You should be more specific about what kind of subjects you’re shooting and what kind of photos you’re trying to produce. I shoot almost exclusively macro, mostly bugs/spiders, and I never bring a tripod in the field. Tripods are mostly useful for long focus stacks of still subjects like mushrooms or lichens or small, low-growing plants. Generally if I’m trying to photograph something with enough precision to need a focusing rail, I just bring the thing back to my house where I can photograph it indoors on a stable surface with controlled lighting and no wind.
If you are doing deep stacks of fungi/plants in the field, Alan Rockefeller has many videos showing the process and equipment he uses to make amazing photos. If you’re shooting arthropods, you will find that almost all serious “bug” photographers shoot handheld with a diffused flash. Check out Micael Widell on YouTube for a lot of solid, beginner-friendly tips on macro equipment and technique.
Yeah, for bugs I definitely do handheld with diffused flash. They just move around too much for a tripod (although a beanbag tripod sometimes works for ground bugs). This flash diffuser is pretty good: https://zamy-10.wixsite.com/ak-diffuser/about, or you can build your own.
FWIW I’ve added the macro and photography tags to this topic. If you click on them, you should see other related discussions.
I personally do almost everything handheld and don’t have the patience for stacking. And I use the AK Diffusers that @zygy linked to, based on their recommendation about them years ago.
AK diffuser disciple here also. I also will use a 4 flash Godox MF-12 setup sometimes. I find it is less “scary” to the insects than the giant diffuser.
Thanks! I shoot anything and everything, so my needs are general.
My hands are too shaky to not use a tripod, as my macro lens is manual focus (do most folks have autofocus macro lenses?) so a tripod with fine controls is very useful to me.
I suppose with a flash and autofocus, I could ditch both…
No, manual focus is fine for the majority of subjects. You just move the camera (or yourself) slightly forward/back to get the desired things in focus. Shaky hands are not much of a problem when you’re using a flash, especially when the ambient light is low. The flash “freezes” the motion of your hands because the duration of the flash is very short - even if your camera is set to 1/100sec exposure (for example) the actual duration of the flash is more like 1/1000sec or faster. Try it out and you will see pretty quickly how it works in practice.
The Godox TT350 is a popular compact flash unit that is available for most camera brands, for about $80USD. Their full-size flashes are also very good and similarly priced. You can experiment with homemade diffusers or there are several cheap options available for purchase. This type of diffuser slides over your lens, is very cheap and will give nice results. A small softbox straps over the flash and will also work well.
I’d strongly recommend going this route for field macro, over lugging a tripod around with you. :)
How long are we talking? This has never been a problem for me, using reasonably long (physically long) lenses. The softbox-type diffuser effectively moves the “source” of the light out ~6 inches from where the flash head ends. The over-the-lens type diffuser you can just move further down the lens barrel. Keep in mind, if you are using an external flash on the hotshoe, the flash bulb is moved much farther away from the body/lens compared to using the camera’s pop-up flash, so there is less chance of the lens barrel blocking the light. Putting the flash on a bracket is one option but probably not necessary as a starting point.
There are a lot of different approaches to this. Do some googling on “macro flash diffuser” and similar terms, and you will see a lot of different ideas + results.
Check out this video from the very talented Thomas Shahan, showing what kind of results you can get with a bit of creativity, patience, and practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMcCjEU68Y
I think you may find that many macro shooters modify their setup periodically. It’s a constant battle attempting to optimize / compromise various pieces with often conflicting needs. Trying to find a balance between quality, portability & field functionality can be challenging and really depends on the individual shooter. For example, some people can be happy with a ring flash but I find the circular catchlights to be distracting, etc, etc.
jgw_atx wrote “Shaky hands are not much of a problem” which gave me a chuckle. While true that a flash will freeze motion, when depth-of-field is frequently measured in millimeters, hand shakes are often the difference between a pic in-focus or a total blur, something the aging process continues to exacerbate …
I checked out your observations - there aren’t many things I like better than a big bunch of nicely cropped macro bug photos!
As an alternative, you might consider the Olympus TG series. I went with the TG because it was recommended by some macro photographers for field work. I never wanted to make an investment in true gear, I wanted strictly point and shoot. But I was going through Panasonic Lumix cameras like they were disposable… they couldn’t handle the dusty conditions you inevitably encounter outdoors. But the TG-7 I got has been perfect. I eventually got the flash diffuser (the OM branded one - the aftermarket cheap one was awful), and I’ve been thrilled. I’m still experimenting in different lighting conditions, e.g. outdoors at night, but unless you get professional gear, I don’t think you can do better. I never carry a tripod because I haven’t found the need for one - the camera can handle anything that isn’t moving too fast to get a decent shot of anyway.
Only downside - if you’re out shooting bugs and happen to see a bird you’d love to get a pic of, the 4x zoom won’t get the job done. I carry around and old Lumix that still sort of works for that situation. :-)
I’m not sure the TG-7 is dramatically better than the TG-6 and you can usually find those on eBay.
Oh, and a head lamp is a perfect hands-free way to find bugs at night that you’d like to get a picture of. And it can be supplementary lighting if you need it.
I do a LOT of macrophotography and along the way have tried just about all techniques, but except in special circumstances, my gear is now honed down to simply my DSLR camera (Canon 90D) and trusty Sigma 105 macro lens.
I do have a small but sturdy macro tripod, but only use it when photographing fungi (or other extremely still subjects) in very dark environments, such as the forest. In all other cases, the movement of the subject (either of its own volition or caused by the wind) is the limit, rather than camera shake.
As for flash, I’ve tried a wide range of flash units and/or diffusers and I personally find that getting the results I want just takes too much time and effort. Above all, the older I get, the more the weight of the gear is becoming a limiting factor. Adding a decent flash unit just makes the setup too cumbersome and heavy for photographing potentially flighty insects for long periods and the few notable successes simply don’t make up for the resulting back and shoulder ache.
Most importantly, with advances in technology, I find I can now get perfectly satisfactory results for all my forseeable uses by bumping the ISO up even as far as 6400 (very rarely necessary, such as with this Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale spotted amongst dark woodland undergrowth), then making intelligent use of noise reduction software in post processing.
Obviously it’s largely a matter of individual choice, but personally I find keeping myself as light and agile as possible brings me the most rewards (and least pain ).
On this point, a head torch works really really well, it’s stronger than a phone torch and is really practical. I always have one while lightsheeting (you can also point it through your diffuser to reduce the harshness), but they are pretty useful during the day too.
By comparison to photo gear, even an expensive headtorch is cheap!
Maybe my favorite part of the AK Diffuser (and I think other commercially available ones as well) is that it has a little LED light in it and velcro for attaching a small USB powerbank. So you keep the LED on and it shines through the diffuser and lights your subject. Carrying a handheld flashlight makes it difficult to juggle things, and my headlamp is often blocked by my diffuser.
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