Macro Shots with XZ-1

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staggsSevin

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I'm pulling this from another thread to get some feed back on doing macro shots.

Hi Guys,

I've been using a XZ-1 for a couple years now and I think I'm going to primary just focus on Macro shots from here on out. I have the Nauticam housing along with a single S2000 with a sola 600. I just got back from a week's diving in Roatan but when I got there I realized that my fiber cable was broke....oops....so I did all my shots with just ambient lighting which I'm fine with.

I want to use my current setup and gear towards getting better macro shots.....I typically shoot in program mode (every time I do manual I just don't do that good and I only do 2 dive trips a year so I don't like to do my practicing on the trips).

I have a single Inon UCL165 M67 andwhen it is attached should I not use zoom and just get close enough to fill the frame? Or is it ok to use the zoom, I just took it on one single dive this last trip and it seemed like the couple shots I took with it were really blurry but I was using zoom.

So besides maybe getting another Inon UCL165 to stack on the current one is there anything out there better that wont break the bank that may be easier to use? Also for lighting purposes do you think it would be worth adding a second s2000 for my macro shots?

Thanks!
 
For macro with the 165 you zoom all the way in. If you leave the lens wide you are defeating the purpose of he close up lens......


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

See how big of a noob I am :) I'm taking good care of your old s2000 cardog....the fiber cable no so much :)
 
What mode do you think I should shoot it in.......I typically use program (did some work with Tim at Cocoview) I'm to big of a noob to use Manual. So if there was a mode OTHER than Manual would you use Auto with the Inon or Macro?
 
What mode do you think I should shoot it in.......I typically use program (did some work with Tim at Cocoview) I'm to big of a noob to use Manual. So if there was a mode OTHER than Manual would you use Auto with the Inon or Macro?

Use M or, if you must, shoot in A or S.
 
What mode do you think I should shoot it in.......I typically use program (did some work with Tim at Cocoview) I'm to big of a noob to use Manual. So if there was a mode OTHER than Manual would you use Auto with the Inon or Macro?

Use Manual mode for the best results. This way you choose the depth of field you want (F Stop) and the amount of motion freeze (shutter speed) and then use the lighting from your strobe to highlight your subject. With macro you are concentrating on the subject and not the back ground so you want the subject to standout. With my old G12 I typically shot all my macro images at F7.1 - F8 and shutter speeds of 1/100 - 1/250 as this gave me the best depth of field and froze the motion pus also gave black backgrounds which cut out distracting back ground.

Here are some examples -

Canon G12 with 2 x +3 macro wet lenses, twin S&S YS 110A strobes (snooted) at 2/3 power F8 @ 1/250 ISO 80

12-07-19+-+15.jpg

With my OMD EM-5 & 60mm macro lens & a +3 macro wet lens, twin S&S YS 110A strobes (snooted) 2/3 power F14 @ 1/125 ISO 200

13-01-19+-+15.jpg

Make sure your lens is zoomed all the way out so you get maximum benefit with the wet lens / dioptre. One reason for the blurriness is that you may not have had the subject correctly focussed. With a wet lens / dioptre on the front of your housing the camera focuses on the virtual image created in the lens - so what you need to do is first get your subject nice and focussed in the LCD (do not focus the camera yet) by moving it closer to the subject or back if you are too close - remember using a wet lens means that you will be closer to the subject than without. Once you have the image nice and sharp in the LCD screen then focus your camera and the camera focuses on the virtual image (if the image isn't in focus initially then the camera can not focus) and then take your shot.

Also remember the higher the number for the wet lens / dioptre the stronger it is and therefore the closer you will be to your subject and the shallower your depth of field will be.

Hope this helps.

Karl
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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