Getting Started with Macro Photography
“If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”
Whether you’re just getting started in photography or not, Macro or “Close-up” photography is a fun way to practice your photography skills. Getting close to your subject presents lots of opportunities for good, tight, compositions and an abundance of subjects. Simplifying compositions to the macro level is often less overwhelming than trying to make some semblance of order out of a larger scene. And while you do need some specialized equipment to make a macro photo, you don’t need much and it doesn’t have to be expensive!
When leading photography workshops and teaching classes, this is a subject I get asked about all the time. But once you start down the rabbit hole of macro techniques and equipment it would be easy to be left with the impression that macro is expensive and specialized. It certainly can be, but it can also be a fun, accessible, and affordable. I enjoy a good in-depth technical discussion over lens shaprness and focal distance as much as anyone but there is a time and a place and sometimes we just want to take pictures! For anyone who is just getting started exploring the world of close-up photography this post is for you!
(Just for the sake of accuracy, macro photography refers to photographing small objects at life-size or closer. When we refer to a macro lens as a “true” macro, it means a lens that is capable of photographing at a ratio of at least 1:1 or “life size”. But for the sake of this article, I’m not especially worried about the technicalities of “true” macro, we are simply going to look at the tools you need to take “close-up” images).
Option 1: Close-up Filters (Under $50)
This is the least expensive option for getting close-up images and it’s a good option for students or anyone just starting to play with close-up photography. Every lens has a minimum focusing distance and a close-up filter simply reduces that minimum distance allowing your lens to focus closer to the subject than it previously could. Close up filters usually come in sets of different magnifications, and the higher the number the closer the lens can focus and therefor the “larger” your subject appears in the frame. You can also “stack” more than one of them to get even more magnification, but possibly at the cost of some image quality and sharpness.
The big advantage to close-up filters is price (they’re inexpensive!) and portability (they don’t take up much space in your camera bag). The biggest disadvantage is that anytime you put something in front of your lens you’re going to reduce sharpness a little bit. If you are going after the absolute sharpest possible image, then this isn’t the right tool for you. But honestly for 99% of people this is a great way to get started and see what you think about taking close-up images. Once you are paying for professional level lenses you should ditch the close-up filters and spring for another option on this list, but until then its a great way to explore a new hobby and have some fun!
When it comes to buying close-up filter, the size of filter is based on the diameter of your lens. Your lens will list a filter size, usually its on the front of the lens, somewhere on the ring around the glass. This is measured in millimeters and is probably somewhere between 49 and 67 (but don’t worry if it is more or less, as lenses vary quite a bit in diameter). Because lens diameters vary so much, if you have multiple lenses, they probably won’t have the same diameter. Most of the time your best option is to just buy macro filters for whichever lens you are most likely to use as your macro lens (my suggestion is a wide-normal zoom lens, so something like an 18-55). However, if you really want to/need to use the filters on multiple lenses then you can buy the size you need for your larger lens and also buy “step-down rings” which will screw onto the filter and let them fit the smaller lens size as well.
Close-up filters also vary significantly in price, running anywhere from a few dollars to $150+ for a set of 3 or 4 different magnifications. Really, the best advice I have here is to buy what you can afford without spending a fortune (once your into the upper price range you are better off going with the extension tubes below). There is going to be a difference in quality between the cheaper filters and the more expensive ones, mostly in sharpness and possibly some color casts, but just get what you can afford! I like Hoya and Tiffen filters, but Vivitar also makes a starter set in the $25 range that will work for students or anyone starting out!
Option 2: Extension Tubes (Under $150)
If you are really starting to get into macro photography, extension tubes are a great choice. Extension tubes are literally just an extender for your camera lens that allows it to focus closer than it otherwise can. The extension tubes attach to the camera and then you attach the lens to the tubes. The biggest advantage to these over close-up filters is that an extension tube doesn’t contain any glass, so they don’t reduce your image quality/sharpness the way close-up filters can. While they’re generally a little larger than close-up filters, they are still super portable. Despite the fact that I own a very nice dedicated macro lens (see below), I use extension tubes when I’m traveling so that I don’t have to bring an extra lens just for close-up shots. I also like the fact that I can combine my extension tubes with different lenses for different effects (For example I can use them on a wide angle or telephoto lens).
You do need to buy extension tubes specific to your camera/lens mount so make sure you are buying the extension tubes that is specific to both your camera brand and the lens you want to use it with. Some manufacturers make multiple lengths of extension tubes, the longer the tubes the closer the lens will focus. Different lenses have different close focusing ability when paired with an extension tube, your camera manufactures website should have a chart showing you which lenses work with their extension tubes and what macro levels you will achieve with each lens.
Price-wise I’m going to admit that I was a little generous in the title of this section- I said under $150, but honestly you might be able to go a lot lower than that. There are third-party extension tubes available for most of the major camera manufacturers often for a fraction of the price of the manufacturer’s version. My only warning about recommending you go this route is that while an extension tube doesn’t contain any glass lens elements, it does contain the electronics necessary for focusing/controlling aperture/etc. and since you are actually mounting your lens to the extension tube, the quality of materials used to make that lens mount matter. With any third-party option quality can vary significantly, so just do a really good job of reading reviews before purchasing anything not made by your camera manufacturer. Some of the least expensive options only work as lens mounts and don’t offer autofocus capabilities so make sure to check on that as well. Your other option is to look for the name-brand version used- since these don’t have any glass they’re a pretty safe piece of equipment to buy used.
Option 3: Dedicated Macro lens ($500 and up)
Many lenses claim to have a macro setting, but usually this macro setting is just noting the closest focus point on the lens. You generally have to get up into the $500 (or more!) range before you get a true macro lens. Macro lenses are generally fixed focal length lenses, or prime lenses, meaning they don’t zoom. 100mm is the most common focal length for a macro lens. The biggest advantage of spending the money on a macro lens is quality- the sharpness will be superb, they often contain image stabilization, and they usually give you a good range of apertures to work with. The other nice thing about working with a dedicated macro lens is that even if it’s built for macro, its not going to be only a macro lens- you’ll also have this very nice, fast, sharp prime lens that can be good for photographing other things. I use my 100mm macro lens as a portrait lens, and my daughter uses her 30mm macro lens as just an all-around every-day lens that also photographs macro. The downside, of course, is price.
Generally, features such as image stabilization and a wider maximum aperture will increase the price, and its up to each photographer just how necessary those are. Another option to consider is that Tamron and Sigma make pretty nice third-party lenses for many of the major lens manufacturers, so checking to see if they offer a macro lens for your lens mount might be a good way to save a little money as well.