Oops, one of the songs in this video seems to have fallen out. Hence the weird quiet in the middle of the video. Anyway too late to reupload now. But now you know why :)
From experience, the huge difference in sharpness from f11 vs. optimal setting for the lens, i find to be a bit of a confirmation bias at times, because if you actively look for optical imperfections, you will see them. when I don't look at the f-number i don't notice any diffraction even at f11 on 26mp aps-c unless i look for it specifically. I've missed a lot of useable shots because I've been afraid of going beyond f8 for so long. This is a great video and reassuring coming from a professional macro photographer. Thank you for making this video.
Couldn’t agree more. Single shots are way more fun. I find that when I shoot stacks, I’m less excited about reviewing/editing the photos after a shoot.
I always think single shots are more natural. Stacked images always give me that "clinical" vibe which always reminds me of science books. I have done a few stacks but just for the focal point area, the rest left as naturally blurred as it was. That hybrid approach works well as well in my opinion. Great video.
I been doing macro insects around 15 yrs. Always used canon. I take 1 shot. I get some great shots. But wow I certainly put in the time and effort to perfect this unusual skill. David. Love your videos.
Slightly off-topic, but I tried insect macro the other day and you deserve all the credit in the world - it's is pretty difficult! I've been a photographer for over 20 years and I found it very demanding. Your photos are brilliant!
Single shot only here w/ GH5 at f whatever is sharpest for the specific lens. I shoot mostly 60-70 year old projector lenses, and so I stick rubber washers with different hole sizes on the backside till I find the 'banger zone'. Love your work Micael, enjoy the bug season! Greetings from Northern Colorado.
Micael, those photos are sharp as a tac and very fun to look at. Should never worry too much about the f/stop # its just a number. I know people who have shoot at f/22 😮
I had already commented on your Insta post, but now got around to watching the video. Great work Micael, I think it's important to dispel the myths about narrow aperture and diffraction and that it is entirely possible to get great detailed photos in a single shot. One thing I can comment on is I've found this method ideally needs a flash and base ISO! My Godox v350 is in for repair and I've had to resort to using a Godox LED light and Adaptalux Pod Mini combo, I'm not getting close to the same level of sharpness as I'm having to bump up the ISO (even by just a little bit) which is just amplifying any softness and creating an absolute muddy mess of an image!
I'd say 98 percent of my macro is single shot, and I find f/7.1 is my sweet spot with the 60mm 2.8/Raynox combo. I tend to shoot a lot of dragonflies, butterflies, bees, and jumping spiders I can't guarantee won't fly off.
Well Micael, I agree with you about stacking. One camera I use is the Nikon Z9 so everything is automated for stacking (during capture). Software also makes it easy but the entire process isn't as fun as a single image capture. It might sound crazy to some, but I stopped in March after years of stacking. I might do a 3 image stack but that's about it. Aren't those wellies rather warm in the summer?
I have a Rebel T7 being using for awhile now and yesterday I decided to use my dads old Rebel T1i from 2009. I used the same lens both cameras were the same crop sensor size, but the T1i is like 16 megapixels I think compared to the T7 with 24 megapixels and (to me) T1i images looked soooooooo much better than my T7! I felt like no matter what aperture I put it to it didnt really make much of a sharpness image but I am gonna start using the 15 year old camera for now on!
This video is an incredible coincidence. Two days ago I decided to experiment with smaller apertures, thinking greater DOF--which is the holy grail of macrophotography--might be worth a little diffraction as a trade-off...and that's just what I found. I too found that f13 was the sweet spot. I even liked some things I got at f16. Sometimes a little softness even works aesthetically. And I've always enjoyed doing single shots. I can't be bothered with focus stacking. Too technology-dependent. I guess I'm kind of a purist in that regard.
