MJS Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 Hi all, Curious about your thoughts if 1-2x macro images would add interesting aspects to the photographic documention of a blade. I don’t think I’ve seen it used very much so I have my doubts here. But the quality of modern macro lenses (like the 90mm OM System) is so fantastic, that thought I’d ask anyway. Any thoughts are welcome, and in particular good examples of super macro sword photography. Cheers Mark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oli Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 Hi, no experience with supermacro, i have a 40mm Nikon objective. But i still playing around and testing. Regards Oli 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oli Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 another shoot: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNSSHOGUN Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 If I'm not mistaken Macro photography is used in part for the excellent Unique Japan catalogues. https://new.uniquejapan.com/currently-available-swords-at-unique-Japan/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 Matsukawa-hada of Bishu Osafune Kiyomitsu (Using LUMIX G MACRO 30mm) 10 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francois2605 Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 3 different pictures shot with a Canon EF F/1.8 - 100mm macro lens. Mark, using a macro lens is IMO a must-have if you want to properly capture the activity of a sword. You'll see things you can't see with your own eyes 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 What a stunning tanto Koichi! Wow. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brano Posted March 30 Report Share Posted March 30 A macro lens is a necessity for another reason as well A normal lens has too long a minimum focusing distance Thanks to the macro lens, you are able to take sharp photos from a significantly smaller distance I mainly use macro lens Sigma 180mm and 70mm The disadvantage of a macro lens is a very small depth of field at lower apertures From my personal experience, I need to shoot at F9 and more when shooting vertically or F14 and more when shooting at an angle 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted March 30 Author Report Share Posted March 30 Some really great examples here, many thanks! Turns out that a lot of people are using macro lenses already, I had no idea. There are some lenses, among which the OM System 90mm macro, which can enlarge by insane amounts. Microscope-like. See, for example, a picture of an iphone 14 screen on Ken Rockwell's site (https://www.kenrockw...es/OM1D1663-crop.jpg on this web page: https://www.kenrockw...f35.htm#sampleimages). Would a such a huge magnification of 1-2x bring out activity that you would otherwise miss? Regardless, time to go shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francois2605 Posted March 31 Report Share Posted March 31 Mark, you probably already know it if you're into macro-photography: you can greatly boost the magnifying factor of your macro-lens by using those tubes between your lens and the camera body. Example below from this webpage: https://www.canon.fr...ens-extension-tubes/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques D. Posted March 31 Report Share Posted March 31 About macro, this is all I can do 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivkin Posted March 31 Report Share Posted March 31 One can use a handheld camera-microscope this days for even higher magnification.. its fun, but as a learning instrument its not particularly rewarding. The issue is that most information is contained not in some secret structure, but in how the steel reacts to light at different angles. For example, if the appearance does not change much its a very strong argument its not koto. If one does photography for a long time one learns there are 5-6 angles one needs to always check, and Muromachi blades will generally react differently than, for example, Kamakura. And one is going to see additional richness in the structure. With super-high magnification its very difficult to do that. Here is "macro" shot, but the trick was to position the light source just right. Lens etc was strictly a secondary importance. BTW hada here is a strong kantei point which in principle allows you to identify the maker. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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