# Woot! New Sigma 180mm Macro just arrived!



## Netskimmer (Apr 17, 2013)

I finally got my first Macro lens! Here are some initial test shots.

I know these are not mind blowing shots or anything, just trying to get a feel for it before I have to pack everything up and go to work.

1. branch                  2. candle wick 3-5. US Quarter 6. parrot







I missed the focus on the birds eye a little but he was moving his head a lot. All of these were shot hand held, some with OS and/or flash and some without.
I think I can get by with just a good monopod with this lens. What type of head would you guys recommend for 'in the field' macros given the weight of this setup? (about 6.5 lbs/ 2.95 kg)


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## jowensphoto (Apr 17, 2013)

Yay for new toys!


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## Derrel (Apr 17, 2013)

I've seldom used a head on my monopod. I tried a small, high-quality Cullman ball head on my monopod years ago, but found it mostly a hassle. I've not tried doing macro work with a monopod however. It 'seems' like it would be an encumbrance for macro shooting, at least for many types of scenes. I dunno....I usually use a 90 or 180mm macro for outdoor pics, but shoot hand-held or hand-held + off-camera, mini-softbox + Speedlight pictures, so I do not normally need a monopod.

I think for some types of situations, a monopod might be handy, like say butterflies in an enclosed habitat, like so many zoos have now...but still...I think it would slow a person down quite a bit with going up and down, and having to adjust the 'pod height all the time...

Good call on using the quarter-dollars for macro subjects!!! Coins are quite interesting, and show a lot of the imaging characteristics of a macro lens. I hope you enjoy the new Sigma 180 OS lens!!!!!

I think you might want to see where the lens starts losing sharpness (on flat subjects, shot plano-parallell to the sensor) due to diffraction on YOUR camera; f/8? F/9.5? F/11? F/13?


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## Netskimmer (Apr 17, 2013)

Thanks for the info Darrel. I think I have a crisp $1 bill in my wallet. I will break out the tripod and test that out. It will have to wait until after work unfortunately. It would be nice if they had a monopod where the top section was spring loaded and had a friction lever. That way you could quickly change the height with one hand.


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## 480sparky (Apr 17, 2013)

Netskimmer said:


> I finally got my first Macro lens!.........



The Forum now demands you begin posting regular Whatsits by the end of the week.


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## 480sparky (Apr 17, 2013)

..........erp,.......


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## 480sparky (Apr 17, 2013)

Derrel said:


> I've seldom used a head on my monopod. .........?




My favorite macro field 'pod' is a piece of string tied to a ¼x20 eyebolt screwed into the bottom of the camera.


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## Netskimmer (Apr 17, 2013)

480sparky said:


> Netskimmer said:
> 
> 
> > I finally got my first Macro lens!.........
> ...



 Definitly! The seemingly alien nature of every day objects under high magnification is one of the things that has always fascinated me regarding macro photography.


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## 480sparky (Apr 17, 2013)

Netskimmer said:


> Definitly! The seemingly alien nature of every day objects under high magnification is one of the things that has always fascinated me regarding macro photography.



Now that you've got the 180, you'll need to get a Nifty Fifty to reverse in front of it, a set of tubes to go behind it, a bellows, a four-way focus rail, a geared tripod head, a couple of 400ws monolights, umbrella, stands, tether the whole rig with a laptop.............


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## Netskimmer (Apr 17, 2013)

480sparky said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > I've seldom used a head on my monopod. .........?
> ...



I have heard of that before but completely forgot about it until you said that! I will give that a try.



480sparky said:


> Now that you've got the 180, you'll need to get a Nifty Fifty to reverse in front of it, a set of tubes to go behind it, a bellows, a four-way focus rail, a geared tripod head, a couple of 400ws monolights, umbrella, stands, tether the whole rig with a laptop.............



A lot of that stuff is actually on my 'to get' list. Most of the bellows I've looked at that allow aperture control on a g lens are pretty pricey.


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## Netskimmer (Apr 18, 2013)

Here is  the diffraction test. Not sure if I did it correctly. I probably should have tried to keep the ISO the same in all the shots but I didn't and I tweaked the exposures a little in Lightroom to make them more consistent.

The first image is an un-cropped 1:1 image, the rest are of the All Seeing Eyes pupil at increasing f stops:



It seems to be sharpest around f/11.


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## 480sparky (Apr 18, 2013)

Lemme guess.......... it's a dollar bill!  

Yes, you need to keep the ISO locked in.  Otherwise, it looks like it starts to drop off after f/11. But that may be noise, not diffraction.


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## Netskimmer (Apr 18, 2013)

Yeah, that's not a whatsit, just a test. I thought the printing technique used on them would make for a good test medium. 

The first 2 are at lower ISO but the rest (including f/11) are at ISO 500. Since F/11 seems to be the sharpest of all of them, including the ones at lower ISO, I figured it wouldn't be an issue. I can shoot them all again at the same ISO tonight after work if you think it would yield more consistant results.


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## 480sparky (Apr 18, 2013)

Netskimmer said:


> .......... I can shoot them all again at the same ISO tonight after work if you think it would yield more consistant results.



Absoloopy.  Try setting up outside on a sunny day with sturdy table and a tripod.  Vary the shutter speed to compensate for the different apertures.  I do this with every lens I own to find out when I start to get acceptable corners as well as when diffraction starts to set it.


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## Netskimmer (Apr 18, 2013)

Hmm, if I have to wait for a sunny day I'll need to wait until tomorrow. I work nights so I'll be getting home between 3 and 4am.


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## Austin Greene (Apr 20, 2013)

No need for the monopod. As was mentioned by others, tripods and monopods are largely an encumbrance if you plan on chasing down any sort of critter. I've had great success with my current setup, quite literally with flash in one hand, and body in another.


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