Mastering a technique, such as shooting for a focus stack, doesn't mean you have to use it every time. It's an extra tool in the toolbox, which we can use when we find it worth the effort. 🙂
Yesterday I had the same problem with my fash. I thought that it was due to the low batteries and I replaced them. Then it worked well. But I will check what you say, because when I got home and tried to charge the batteries the charger was in green light .... what it means that they were not discharged. I thought that the charger doesn't worked very well. Now, you have given me the explanation, thank you.
I always shoot my macros ranging usually from f11 to f16 and I always get some good results without diffraction. I find f9 to be a bit more shallow to my liking when I do closer macros like you usually do. Edit: I use Sigma 105mm + extension tubes.
For me, photography is not about having "everything" in focus, no matter if it is macro photography or if it is Landscape photography, when I look back at my photo images, more often I like the photo images that focus on the most important in the images an the rest of the images blurs more or less out... But a few times I use fx my 110mm macro Lens (on a full frame camera) with aperture 8, more rarely aperture 11, then I turn the ISO a bit up, because I never use flash, only natural light for nature photography. Most of the time I use aperture 2.5 to 4.0, sometimes 5.6 on the 110mm. From 45 years of experience with macro photography. About aperture, there is not two Lenses that performs the same at the "same" aperture.
I love your videos! Very helpful. I have a question. Diffraction is only one of many causes of softness. I notice that your photo walks are mostly done in shady places. This helps remove a source of softness in macro photography that seems not to be discussed very often. Flash macro has two light sources - the light from the flash and the light from the sun. The flash intensity can be set to overpower natural daylight but there is always some contribution from it. Because the fastest shutter speed for sync flash with a mechanical shutter is usually about a 250th and 100th on electronic shutter, the slightest movement means you will always have two images - one from daylight & one from the flash. I wondered whether an advantages of smaller apertures is the suppression of the daylight image blurring the shot? Thus, it’s not so much that the diffraction softness is acceptable but that the blur from daylight is better suppressed by upping the flash power? I have found that in brighter conditions an ND filter can be helpful to reduce the daylight image and then overpowering it with a brighter flash. What do you think?? Keep the videos coming! So helpful and full of a certain kind of ‘Zen’ - all best wishes.
It's a great video and I know the feeling to let focus stacking and enjoy some single shots :) It's much quicker both to take and to process the picture.
Nicely done, although I'm not sure about the 'square' video format - I much prefer 16:9 for my desktop monitor. As you say, diffraction depends upon both aperture and magnification, so 'acceptable sharpness' suffers as you stop down and focus closer, which you then have to balance against an increased depth of field. I'm surprised that f/13 is your sweet spot on the OM-1, because the effective aperture at, say, 1.5x magnification is f/32 - [ Effective f-number = f-number x (magnification +1), according to the MP-E 65 instruction manual ]
Thanks for all the nice videos about Macro photography. This is something I want to get started on myself, what is it that the Olympus system can do to help with photostacking?
Olympus has built in bracketing, as well as in-body focus stacking, which will take a photo then advance the focus plane by a little bit, then take another photo, and so on. With my camera, the em1 mkii, in-body processed focus stacking is limited at 15 photos, but I don't use that. I use the bracketing, which is not processed in-body but has no real limit on subsequent photos taken. So I can take 2 or 35 or 999. The only practical limit is your shutter speed and flash recharge time. Yesterday I did a bracketed shot of 40 photos in just about 3 seconds, of which I used 35 to make a super sharp image front to back.
I'll also add that I started in early February 2024 with a absolutely 0 experience with cameras. I still feel light-years behind "real" macro photographers, but I'm trying and I'm learning something new every time I go out. It's a great fun hobby to get into!
A few of us over at Mu-43 forum use f13. A little diffraction seems to look better that out of focus, I am talking about up to 1:1 single shot for this post
I absolutely love single shots! I need to try a bigger f-stop now as well. I use f11 mostly. But I am surprised about the power settings on the flash you used. I have the om-5 with the 60mm m.zuiko + a godox v350o with Cygnustech diffuser. I usually have the power of the flash between 1/4 and 1/2. Otherwise the shots will be very under exposed.
