Certain photographers know it’s time to take stock of their macro photography essential accessories – and for others to stock up – during this season when birds return from the south and foliage begins to sprout. Blossoms will soon be blooming and photogenic bugs are soon to follow. If you’re new to this genre of photography, these are some of the accessories you’ll need – and some things you need to know about them.
Macro photography lenses
It sound obvious, but with this type of photography it all comes down to the glass you use. With a smaller minimum focusing distance and a greater magnification ratio than conventional telephoto lenses, a macro lens is optimized for capturing highly detailed close-ups of everything from flowers and insects to certain types of product shots.
The best macro lenses are usually primes, but there are some high-quality macro zoom lenses available too, including the stellar Sony SEL FE 70-200mm f/4.0 Macro G OSS II E-mount lens. Macro prime lenses vary in focal length anywhere from 20mm to 200mm, but anything less than 100mm isn’t really considered true macro. At the lower range, you’ll be getting a magnification ratio of 1:2 at best, in which your subject will only appear half of its life size. These lenses are smaller, lighter and more affordable, but along with a shorter focal length you also get a shorter focusing distance, which makes it harder to get close to a difficult subject like skittish, easily triggered insects.
At the higher end, with ratios of 1:1, 2:1 or better, the subject is rendered in actual life size, twice life size, etc. These lenses are also bigger, heavier and more expensive than their lesser counterparts, but it’s at these focal lengths and more manageable focal distances that tiny flora and fauna are easily captured and truly revealed in exquisite detail.
It’s easy enough to find a suitable macro lens to match your camera’s brand, but if you’re not averse to using third-party manufacturers, Laowa produces some of the most interesting and original macro models on the market today, available in wide range of mounts and focal lengths.
Tripods for macro photography
Next to lenses, a tripod is probably the most essential accessory for macro photographers. One of the challenges of shooting at such close range, with a 1:1 ratio or higher, is keeping the shot stable and in focus, free of the blurring effects of handheld photography – effects that are visibly magnified at this macroscopic level too.
Tripods come in many varieties, but for a macro photographer trekking into uncertain terrain, overall weight and portability are paramount. You may prefer to lug a lightweight carbon-fibre model, but a slightly heavier, sturdier aluminum tripod isn’t necessarily a huge tradeoff. In inclement weather, they offer a measure of added stability. Whichever you prefer, look for a tripod with a ball head that makes it easier to rotate a camera and adjust angles, and one with a centre column that makes it easier to shoot as close to the ground as possible. An included set of spike feet also come in handy on precarious soggy soil.
Macro ring flash
Even when working outdoors where you can typically rely on abundant sunshine, there will be moments when some artificial light is needed – shooting at a high shutter speed beneath a shady canopy of foliage under overcast skies, for instance. A regular flash attached to your hot shoe is fine, but there’s a better solution: mount a macro ring flash onto the front end of the lens, in close proximity to your subject, exactly where the extra light is needed. The Godox ML-150 II macro ring flash, for one, offers shadow-free illumination with 350 full-power flashes up to 1/5000 second duration. The included controller attaches to your camera’s hot shoe.
Additional accessories
Focusing rails
Mounted directly to the tripod, a macro focusing rail gives you precision manual focus control in exactly prescribed increments. They’re also super-handy if you use focus stacking to achieve optimum results in macro photography.
Close-up lens filters
Close-up lens filters effectively reducing focal length in a range of varying diopter strengths to achieve desired macro effects. The ones with a dual-thread design can be combined to enhance magnification.
Extension tubes
Extension tubes offer another cost-effective way to achieve macro results by lengthening the distance between your lens and the camera’s sensor, often with electronic connections to keep various lens functions intact and fully operational.
