Look into getting extension tubes. They're MUCH cheaper than a decent macro lens, and can give great close up images.Trying the reverse-lens technique (without a reverse lens adapter) today with my old Nikon D50, it shows promise and I can see myself spending all day messing with shutter speed, ISO, and lighting to get a good picture this way
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Yeah, that looks promising - even allowing for the lack of adapter.
Look into getting extension tubes. They're MUCH cheaper than a decent macro lens, and can give great close up images.
Just gran a Raynox MSM-202 and a DCR-250....then get a lens later if needed. The MSM-202 is 4x, so its pretty damn close to begin with...thats how Ive been doing my super macros lately with my 60mm. You could get both Raynox's for about $100-120 on Ebay. Add in some Extension tubes and you can get some good shots for little money in comparison and then have some real abilities when you do get a good lens.Look into getting extension tubes. They're MUCH cheaper than a decent macro lens, and can give great close up images.
Got my new macro lens through today for the phone haven’t used one before, I haven’t set it up properly yet but already can see pretty good detail
unedited shot
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That’s the zip on the bag it came in ....if I wove a coil looking like that I’d be well stoked haha
Took another one this time edited of my wedding band ...erm that’s mashed haha
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Finally the ant collecting the aphid on a flower (unedited-little bugger was moving)
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What lens? What kind of phone? Those are super close shots
I use one for Android called "Open Camera". Not sure if it was free or if I paid for it. I've had it a while. It works great for focusing on any area you want.bought a phone app that has good manual focus
I use one for Android called "Open Camera". Not sure if it was free or if I paid for it. I've had it a while. It works great for focusing on any area you want.
I was looking at it, and you can also save your photos in RAW format, which gives you a whole new world of editing possibilities. DEFINITELY worth the price, if just for this feature alone.FV5 is great
Have you considered a mini tripod? Alternately, you could lay your phone on a stack of boxes to keep it steady. Use different sized boxes until you're at the desired focal length from the object(s).
Like this:
Here's a stack I did using the method above, and the Open Camera software. I focused solely on the coils and deck. I can't recall exactly, but it was probably about 10 shots stacked together.
here's my first stack attempt - fuzzy because the phone didn't stay put, and I think I need to take more than 12 photos next time
someone gave me the idea of putting my phone in a bowl next time to keep it completely still
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Yay stacking! I went to a Cinco de Mayo party right after breakfast and I barfed fruit loops and tequila
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This is greatPut some of this in another thread. But, I found this thread and though I could put it here for those looking specifically for photo tips. For those of use not willing or able to invest as much time and money into the picture end of the art ... Here's my photo studio lol
Can't exactly take a picture of my phone with my hone lol ... But, I have an LG X-Charge (cheap phone). The Tape is my tripod. A bowl or wide mouth mug works well too. And If I just can't get an angle I like I go freehand and take a million of the same photo till I get one that is in focus. The lens is an $8 one from Aldi's. I just move the light, and phone, around till I like what I see. I use "Open Camera" (free) app for manual focus and exposure bracketing. And I use picsart (free) for slight editing (res and saturation) and to add my watermark.
And I feel like have reasonable acceptable pictures pretty often. They wont win me any awards, but for me the photos are just a vessel for me to share my coil artwork.
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What app or software do you use to stack? I have an olloclip lens for my iPhone I think it's a X10 and a X15 lens. I think I need to make more use of it. It wasn't a cheap piece and I probably only used it once.Have you considered a mini tripod? Alternately, you could lay your phone on a stack of boxes to keep it steady. Use different sized boxes until you're at the desired focal length from the object(s).
Like this:
Here's a stack I did using the method above, and the Open Camera software. I focused solely on the coils and deck. I can't recall exactly, but it was probably about 10 shots stacked together.
I'm using PhotoshopWhat app or software do you use to stack? I have an olloclip lens for my iPhone I think it's a X10 and a X15 lens. I think I need to make more use of it. It wasn't a cheap piece and I probably only used it once.