The AK diffuser is extremely efficient, so maybe that plays a part. 1/4 and 1/2 sounds extreme though, something must be wrong. I never had to go there with the Cygnustech diffuser - used it mostly at 1/16.
Thank you for a nice and informative video again. Most of the time i shoot single with my OM-1 and the 60mm from m.zuiko. I will try this with some smaller aperture tomorrow. You are so inspiring and im learning alot. Keep up the good work!
I too use the OM-1 with the 60mm macro. there is no we ai can handhold 1;1 in manual focus so I have to back off the mag and then crop in if necessary. with my Godox V1 flash i have to set to at maximum 1/64 and around f14 to get decent shots with auto focus. another problem with focus stacking is the movement of the creature legs or antenna etc,
I used my Olympus 60mm with the Raynox MSN-202. At maximum close up distance, f9-11 is as far as i would go. It is all about balancing the DOF and details. For some subject, i feel like i can close to f11, cause sharpen software compensate for sharpness. But if the subject is too detailed, diffraction will take away completely the details and sharpen software won't work anymore
Hey Micael, great video! I'm getting my AK diffuser next week, what flash strength do you normally use around f8? I have a similar set up to yours with the 60mm macro f2.8.
Going to try your settings w OM-1 Was having issues with single shot and flash also. Mine turned out to be under anti shock shutter menu. It was set to two second delay. Reset to zero now fine
With the 90mm when close to 2:1 I have been getting acceptible results all the way up to f18 - i need to do some more testing though to really see if there is much difference in softening - I have not really noticed it to be too bad
Hi. I have a Tamron SP AF 90mm 1:2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 272EN II with m43 system adapter. Please tell me, will there be a big increase in quality if I buy a 7artisasns 60mm 2.8 macro? Thank you
I shoot all my macro stuff on micro four thirds cameras at f22. Diffraction isn't even noticeable when the pics are viewed on my 32 inch monitor. Technically I know it's there, but I really can't see it.
I tend to go never over f11. I find the sharpness loss to be a waste of my time. Yes I might get more in focus, but overall I'm disappointed usually at the fidelity loss.
@@MicaelWidell oh cool. I see little buggers like that around here and usually they are ticks that want to give you lime disease. I am in Calgary Alberta.
Informative as always Micael - thank you. It's a shame about the decision to present in a square video aspect. I trust that this was only an experiment and not the direction the channel intends to pursue. Keep them coming!
We'll see about the aspect ratio, I still haven't decided on one to keep going with. I know a few people hate the square format, but priority number one of this channel is that I should have fun making the videos, and I have fun when I try things like this :)
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Thanks for watching! 🐞 My favorite gear: micaelwidell.com/#gear 🐛 lens guide: lensguide.micaelwidell.com 🪳 monthly newsletter: micaelwidell.com 🐜 instagram: instagram.com/mwroll
Oops, one of the songs in this video seems to have fallen out. Hence the weird quiet in the middle of the video. Anyway too late to reupload now. But now you know why :)
Do not mind, I like videos without music 😊
From experience, the huge difference in sharpness from f11 vs. optimal setting for the lens, i find to be a bit of a confirmation bias at times, because if you actively look for optical imperfections, you will see them. when I don't look at the f-number i don't notice any diffraction even at f11 on 26mp aps-c unless i look for it specifically. I've missed a lot of useable shots because I've been afraid of going beyond f8 for so long. This is a great video and reassuring coming from a professional macro photographer. Thank you for making this video.
Couldn’t agree more. Single shots are way more fun. I find that when I shoot stacks, I’m less excited about reviewing/editing the photos after a shoot.
I always think single shots are more natural. Stacked images always give me that "clinical" vibe which always reminds me of science books. I have done a few stacks but just for the focal point area, the rest left as naturally blurred as it was. That hybrid approach works well as well in my opinion. Great video.
