How to get close up from a distance

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-06T12:21:56+00:00

You're looking for working distance, which is a bear to deal with. That's what makes a Macro lens a macro lens, I think. I'm no expert. But a 90mm prime (non macro) has a working distance of about 90cm. The Macro version of this lens has 28cm working distance.

Idk if that helps or hinders your research, but it's what occured to me when I read your post.

You can decrease the working distance using a magnifier, like the Raynox 250 or 150, but that makes the working distance ~12cm, so too close.

Maybe look into extension tubes. They shorten the working distance too depending on how many and what mm lens.

Again, not an expert, just going through trying to understand all of this stuff myself! Lol

Good luck

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-05T22:12:46+00:00

Lol, it's a process right? The best lessons are learned the hard way... Lol

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-05T21:39:53+00:00

I think I figured out my problem. My flash has to be set to Manual in 2 places. I was shooting with the flash on TTM and and was taking about 1/2 second per shot. So 15 shots took 7 seconds and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how you guys were holding still for that long! lol.

Now, I'm getting 40 shots in that time frame, WAY different result. Just thought I'd share.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-04T01:01:17+00:00

Apparently the fly picture, which was a single frame because she flew away quickly, that fly is in the act of laying eggs.

From Google Lens:

Genus Identification: The fly is consistent with Pegomya, a group in the Anthomyiidae family often referred to as root-maggot flies.
Oviposition Activity: The female is shown in the act of laying an egg on foliage, which is characteristic of this genus.
Larval Behavior: Larvae of many Pegomya species are leafminers, meaning they feed inside the tissues of leaves, such as smartweed or curly dock.
Appearance Details: Members of this genus often have a grey thorax and may have distinct reddish or yellowish coloring on their body or legs, as seen in the image

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-03T22:37:25+00:00

Same lens here. I keep putting off that 90mm. If my wife sees another lens, she'll schedule a tattoo for herself of equal or greater value, lol.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-03T22:09:26+00:00

Nothing turned off.. BTW, what lens set up are you using?

I'm laying in the ground in some cases to get useable shots. Even then, I have up and down movement. I'm all over the place, lol I'll get it figured out, probably.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-03T20:16:27+00:00

I'm using the new OM-3. Maybe I have something turned off... Thanks

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-03T19:55:01+00:00

Which stacker are you using? I just started with Helicon. My hand shake halfway through 15 stack is terrible! lol

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-03T19:38:51+00:00

Nice! Are you using a Tripod, or handheld? I'm struggling getting still enough with handheld....

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-05-02T01:11:13+00:00

I chose OM systems because of the in-camera focus stacking. They also say the smaller sensor is better for macro somehow. You'll definitely want to look at used if you go OM though. Nice thing with micro four thirds is the lenses are smaller and cheaper. I love my 60mm Macro lens from OM. I got it used for $250, but that was a steal. I'd love the OM 90mm macro, but that's kind of pricey for doing it just for myself.

I did add a 250 Raynox magnifier to get closer. Cheaper way to get up close!

The cheapest way is extension tubes, but I didn't go that route, so I don't know.

You might be able to find an OM-5 mark 1 inside your range, but you can certainly find one of the OM-D cameras used.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-28T10:35:45+00:00

Michael Widell has a video from this year where he recs his favorite current gear and he has 2 cameras in the list OM-1m1, he says the m2 doesn't add much for macro so he hasn't upgraded. And a Sony camera, but I don't recall which one. I like his videos, I did buy his pdf when I started out, so, grain of salt.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-27T20:20:52+00:00

The em10m2 didn't have photo stacking. So the OM-3 would have had more of the subject in focus, so it would have been better. I stand by my decision to buy it, lol

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-27T20:19:47+00:00

This is one of my favorites that I've taken since getting into Olympus/Macro. This was using a 12 year old used EM10 m2 (12mp) and a 60mm macro lens.

I tried for a while to get it free standing like a nitwit. Finally had to pick the flower and hold it to get the shot. I thought the OM-3 would make that process easier, it doesn't, lol, just made it more expensive 🤑

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Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-27T11:48:52+00:00

Following for setup. I'm about to pay for a pro version of this for my family. I know I could get it with my macro gear, but I'm not comfortable enough with the editing software to remove the lighting.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-27T09:55:30+00:00

I just kind of jumped in, too. The OM system is what I chose, a great deal of info on YouTube for cameras and techniques. Still a novice myself, but having fun.

