Advice please

[blades]

I currently use an Olympus OM-1 and the 60mm lens for handheld macro. I’d like to upgrade to a full frame and a Stackshot system. I’m not sure how much I want to spend, but as a start, can I ask if money wasn’t an issue, what camera body and macro lens would you recommend I consider? Thanks in advance for any advice.

[UncleChip]

Do you want autofocus for your macro lens or are you happy with manual

Do you want a dedicated macro lens?

Do you want in camera focas stacking ability?

Do you want mirrorless ( thinking of size of the on-1)

For autofocus the Sigma 105 gets great reviews, and for manual focus the Laowa gets great reviews,

Canon mirrorless doesn’t support 3rd party lenses so that rules out the above unless you get them for the DSLR mount and use an adapter, apart from that they are excellent cameras,
Sony are also excellent and have the biggest range of lenses available for any of the mirrorless cameras, though only the A7RV does in camera focus bracketing,
Can’t speak for the other brands,

You can get a second hand DSLR for very cheap at the moment due to the move towards mirrorless, you could pick up a canon 5dmkiii and lowia 100mm2x macro for about £600

[blades]

Thank you

Autofocus would be good, but I mostly use manual and I’m ok with that.

I think I would start with a macro lens x2 but I think eventually I’d like to get to x5 magnification or more.

Don’t really need in body focus stacking facility… this will be a studio camera / setup.

Mirrorless seems like the obvious choice to me, to avoid vibrations etc but I’m open here.

I have been looking at Laowa and so far it seems a good starting point as I learn more about extension tubes and microscope lens etc.

Sony seems like a good choice, I’d got to the A7IV but I do like the fact the A7RV has the larger sensor, but of course the price jumps up.

I also have the dilemma of Stackshot v WeMacro…

[UncleChip]

Laowa do the 2.5-5x and it comes in Sony mount, so this would be the obvious choice after the 2x

The A7rv has the same size sensor as the riv, just more pixels, one advantage of the higher pixel count is if you get into objective lenses where you can struggle to cover a FF sensor, the RV has great cropability,

My friend who shoots canon sets his camera up connected to the computer so he has a big screen to see, then the images go straight to his computer, on the Sony the usb port that you use to connect any external trigger is the same that you use to connect to the computer so you loose this ability, it does have an hdmi connector so in theory you can still have an external monitor,

If I was buying a Sony for the sole purpose of macro in the studio I am not sure the extra cost of the A7rV would be worth it, I am not sure you would see any difference in image quality over the A7rIII, the difference in cost would buy the Laowa 90mm2x the Laowa 2.5-5x and the wemacro rail, all the bells and whistles of the RV would never be used, I would certainly google to see what the differences are in the sensor and how it would translate to real world image quality.

[blades]

Thank you again. Yes it’s certainly things like connectivity options that I’ve been struggling with. Not knowing fully what port is used for the WeMacro, plus an external monitor or connection to a MacBook screen etc. The Sony A74 seems to have good connectivity and a 33 megapixel, of course the A7R4 A comes with the 61 megapixel sensor. I suspect with both bodies being used for my purpose, there would be a lot of functionality not being used. I’m sure you know what it’s like, just trying not to make a mistake I end up regretting!

Laowa do the 2.5-5x and it comes in Sony mount, so this would be the obvious choice after the 2x

The A7rv has the same size sensor as the riv, just more pixels, one advantage of the higher pixel count is if you get into objective lenses where you can struggle to cover a FF sensor, the RV has great cropability,

My friend who shoots canon sets his camera up connected to the computer so he has a big screen to see, then the images go straight to his computer, on the Sony the usb port that you use to connect any external trigger is the same that you use to connect to the computer so you loose this ability, it does have an hdmi connector so in theory you can still have an external monitor,

If I was buying a Sony for the sole purpose of macro in the studio I am not sure the extra cost of the A7rV would be worth it, I am not sure you would see any difference in image quality over the A7rIII, the difference in cost would buy the Laowa 90mm2x the Laowa 2.5-5x and the wemacro rail, all the bells and whistles of the RV would never be used, I would certainly google to see what the differences are in the sensor and how it would translate to real world image quality.