I been doing macro insects around 15 yrs. Always used canon. I take 1 shot. I get some great shots. But wow I certainly put in the time and effort to perfect this unusual skill. David. Love your videos.
Slightly off-topic, but I tried insect macro the other day and you deserve all the credit in the world - it's is pretty difficult! I've been a photographer for over 20 years and I found it very demanding. Your photos are brilliant!
Thanks :) Certainly requires a bit of practice. Many things to get right.
Single shot only here w/ GH5 at f whatever is sharpest for the specific lens. I shoot mostly 60-70 year old projector lenses, and so I stick rubber washers with different hole sizes on the backside till I find the 'banger zone'. Love your work Micael, enjoy the bug season! Greetings from Northern Colorado.
Micael, those photos are sharp as a tac and very fun to look at. Should never worry too much about the f/stop # its just a number. I know people who have shoot at f/22 😮
I had already commented on your Insta post, but now got around to watching the video. Great work Micael, I think it's important to dispel the myths about narrow aperture and diffraction and that it is entirely possible to get great detailed photos in a single shot. One thing I can comment on is I've found this method ideally needs a flash and base ISO! My Godox v350 is in for repair and I've had to resort to using a Godox LED light and Adaptalux Pod Mini combo, I'm not getting close to the same level of sharpness as I'm having to bump up the ISO (even by just a little bit) which is just amplifying any softness and creating an absolute muddy mess of an image!
I'd say 98 percent of my macro is single shot, and I find f/7.1 is my sweet spot with the 60mm 2.8/Raynox combo. I tend to shoot a lot of dragonflies, butterflies, bees, and jumping spiders I can't guarantee won't fly off.
Well Micael, I agree with you about stacking. One camera I use is the Nikon Z9 so everything is automated for stacking (during capture). Software also makes it easy but the entire process isn't as fun as a single image capture. It might sound crazy to some, but I stopped in March after years of stacking. I might do a 3 image stack but that's about it. Aren't those wellies rather warm in the summer?
Yeah the rubber boots are too warm most summer days. But this day it was pretty cold and then I prefer to wear them.
I have a Rebel T7 being using for awhile now and yesterday I decided to use my dads old Rebel T1i from 2009. I used the same lens both cameras were the same crop sensor size, but the T1i is like 16 megapixels I think compared to the T7 with 24 megapixels and (to me) T1i images looked soooooooo much better than my T7! I felt like no matter what aperture I put it to it didnt really make much of a sharpness image but I am gonna start using the 15 year old camera for now on!
This video is an incredible coincidence. Two days ago I decided to experiment with smaller apertures, thinking greater DOF--which is the holy grail of macrophotography--might be worth a little diffraction as a trade-off...and that's just what I found. I too found that f13 was the sweet spot. I even liked some things I got at f16. Sometimes a little softness even works aesthetically. And I've always enjoyed doing single shots. I can't be bothered with focus stacking. Too technology-dependent. I guess I'm kind of a purist in that regard.
Mastering a technique, such as shooting for a focus stack, doesn't mean you have to use it every time. It's an extra tool in the toolbox, which we can use when we find it worth the effort. 🙂
I focus stack everything, including portraits, landscape, and street.
Yesterday I had the same problem with my fash. I thought that it was due to the low batteries and I replaced them. Then it worked well. But I will check what you say, because when I got home and tried to charge the batteries the charger was in green light .... what it means that they were not discharged. I thought that the charger doesn't worked very well. Now, you have given me the explanation, thank you.
I always shoot my macros ranging usually from f11 to f16 and I always get some good results without diffraction. I find f9 to be a bit more shallow to my liking when I do closer macros like you usually do.
Edit: I use Sigma 105mm + extension tubes.
Welcome to my World, Micael - I only take handheld single shot, no stacks and no editing. Let's say I prefer a challenge.
