to me, Bob Brind-Surch. Please respect this by not sharing this information with others but if you know camera clubs who you think would value a visit please do let them know.

The document contains various links to websites etc. These were all correct and worked at the time of writing. I do check them periodically but please feel free to inform me if any have changed or fail to link as intended.

I mentioned many suppliers during the presentation all of whom I have found useful for either general photographic equipment or for Macro specific aids and equipment.

The following isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list and as suppliers and products change over time I am afraid they are supplied on a best endeavors basis and I don’t endorse them in anyway and cannot take any responsibility for any errors they contain. If you should find any such errors or links that no longer work or have any further comments from your own experience please let me know at info@naturesphotos.co.uk.

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There are many manufacturers of extension tubes on the market all of whom are cheaper than the manufacturers own. In my view few are better than those marketed by a Japanese firm called Kenko - http://www.kenkoglobal.com/.

These are fully automatic and well produced. You need to be extremely careful choosing some cheaper alternatives as they can damage your camera and may not be automatic.

Kenko don’t sell direct but they can be bought through Amazon for Canon, Nikon, Sony and many other makes of camera and a little bit of hunting on the web can find them for prices as low as £90. Unfortunately at the moment (May 2013) I am not aware of any third party version for Pentax cameras however.

A cheaper alternative are those made by Polaroid and yet others such as Meike for about £60. These are equally as reliable but the lens release knob is a little more fiddly. It is also important that you obtain automatic version with full connections between the lens and camera.

N.B. Canon users

If using a Canon Cropped Sensor Camera such as the 40D, 50D, 60D, 400D, 450D, 500D etc. with EF-S lenses i.e. the ones with a white and red “mount alignment” dot.

then you need to be aware that you will require compatible tubes as mentioned in the presentation. Failure to do so will damage your lens !

Canon users - If in doubt buy EF-S compatible tubes as they work with both EF-S and the normal EF lenses.

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http://www.srb-griturn.com/

These are used to reverse a lens when working extremely close up e.g. with a full set of extension tubes. They also permit the use of an old high quality “fast” lens.

There are a number of good suppliers but my recommendation has always been a first rate company called SRB-Griturn - www.srb-griturn.com/index.asp.

As well as reversing rings - www.srb-griturn.com/reversing-rings-388-c.asp, they also make a wide range of lens couplers and adaptors to allow you to couple and reverse individual lenses, use older macro lenses on newer digital cameras and use specialised lenses e.g. enlarger lenses. I have used them for many years and recommended them to countless people and the feedback is always the same – “an excellent company who will go out of their way to please”. They will even make up bespoke couplers if required. They also supply a very helpful catalogue.

N.B. for reversing rings you will need to get one to fit both your camera and the filter thread on the lens you are using.

When I first came across the Plamp my first thoughts were that it was a very expensive device and I could probably make my own. However when I looked at a friends version I soon revised my opinion and it has rapidly become a very useful and versatile accessory in my macro photo bag especially when photographing flowers.

It consists of two grips connected by an arm made from LOC-LINE ® ball-and-socket segmented tubing. One end is attached to a solid object, e.g. a tripod leg of stake in the ground, and the other, more delicate, grip is used to hold flowers or other macro subjects, reflectors, diffusers or it can be used to hold back distracting elements such as stems or small branches.

The official UK Distributor of Wimberley products is Bob Rigby Photographic Ltd - http://www.bobrigby.com/index.html. This is a good place to start and he does supply extension arms and spares if they should break but the Plamp can also be

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purchased from other photographic suppliers and a web search is advisable to get the best price.

Beware of cheap copies sold on eBay.

There are many different clamps you can construct to aid you macro work. All that is required is a degree of imagination.

Based on the Plamp deign I have made up versions with copper wire and clothes pegs. I also construct much smaller versions, again with copper wire but this time electical crocodile clips – see photo.

I also use cheap backdrop clamps – the plastic ones available on e-bay that are so cheap it doesn’t matter if you drill them or stick things too them or lose them!

As I explained there are many alternative ways of adding extra light to assist in macro work but one of the ones I have recently started to experiment with a range of relatively cheap light panels available from a number of locations. These consist of a large number of extra bright LEDS arranged in a tight array. These devices have been available for some time but have always been very expensive. Until very recently a superb 135 LED version was available from 7DayShop and I know a number of photographer use. Unfortunately they have stopped selling them but there is now thankfully an even better alternative now available which is brighter, takes better rechargeable batteries and has a built in dimmer control. A number of suppliers including some on the web supplying these but it’s important to get the right one. After a good deal of research I have found that for me this is the CN-160 LED version at between £30 and £40. The best way to find a supplier is to type “CN-160 LED light” into Google and you will be directed to them – usually via Amazon.

