{"id":63851,"date":"2010-04-25T06:37:15","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T06:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/?p=63851"},"modified":"2019-11-09T01:48:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-09T09:48:15","slug":"lens-and-lights-for-super-macro-photography-surgery-on-a-shooting-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/lens-and-lights-for-super-macro-photography-surgery-on-a-shooting-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Lens and lights for super macro photography: surgery on a shooting table"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”off|desktop” admin_label=”Hero” _builder_version=”3.22.3″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#0c1319″ background_color_gradient_end=”#2b3a42″ background_color_gradient_direction=”60deg” box_shadow_style=”preset7″ box_shadow_horizontal=”0px” box_shadow_vertical=”-80px” box_shadow_color=”#ffffff” custom_padding=”20px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”|||” _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Open Sans|600|||||||” text_line_height=”1.8em” header_2_font=”Poppins||||||||” header_2_font_size=”36px” header_2_line_height=”1.4em” text_orientation=”center” background_layout=”dark” max_width=”700px” module_alignment=”center”]<\/p>\n

Lens and lights for super macro photography:<\/h1>\n

Surgery on a shooting table<\/h3>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1-28.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″ border_radii=”on|10px|10px|10px|10px” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ box_shadow_horizontal=”5px” box_shadow_vertical=”5px” box_shadow_blur=”25px”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ specialty_columns=”3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]Do you know what surgical forcep<\/a> is? According to Wikipedia: “Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task.” In case if the object is a tiny piece of human body needed for biopsy, something very internal, surgeons pin a hole in human’s body and use 1.5 mm in diameter micro jaws to bite a piece of the liver, for example…
\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2-26.jpg” alt=”Do you know what surgical forcep is? According to Wikipedia: %22Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task.%22 In case if the object is a tiny piece of human body needed for biopsy, something very internal, surgeons pin a hole in human’s body and use 1.5 mm in diameter micro jaws to bite a piece of the liver, for example…” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

Macro photography in your hand<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scary enough? Do not worry, I won’t go further:-)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I was lucky to feel these things in my hands, not inside of me. One of our good long-term customers, medical supplier EndoChoice<\/a> sells such devices and my duty is to produce outstanding images of these little gremlins.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For this task I use the most unusual lens in our collection, Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x<\/a> macro.
\nThe lens is unusual because:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It has a smallest diameter front element I ever seen on lens for 35mm cameras.<\/li>\n
  2. It does not have auto-focus… It does not have focus at all! No focusing ring, just a zoom grip.<\/li>\n
  3. This is a longest (compared to collapsed size) zoom expansion I know: the lens extends almost 3 times in length.<\/li>\n
  4. Has magnification ratio from life-size (1x) to 5x, which makes it microscope-like tool for photographer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here it<\/span> she is:
    \n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/3-22.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Canon super macro lens MP-E 65mm 1-5x<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/4-18.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Canon super macro lens MP-E 65mm 1-5x<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/5-3.png” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Canon super macro lens MP-E 65mm F2.8 extended<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Now, the forceps shoot setup.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    For such small objects\u00a0 I need to use relatively narrow light beams, so no softboxes here:-) Total 4 Paul C. Buff lights: two on the forcep, two on the table to highlight the background where lens is aimed. Because of a small front element and because I need DOF<\/a> to be as deep as possible (aperture was set to a maximum value for the lens\u00a0 F16), setup was required a good amount of light.\u00a0 Total\u00a0 1200WS through 20\u00b0 honeycombs to a background from 2 feet away and total power of 2400WS on the forcep through 10\u00b0 honeycombs were used.<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6-15.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Lighting setup for super macro photography<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/7-12.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Lighting setup for super macro photography<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    I use Manfrotto modified arm (see details below) to hold a wire the way I need, arm connected to a Manfrotto\u00a0 shooting table frame. What was really missing in my setup is a geared focusing rails for macro photography. Because a focusing can be done only by changing the distance between the lens and the object, it was really hard to move camera precisely toward the object. The head I used, Manfrotto 405<\/a> geared head, did not help a lot (BTW, great head for product photography), as it does not allow frontal movements. I’ll need something like this <\/a>on top of my Bogen.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Now few of the results, all done on 2x magnification:<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/8-11.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Super Macro forcep image, by Atlanta photographer Alex Kolsokov<\/p>\n

    [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.photigy.com\/school\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/9-8.jpg” alt=”Lens and lights for super macro photography” show_in_lightbox=”on” align=”center” align_tablet=”center” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” _builder_version=”3.23″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.19.7″]<\/p>\n

    Macro photography forcep, by Atlanta photographer Alex Koloskov<\/p>\n

    \nEquipment and shooting spec:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n

    Camera gear:<\/strong><\/p>\n