I m the same
For me, photography is not about having "everything" in focus, no matter if it is macro photography or if it is Landscape photography, when I look back at my photo images, more often I like the photo images that focus on the most important in the images an the rest of the images blurs more or less out... But a few times I use fx my 110mm macro Lens (on a full frame camera) with aperture 8, more rarely aperture 11, then I turn the ISO a bit up, because I never use flash, only natural light for nature photography. Most of the time I use aperture 2.5 to 4.0, sometimes 5.6 on the 110mm. From 45 years of experience with macro photography. About aperture, there is not two Lenses that performs the same at the "same" aperture.
I love your videos! Very helpful. I have a question. Diffraction is only one of many causes of softness. I notice that your photo walks are mostly done in shady places. This helps remove a source of softness in macro photography that seems not to be discussed very often. Flash macro has two light sources - the light from the flash and the light from the sun. The flash intensity can be set to overpower natural daylight but there is always some contribution from it. Because the fastest shutter speed for sync flash with a mechanical shutter is usually about a 250th and 100th on electronic shutter, the slightest movement means you will always have two images - one from daylight & one from the flash. I wondered whether an advantages of smaller apertures is the suppression of the daylight image blurring the shot? Thus, it’s not so much that the diffraction softness is acceptable but that the blur from daylight is better suppressed by upping the flash power? I have found that in brighter conditions an ND filter can be helpful to reduce the daylight image and then overpowering it with a brighter flash. What do you think??
Keep the videos coming! So helpful and full of a certain kind of ‘Zen’ - all best wishes.
It's a great video and I know the feeling to let focus stacking and enjoy some single shots :) It's much quicker both to take and to process the picture.
I use an OM1 with a 60mm, have you tried using the built in digital teleconverter to gain extra magnification? It’s worth a go.
I do macro at f/20 on Tamron 105mm macro lens - and it's sharp!
Depending on the camera and lens, the size of the light receiving cell is important.
Nicely done, although I'm not sure about the 'square' video format - I much prefer 16:9 for my desktop monitor.
As you say, diffraction depends upon both aperture and magnification, so 'acceptable sharpness' suffers as you stop down and focus closer, which you then have to balance against an increased depth of field. I'm surprised that f/13 is your sweet spot on the OM-1, because the effective aperture at, say, 1.5x magnification is f/32 - [ Effective f-number = f-number x (magnification +1), according to the MP-E 65 instruction manual ]
Thanks for all the nice videos about Macro photography. This is something I want to get started on myself, what is it that the Olympus system can do to help with photostacking?
Olympus has built in bracketing, as well as in-body focus stacking, which will take a photo then advance the focus plane by a little bit, then take another photo, and so on. With my camera, the em1 mkii, in-body processed focus stacking is limited at 15 photos, but I don't use that. I use the bracketing, which is not processed in-body but has no real limit on subsequent photos taken. So I can take 2 or 35 or 999. The only practical limit is your shutter speed and flash recharge time. Yesterday I did a bracketed shot of 40 photos in just about 3 seconds, of which I used 35 to make a super sharp image front to back.
I'll also add that I started in early February 2024 with a absolutely 0 experience with cameras. I still feel light-years behind "real" macro photographers, but I'm trying and I'm learning something new every time I go out. It's a great fun hobby to get into!
A few of us over at Mu-43 forum use f13. A little diffraction seems to look better that out of focus, I am talking about up to 1:1 single shot for this post
I absolutely love single shots! I need to try a bigger f-stop now as well. I use f11 mostly. But I am surprised about the power settings on the flash you used.
I have the om-5 with the 60mm m.zuiko + a godox v350o with Cygnustech diffuser. I usually have the power of the flash between 1/4 and 1/2. Otherwise the shots will be very under exposed.
The AK diffuser is extremely efficient, so maybe that plays a part. 1/4 and 1/2 sounds extreme though, something must be wrong. I never had to go there with the Cygnustech diffuser - used it mostly at 1/16.
@@MicaelWidell thank you for the answer. I will check the settings of my flash, maybe something is wrong there. Or I order a new one.
Thank you for a nice and informative video again.
