Macro focal length for snake photography?

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a nicer camera for when I get home.

For those of you taking pics of your animals with a macro lens, what is the preferred focal length?

I actually have a 60mm micro, 105mm VR micro, and the old 200mm macro.

I like my 60 for most things and the 200 for ill tempered ones.

Thanks. I am deciding on a 60mm or 100mm prime macro. I have the Sony NEX-6 (which is a mirrorless with a large sensor) and there is only one 30mm prime for it right now ($350). I will likely get the adapter and maybe a Canon or Nikon legacy lens and just manually focus it. I can get a decent used glass and adapter for a couple hundred bucks, or less.

I have also considered using tubes as well, but I am not sure if they will give me the results I want with my 16-50mm kit lens.

Tubes might but I would not hold my breath often they drop the sharpness as they mess up the optical formula, same for doublers there is a hit in optical quality.

Macros (in macro) do not autofocus well so an adapter may work well it is hard to say I have never used one. My 200mm is quite old (nikon d700s here) it is manual but the meter works well although I use a flash for most of the macro work I do (product mostly). I am not well versed in the sony line so I can't say about what exact options are available. The 200 gives me about 10 inches or so the 60mm only a few inches 1-3 or so. Sometimes if you have a aggressive animal that just will not do. The 60mm get in the way of the lights sometimes as well so in closest macro mode it can be complex. I love it however 60mm optic is my fav and carry it on the camera almost all the time.

I went with a legacy manual macro lens. There were TONS to choose from at varying prices. So I found one in good shape and made an offer on eBay, and the rest is history.

I picked up the Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 Macro and the 1:1 adapter for it. I guess this lens is known as the "Bokina"

The lens by itself will give 1:2 (which is good for most work) and the adapter will make it 1:1 for super close stuff.

The sensor size on the NEX-6 makes the effective focal length 135mm with this lens.

This setup should be flexible for both portraits and macro. I paid not much more for the two part lens system than I would have for a magnifier or power extension tubes.

I just need a Minolta MD-NEX adapter (about $20 on eBay) and I am set.

I bought the hotshoe flash for the NEX-6 so that will help, along with the light box. I may look in to a flash ring or a slave triggered flash in the future.

I will update everyone on how it works out when I get home! Thanks for all the input.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...n-construction

This might be useful then. I designed it for a jeweller but hey about the same. Ring flashes are interesting but the the bigger the ring is the better it looks that is the real kicker most cheap ones have small rings. I have a pair, one large and one small the large one is better than the other by quite a bit. Sadly the price tag is 10 times as well.

Yeah I have seen a few DIY diffusers online for the flash. The flash I bought has one built in, so I will s how that works.

Yeah the nice Ring lights are pricey, I have not looked in to a external flash that I can slave off the onboard. We will see

With tis lens I should also be able to get nature shots as well.

The NEX-6 has a awesome focus peaking feature so I can use the viewfinder to while manually focusing.

What's a very good camera that doesn't require me to fork out a lot of money?

I mean considering I have the Panasonic DMC-ZS7 it's an okay for regular pictures, but I want to take really close shots of snakes and such. With that in mind I'm wanting something like a point & shoot camera, so what is something nice for under $300?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Royal Hijinx

Thanks. I am deciding on a 60mm or 100mm prime macro. I have the Sony NEX-6 (which is a mirrorless with a large sensor) and there is only one 30mm prime for it right now ($350). I will likely get the adapter and maybe a Canon or Nikon legacy lens and just manually focus it. I can get a decent used glass and adapter for a couple hundred bucks, or less.

I have also considered using tubes as well, but I am not sure if they will give me the results I want with my 16-50mm kit lens.

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Great camera! I have the NEX 3N. It looks like you already got your new glass but I've had decent success with the kit lens I got. They had a special and I also ended up with a 210 zoom.

Here is a semi macro shot with the wide angle kit lens.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/DSC00428.jpg

I'd like to see the photos you get with the lens you bought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neal

What's a very good camera that doesn't require me to fork out a lot of money?

I mean considering I have the Panasonic DMC-ZS7 it's an okay for regular pictures, but I want to take really close shots of snakes and such. With that in mind I'm wanting something like a point & shoot camera, so what is something nice for under $300?

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There are a lot of great point and shoot cameras in that price range. If you look back at my pics here or on FB they were all taken with my Cypershot TX-10.

Moving up to a camera where you can change lenses is going to set you back a lot more than $300.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Royal Hijinx

There are a lot of great point and shoot cameras in that price range. If you look back at my pics here or on FB they were all taken with my Cypershot TX-10.

Moving up to a camera where you can change lenses is going to set you back a lot more than $300.

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I think I'm just going to bite the bullet like you and order the Nikon D90 when I get home. Then hopefully some people on here that are familiar with Nikon can help me sort my lenses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neal

I think I'm just going to bite the bullet like you and order the Nikon D90 when I get home. Then hopefully some people on here that are familiar with Nikon can help me sort my lenses.

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I use Canon so can't help alot there but youtube does have some pretty good comparisons on both lenses and bodies for both..
I think you are a Yank so check out B&H. You might even pick up a refurb or gently used unit for considerably less than retail.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Di...1/N/4288586282

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Raven01

I use Canon so can't help alot there but youtube does have some pretty good comparisons on both lenses and bodies for both..
I think you are a Yank so check out B&H. You might even pick up a refurb or gently used unit for considerably less than retail.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Di...1/N/4288586282

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I'm probably going to just buy a new one to be on the safe side because I know it's in new condition. I'm not too fond with buying used things because you don't know what kind of condition they're in and how well the people before you took care of them. I've ran into a lot of issues with people lying about things lately. Like when I see people selling used cars with "all highway" miles. I'll just have to make a thread on it to get help with lenses.