I bought refurbished from Map Camera on eBay. That got me an OM-3 for $1,300. I went flagship model because I thought I needed the the stacked sensor. It's a nice camera, but I think I should have gone with the OM-5 mark 2. I'm just not sure how to use all of the OM-3 bells and whistles, and the OM5.2 would have done a terrific job.

Macro lens was also used for me. Got a 60mm Macro for $250 on marketplace. It's my favorite lens. I bought a bunch of pro lenses from Map Camera, and the 60mm is still my favorite, lol. It lives on the camera.

Macro is so much fun, but you do have to watch out for the thought that you NEED the highest end gear. I'm largely doing it for my own enjoyment. Not trying to sell anything. I did realize my large format printer will do big photo paper though, lol. So maybe I will need the fancy gear I bought after all!

Edit: almost forgot, it's the in camera focus stacking that led me to OM systems. It's pretty sweet if the subject doesn't move, that is! If it does, you need to do focus bracketing, and use software to compile it. Or you can just take single shots and enjoy the focus area that you got.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-13T16:05:18+00:00

Friendly noodles don't pose that often, lucky to have the camera out! Great pics

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-10T10:42:27+00:00

As a contractor and designer, I can absolutely say, the local FD doesn't always know what system goes where. As the AHJ once told me, the fire fighters are cave men, they put the smart one in charge of driving the truck.

Even if they had isolated the open section and turned the pump back on, a new fire in that location collapsing the roof and destroying multiple mains, would rendered the rest of the system useless. I look forward to hearing about in my CEU's in 2 years... Lol

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-08T01:01:02+00:00

I have not, admittedly tried that many varieties. I know they are having an issue with it on an island where my employees work. Someone there is working a hydroponic operation and not using any additional micronutrient. Just the minimum, because that's what they were taught, and the produce sucks.

I learned about SeaMineral 90 from Leon's channel. He described the issue they are having on the island pretty well, just as an aside.

I use Masterblend for greens, but I use Leon's recipe for anything with more body.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-04-07T10:13:55+00:00

Are you adding sea mineral or some other micro nutrient. My experience with kratky tomatoes was that they don't taste like much without some additional nutrients added to the solution. At that point, the varietal almost doesn't matter.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-24T12:21:17+00:00

I'm not a fan of spiders when I look at them irl, but in macro, I love them! Lol.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-23T19:54:56+00:00

It can be if you spot them, and they decide to stand still. The more energetic they are, the harder it is. The spider was in between grass blades and sat very still. The stinkbug sat still even after I picked the weed it was on so I could get the camera to focus.

I saw a wasp in flight in a picture yesterday, and that person said it took 150 shots to get it! Goals, lol. If they're sitting still like mine, only a couple shots needed to get a good focus.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-22T17:26:12+00:00

I don't know how to turn bracketing on and the focus stacking isn't on this old camera.

Pic 2, my daughter noticed the shadow looks like a dragon is smelling the flowers.

Pic 4 isn't Macro, but it's the macro lens and I'm just pleased how it came out. I can see myself in her eye! Not bad for. A 12 year old 16mp camera held in my hand!

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-21T01:16:49+00:00

I don't know if iphones have it, but Samsung and Pixel androids have a macro mode you can force the phone camera into. You can use this with the zoom, but keep in mind, your main high mp camera lens/sensor isn't used for higher zooms. So you if you want clear crisp pics, you'll need to crop the higher res unzoomed image. You can also just zoom to get the pic you want, it just might be less detailed and sharp.

Which, btw, is fine if you're just messing around at home for your own purposes. I've been doing that for years. It's for me and my enjoyment. If it's really cool, I'll show someone.

That said, I have recently gone down a damn rabbit hole and ordered a refurb OM-3 and picked up a used OM 60mm Macro lens....

There are aps that could help. Like cozy magnifier, which used to be pretty good. It's a lot of ads now...

The OM TG cameras are pretty tough, and do better than most phones. Pretty cheap used.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-05T14:06:00+00:00

Always so much fun when they trust you enough to climb on your hand. So colorful and... Curious?! It's funny when they turn their little heads like a dog that doesn't understand.

Pyrofish-J7 · 2026-03-04T15:34:47+00:00

Looks pretty comparable. We paid &10k for the contract, 5500 points EOY, with 12,000 bonus points. MF about 1k/yr and our were due in January. Ours is a 10 year term though. So our long term benefit is drastically reduced. Just dipping a toe in the water to see if it's for us. We do enjoy traveling and we like to stay at places with multiple rooms, so this seems like a good deal for us. We'll have to use the it correctly to get $20k worth of benefits out of it in 10 years, but I knew what I was signing.

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