Most of the time i shoot single with my OM-1 and the 60mm from m.zuiko. I will try this with some smaller aperture tomorrow.
You are so inspiring and im learning alot. Keep up the good work!
I too use the OM-1 with the 60mm macro. there is no we ai can handhold 1;1 in manual focus so I have to back off the mag and then crop in if necessary. with my Godox V1 flash i have to set to at maximum 1/64 and around f14 to get decent shots with auto focus. another problem with focus stacking is the movement of the creature legs or antenna etc,
Some subjects will never stay still long enough for a proper stack too.
Onother great video!! Also what flash setting strength do you recommend for the pope shield?
The opal transparent one
I think 1/16 is probably required. But just try and see.
Thanks!
I used my Olympus 60mm with the Raynox MSN-202. At maximum close up distance, f9-11 is as far as i would go. It is all about balancing the DOF and details. For some subject, i feel like i can close to f11, cause sharpen software compensate for sharpness. But if the subject is too detailed, diffraction will take away completely the details and sharpen software won't work anymore
I saw macro photos taken with f20+- with amazing sharpness.
I have the same experience. And I often go f:16 - and a little trick in post overcomes if there is a small amount of softness.........
Great video as always
Hey Micael, great video! I'm getting my AK diffuser next week, what flash strength do you normally use around f8? I have a similar set up to yours with the 60mm macro f2.8.
I normally set my flash at 1/32 when using the AK diffuser and it works well for a range of f-stops including f/8.
@@MicaelWidell Amazing, have a great day!
Going to try your settings w OM-1 Was having issues with single shot and flash also. Mine turned out to be under anti shock shutter menu. It was set to two second delay. Reset to zero now fine
Some of those photos were sharp enough that they cut my finger when hitting the like button on my iPad. 😁
With the 90mm when close to 2:1 I have been getting acceptible results all the way up to f18 - i need to do some more testing though to really see if there is much difference in softening - I have not really noticed it to be too bad
Do you ever use the focus light inside your al diffuser? If so, in what instances would you use it?
I never feel the need for it. Would maybe use it if I was using a DSLR or shooting at night.
Not really needed for manual focus on a digital mirrorless
Awesome, thanks!!
Tolong buat konten tutorial macro menggunakan kamera apsc dan lensa apsc, karena saya cuma menggunakan kamera dan lensa apsc. Terima kasih❤
Sensor size doesn’t change most of my advice
Another 😊 great video
thank you!
Hey man, would love for you to try the MSN 202 with your a7IV. Begging you lol😂
Might try it some day
Hi. I have a Tamron SP AF 90mm 1:2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 272EN II with m43 system adapter. Please tell me, will there be a big increase in quality if I buy a 7artisasns 60mm 2.8 macro? Thank you
You will not notice a big difference in image quality. But the 7Artisans lens is more compact
I shoot all my macro stuff on micro four thirds cameras at f22. Diffraction isn't even noticeable when the pics are viewed on my 32 inch monitor. Technically I know it's there, but I really can't see it.
Yeah it is all about where your personal threshold and definition of "sharp" is
I tend to go never over f11. I find the sharpness loss to be a waste of my time. Yes I might get more in focus, but overall I'm disappointed usually at the fidelity loss.
I been doing macro photos 15 yrs I only do 1 shot 😊
Was that first bug a Tick?
No it's a stink bug
@@MicaelWidell oh cool. I see little buggers like that around here and usually they are ticks that want to give you lime disease. I am in Calgary Alberta.
another great video, thanks for the info
Another great comment :)
It's perfect your job, saludos desde Colombia
I tried stacking for a season, but i only do single shots now
Informative as always Micael - thank you. It's a shame about the decision to present in a square video aspect. I trust that this was only an experiment and not the direction the channel intends to pursue.
Keep them coming!
We'll see about the aspect ratio, I still haven't decided on one to keep going with. I know a few people hate the square format, but priority number one of this channel is that I should have fun making the videos, and I have fun when I try things like this :)