To buy batteries you need to look for a supplier of NP-F550 Sony equivalent batteries. It does take others including AA cells but I have found these to be the best. If you are prepared to fiddle with it a bit you can fit the longer life NP-970 versions and I often use these. You can find these again by typing them into Google and looking again often on Amazon. You will also need a charger for these batteries usually available from the battery supplier. All this may seem fiddly but is very easy and well worth it. I can’t give definitive links as suppliers change from time to time.

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Ring flashes are undoubtedly my favorite lighting accessory when tackling Macro work. They are flexible, compact, high powered and with modern ETTL metering connections allow you to work at speed without any concern for the lighting or related camera settings. I simply set my camera at 1/250 second, f22 or whatever is the smallest aperture my lens will support and let the electronics in the ring flash do the rest. Ring flashes are however expensive, the Canon one I have costs about £ 380. There are alternatives such as one from Sunpak for a little less and what seems a good one from Marumi for about £120. I haven’t tried the Marumi one but have heard good reports about it. One very good alternative is the Nissin MF18 (right) which is available from a number of suppliers for about £250.

In addition to the conventional flash tube versions a number have started to appear on the market which use the LED lighting approach I describe of the light panels. These are considerably cheaper but the ones I have tried at present are not at all bright enough and in my view a waste of money. I am however waiting to investigate one from Morris Photo - www.morrisphoto.co.uk - http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/ProductDetails~productID~10119~categoryid~235.html – the Seagull MRC80+ Ring Flash at £89. These of course have the benefit of offering continuous light but are not as bright as the dedicated version nor have all the auto options. This one, unlike others, does have a flash option which is claimed to be 4 times brighter than the light on its own. You can also buy ring light adaptors that clip onto a standard Speedlight and whist I hear good things about these I have not personally tried one and would be rather worried re how clumsy they are and how easily you could drop them if the camera is tipped forward.

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Laboratory jacks or scissor lifts are designed to be used by scientists when they want to position a glass flask in a particular position for an experiment.

I find them very useful when trying to carefully and accurately adjust the height of e.g. a plant when attempting an ultra-close up e.g. of a flower. I place the plant pot on the stand, position the camera on a tripod and mounted on a focusing rack (see below). I can then adjust both the height of the plant and the subject to camera distance accurately and smoothly.

These are usually very expensive but a reasonably priced substantial stainless steel one can be obtained from RapidOnline at http://www.rapidonline.com/Education/Laboratory-Jack-120-X-140mm-06-6616 . They make various sizes but I find the smallest more than adequate for my needs.

I find focusing racks extremely useful in close-up and macro photography. I will often want to set a magnification first (by choosing a focusing distance or reproduction ratio with the lens focusing ring), and subsequently to focus by moving the camera and lens back and forth as a whole. As I demonstrated at the talk focusing racks allow you to make accurate and fine adjustments of the distance between camera and subject.

A focusing rack is simply a fixed platform with one or more threaded holes for attachment to a tripod head, and a moving platform with an attachment for the camera (or lens foot) that slides along a metal bar or a pair of parallel metal rods. A rack-and-pinion gear or a screw mechanism allows the camera platform to move smoothly in small increments.

There are many different versions out there and many are fairly expensive. Those from NovoFlex (pictured) are undoubtedly the best but I have however found many sold on eBay to be very workable, reasonably cheap and sturdy enough for most things unless you have a very heavy lens or camera.

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I find the small collapsible reflectors extremely useful when tackling macro work. They can be used in the conventional way to bounce light into a subject or alternatively make a great small windbreak. I always carry one in my camera bag and have found the 5 in one version from 7 Day Shop very useful. It has 5 different surfaces one of which is a simple diffusor which is great for diffusing bright sunlight. They all fold up conveniently into a case no more than 200mm in diameter but open to 420mm and come at a very acceptable price of about £15. See http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=109829.

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Please refer to the downloadable notes on my website atwww.naturesphotos.co.uk//media/Tips%20and%20techniques/Focus%20stacking.pdf

It is sometimes useful to understand the math’s behind how you calculate the magnification and exposure compensation for close up lenses and extension tubes but often it is better to just experiment. I provide the details below however just in case they are of use.

The “strength” of close up or supplementary lenses is measure in “dioptres” or focal length depending on manufacturer. The conversion formulae are:

(Dioptre value = 1/focal length *1000)

(Focal length = 1/dioptre value *1000)

The magnification ratio is a factor of the focal length or diopter value and can be calculated thus:

Magnification ratio = focal length of lens / (1/d*1000)

e.g. 100mm lens with 2 dioptre close up lens has magnification ratio of 100/(1/2*1000) = 0.2 thus a ratio of 1:5

Magnification =

length of extension tube / focal length of lens

(if focus set to infinity – more if not)

e.g. 50mm lens with 25mm extension tubes

magnification = 0.5 or 1:2

Exposure factor (stops lost) =

(1 + magnification value) or 1.5 stops in example

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