[UncleChip]

The Sony A7r iii has a 42mp sensor the riv and rv have the 61mp sensor,

I think all the rails connect to the Sony cameras via the usb port, so you would have to go down the external monitor route via the hdmi port, you can connect to your pc/Mac but not at the same time as the rail (unless a splitter would work)

[blades]

Do you think a Canon 5D Mark IV would still be a good choice in 2023. I’m not familiar with its connectivity, so I’m just looking it up.

The Sony A7r iii has a 42mp sensor the riv and rv have the 61mp sensor,

I think all the rails connect to the Sony cameras via the usb port, so you would have to go down the external monitor route via the hdmi port, you can connect to your pc/Mac but not at the same time as the rail (unless a splitter would work)

[Marcepstein]

Not sure it will apply, but keep in mind the camera format, that with some upgrades, digital OS and software may also need upgrading. The 5DM4 is a respectable camera and it has silent shutter mode (mirror locks up for continuous shots) but not the electronic shutter or efcs like some mirrorless bodies.

Looking at this thread maybe helpful. https://www.photomacrography.net/forum ... 25&t=45740

Marc

[UncleChip]

I can only speak for certain about Sony, but I think it’s the same with the others
With mirrorless to use flash you have to use the mechanical shutter, so in preforms the same as a traditional DSLR when you have it set to “mirror lockup”
In the field the electronic shutter comes into its own, silent high frame rates allow for stacking live subjects,

Re-connectivity, many on here use Sony with no issues, every system has some limitations, down the line I may add an external monitor to my Sony system but for my need’s experience and subject matter I am fine

[blades]

Thank you. Currently I’m leaning towards a Sony A7RV it’s only the consideration of the cost that’s making me think me. I’m eager to build a nice focus stacking set up in my studio

I can only speak for certain about Sony, but I think it’s the same with the others
With mirrorless to use flash you have to use the mechanical shutter, so in preforms the same as a traditional DSLR when you have it set to “mirror lockup”
In the field the electronic shutter comes into its own, silent high frame rates allow for stacking live subjects,

Re-connectivity, many on here use Sony with no issues, every system has some limitations, down the line I may add an external monitor to my Sony system but for my need’s experience and subject matter I am fine

[blades]

Another thing I’ve found slightly confusing while considering this upgrade, that is looking more and more like it will be Sony, is the Laowa lenses for Sony.
Can anyone tell me why they make 2 such similar lenses please? I’ve checked the specs, the price is identical yet the 90mm - 100mm is so close to each other?

Laowa 90mm f2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO Lens
Laowa 100mm f2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO Lens

[UncleChip]

I believe the 100mm is the old design with an adapter built onto it, the 90mm was designed for mirrorless, and I believe it’s quite a bit smaller, the 100 has excellent reviews on here and same with the 90, though not tested as much

The A7RV is the camera I will be upgrading to later in the year, I have the A9 and A7iii,

[blades]

I believe the 100mm is the old design with an adapter built onto it, the 90mm was designed for mirrorless, and I believe it’s quite a bit smaller, the 100 has excellent reviews on here and same with the 90, though not tested as much

Thank you

[Pau]

Not sure it will apply, but keep in mind the camera format, that with some upgrades, digital OS and software may also need upgrading. The 5DM4 is a respectable camera and it has silent shutter mode (mirror locks up for continuous shots) but not the electronic shutter or efcs like some mirrorless bodies.

Looking at this thread maybe helpful. https://www.photomacrography.net/forum ... 25&t=45740

Marc

AFAIK all the 5D camera series from the MkII have EFSC although not full electronic shutter (all excepted the original 5D)

[Marcepstein]

My bad. I recently had a loner and looking at settings it had 2 silent shutter modes. The manual didn’t explain how it worked so I called CPS. I may have asked the wrong question and was told to use mirror lockup/continuous shooting. EFCS wasn’t mentioned so I assumed it didn’t. Thanks for pointing it out. I settled on a different body.