Macro photography theory & why 'nobody' shoots medium format macro

In Part 1 of my collaboration with Lomography UK, I explain the theory behind Macro Photography, the different ways to achieve life-size reproduction ratios (extension tubes, reversal rings, close-up/diopter filters), and why basically nobody shoots medium format macro.

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00:00 Introduction
00:54 What is "Macro Photography"?
01:42 Reproduction Ratio
05:33 Exposure Factor
10:50 Diffraction
12:28 Macro Photography Gear
12:45 Dedicated Macro Lens
14:52 Extension Tubes
18:19 Diopter / Close-Up Filters
22:14 Reversal Ring
25:55 Conclusion

[justlikeswimming]

Nice review of the challenges of macro photography using medium format. I do it alot, using an old mamiya 645, 1:1 macro lens, a nisi close-up filter, and a focusing rail. It is very, very hard getting the needed >1:1, but when it works it's stunning. I wait for the rare windless days and spend hours setting up just a couple of shots. But I like slow, methodical work.

[vasyapupken]

there is one more thing for "extreme macro" - double sided filter ring. you put a tele lens on your camera and then mount a reversed normal lens in front of it. face to face.
you will be able to use focusing ring and aperture of a tele lens (reversed lens is just wide open).
resulting magnification will depend on focal length of both lenses. length of tele divided by length of attached lens (100mm tele with 50mm attached will give you X2 magnification)

[brianssparetime]

Not much out there on this. But wow - this was SO helpful. Your discussion of the challenges/theory was very well thought out, tightly delivered, and taught me what I needed. Really appreciate this. Inspired me to start experimenting with my M645 with the 85mm f/4 macro and to pick up the dedicated tube extender. I've done about three rolls now of macro over the last few months, and I'm loving both the challenge and the results. I found a macro slider rail is super helpful - easier to focus that way than the lens.

[khanscombe]

Acquiring Pentax 67 w/ its macro bellow thingy.
What flash meter do you suggest?
I have to use Gossen Luna Pro SBC (Profi-Six) w/ Luna fiber optic probe, Minolta Flash Meter V w/ Booster II & mini probe & newly using Sekonic L-358. Flash Master w/ mini receptor probe
But I do wanna try on my traditional bellows cam w/ ground glass focus & metering

[Narsuitus]

Thanks for a great macro video.

I use the following equipment to shoot medium format macro with my RB67:
140mm f/4.5 macro lens
90mm f/3.8 normal lens
82mm extension tube
45mm extension tube
+1 diopter lens
+2 diopter lens
+4 diopter lens
+10 diopter lens

With this equipment, I am able to obtain macro reproduction ratios from 1:1 up to 3:1

[lilkngstr]

Tried this a while back. Bronica sq, 110mm macro, ext tubes, and some 35mm kodak 2468 sprocketless positive microfilm. Got a penny to reach from edge to edge. Just couldn't figure out the exposure/developing. I learned some stuff today and inspired to bring it back out and try again, with some "normal" film.

[RedStarRogue]

I have shot some macro stuff on my Pentax 645n with extension tubes and a 150mm.

[RedShiftedDollar]

If a shorter extension tube is needed on ff to achieve the same additional magnification as a longer tube on medium format, this says nothing about exposure differences. If you gain a 2x enlargement of the image, the light is spread to 4x the area. That’s 2 stops regardless of how it is achieved.

[gavinjenkins]

There's literally zero "disadvantage" to medium format. You can just crop the image if you want, and get exactly the same thing as full frame. But you have the OPTION of including environmental context. Options > not options. Yes, it's more expensive, but by that logic nobody would be shooting anything but micro 4/3 or whatever.

[RedShiftedDollar]

There is a lot of false information in this vid. In terms of framing, medium format macro is much better than ff macro because you can think of ff as simply a cropped medium format. So if you want the subject to take up more of the image, just crop the medium format image and you will get a ff equivalent image of identical quality. The key here is that the cropped medium format is of identical quality to the ff. This is true in film where the same film stock is used. In digital you need to consider pixel density and other factors, but usually medium format is better.

[GTP-zgtn]

You NEVER ever want to use Auto Focus for Macro shooting. Because you want to choose the area of interest in the close-up area. You do NOT want to allow an Auto Focus servo to choose for you. You use medium format for Macro shooting for the obvious reason: the larger negative image area. Yes a 35mm or APS negative size will decrease the angle of view, making enlargements easier. But it's still a small negative vs medium format. The Pentax 67 system has a Macro Bellows unit with a reverse ring to allow for very high macro magnifications.The 67 Macro bellows came with an exposure compensation chart. But using the TTL Prism would give you the correct exposure too. This same kind of Macro Bellows units were available for 35mm systems too.

[gluteusmaximus]

hmm, seems mft is good for macro then