Raynok DCR-250 Settings

ShoHashi

Hi all! I'm new to macro photography and photography in general, so I thought I'd start out with the DCR-250 for my Nikon 3100 to test the waters, so to speak.

I'm using my 18-55mm kit lens. What settings should I use on my camera?

Thanks in advance.

bruto

A macro diopter does not change your exposure by much if any, so your main challenge here will be depth of field, since macro distances leave you with very shallow depth of field. Chances are that you will need all you can get short of the point at which diffraction loss lessens sharpness, which means you should be looking to stay as high as you can below about f/16. It might be worthwhile to try aperture priority, and then use ISO to get your shutter speed at a point you can hand hold.

Many macro photographers also find that manual focus works better, because the camera's AF point is large enough that it may not pinpoint exactly what you want. It's sometimes easier to set the focus at approximately what you want, and then move the whole camera to get it spot on where you want it.

The 18-55mm kit lens close focuses at all focal lengths, so for best results you probably want to set it out to 55mm. That will increase your distance to the subject and help prevent you from shading it with the camera. Lighting is critical in macro, so depending on what you're doing you may have to add fill flash, or external lighting. The on camera flash will work up to a point, but if you are too close to the subject, it will not light it.

ShoHashi

Thanks for the information, Bruto. It was a good read. I do have the 55-200mm lens also. Do you think that would be the better lens to use with the DCR-250?

Another question - if I wanted to photograph say, a bee, how the heck do you do that with it moving all over the place?

bruto

I don't know how the Raynox will work on the 55-200mm. Best thing to do is to try it.

As for the bee, if you don't cheat by freezing it or killing it, there's really nothing much to do except to keep on trying. Chances are that you won't be able to do this in true macro, because it's too close and flies too fast. If you can get good results with the 55-200mm, your chances may be better, but you might still need to take the macro off, chase the bee with the 200mm at its closest normal distance, and crop later. The 55-300mm works pretty well at 300mm for things like butterflies and flowers, even though it does not focus as close as I'd like.

ShoHashi

Thanks, Bruto!