Well I decided to take a small dive into focus stacking. The only thing I used was GIMP. Here's a 3 layer stack. Apparently I didn't get the mask right on the last stack ... you can see a nasty blur near the bottom. It's not great but it's a start.
Edit - Nope it wasn't the layer mask. It's a case that I didn't get a good focused shot between the second and third layer
Free open source photo editing software - https://www.gimp.org/
Super quick tutorial on how to stack with it -
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Did you make those coils?I just point and shoot using my phone .....
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Nope...... I can make normal coils, staples and aliens, like these .......I don't have the expertise to make those above....... I got those fancy ones from someone on eBay named: CoilsUSADid you make those coils?
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awesome!!! I d/l'd hedge. OpenCamera focus bracketing is extremely limiting. Gonna play with hedge over the next couple of days and see whats goodHedgeCamera 2 (Android) does focus bracketing correctly, and allows saving in jpg, png, or .dng! Only Android app I have tried (out of 10 or so) with focus bracketing that works - this saves literally hours of leaning over and staring at my phone, moving a slider a minute amount, and touching/accidentally moving the phone...no more of that, yay!!! I could do up to 100 pictures focus bracketed - the ones below are with 30 snaps, and 15 snaps - I'll mess with it more this weekend
I took about 800 pictures today, in the last 2 hours only
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Happy with this, good enough for me!
awesome!!! I d/l'd hedge. OpenCamera focus bracketing is extremely limiting. Gonna play with hedge over the next couple of days and see whats good
Does Hedge 2 use the macro setting on your phone camera?
I haven't had much of a chance to do much more than open it, but when I get a chance I'm going to play around with it and this was very helpful Meg. Thanks.The Macro focus setting is pointless - it's just another kind of autofocus. It doesn't get the focus any closer than regular autofocus can. What Hedgecam has that's useful is a manual focus slider for you to pick the exact spot to focus on, as well as focus bracketing which lets you set the minimum and maximum focus distance you want, and then takes pictures in order from closest to farthest focus in increments equal to however many pictures you choose to take - so for 10 pictures, it would adjust the focus 1/10th of the difference between the minimum and maximum distance you set before taking each successive picture
I haven't had much of a chance to do much more than open it, but when I get a chance I'm going to play around with it and this was very helpful Meg. Thanks.
I've had nothing but issues with this app. It crashes every other time I try to take a shot (especially with bracketing). Luckily I figure out how to get up to 20 shots on open camera bracketing. It's not as much as hedge but it works well enough for me.The Macro focus setting is pointless - it's just another kind of autofocus. It doesn't get the focus any closer than regular autofocus can. What Hedgecam has that's useful is a manual focus slider for you to pick the exact spot to focus on, as well as focus bracketing which lets you set the minimum and maximum focus distance you want, and then takes pictures in order from closest to farthest focus in increments equal to however many pictures you choose to take - so for 10 pictures, it would adjust the focus 1/10th of the difference between the minimum and maximum distance you set before taking each successive picture
I've had nothing but issues with this app. It crashes every other time I try to take a shot (especially with bracketing). Luckily I figure out how to get up to 20 shots on open camera bracketing. It's not as much as hedge but it works well enough for me.
As a note (if your like me and can't get hedge to be stable) Opencamera has most of the same options as hedge. Exposure and focus bracketing, manual focus, image save options (jpeg and dng), exposure compensation, ect ...
Here's my most recent attempt at focus stacking with helicon and open camera. With a bit of post editing as well. It's a horrid shot but I spent like 20 mins playing with the lighting and it just came out harsh no matter what I did.
Meg - how did you get those razorbacks to look like that? I would love a rundown on your process!!
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Thanks, I appreciate that, but don't talk to me about rooting your phone.Feel free to ask anything else; I spent a solid week rooting my phone, messing with system settings, and basically wasting my time to thoroughly learn about "androidography
Focus bracketing and max quality jpeg quality is all it needs...the rest is lighting and setup aside from the phone
I downloaded it too for fun. And scienceThose coils look completely awesome Meg!!!
I downloaded HedgeCamera 2. Maybe it'll help me with my camera on my phone.