Canon's mirrorless series hasn't had great fanfare here in the US. I originally purchased an original EOS-M for infrared photography. It's a competent camera when used within it's limitations and for it's price point the limitations of the camera are quite reasonable. Ground Rig - Canon M3 with Sigma 150mm (old version no OS) attached with Canon EF-M to EF adapter, SunwayFoto T1A10 Mini Tripod, Small Ball Head - Hejner Focusing Rail I much prefer using low level setups with a small mirrorless camera like the M3. Size wise and feature wise - tilt screen, touch screen, swipe navigating, pinch and pull zoom for reviewing photos, APS-C crop factor, good IQ at Base ISO, etc. the M3 is very good for this type of photography. There is one major drawback (always a compromise isn't there). Even though the camera has Electronic First Curtain Shutter (EFCS) there is a slight in camera vibration at the start of exposure. This can effect picture sharpness at slower shutter speeds using longer lenses. You can combat this to a certain extent by taking numerous shots and picking the sharpest of the lot but if frames are limited you may be disappointed if ultimate sharpness is the goal. Hardware aside, there is something magical about getting low to the ground. Tight framing and close proximity to the subject and distances to the flora in the background make for whimsical backdrops. Slight changes in angles or moving the frame a bit to the left or a bit to the right can completely change the look of the image. Wisps of grass in the foreground provide interesting color and contrast blurs. Magical stuff that I could spend hours on end doing… Not everything is Blue with the M3 ground rig. Brown Damsels make good subjects as well. The M3 coupled with the Sigma 150mm macro lens provides a nice working distance from the subject. Certain attributes of the M3 make it good for this type of photograph. First the 24MP APS-C allows one to fill the frame at a further distance and puts a lot of pixels on the subject. The focus peaking on the M3 is excellent and makes it very easy to confirm the focal plane and with practice DoF. The focus peaking comes in three colors red, yellow, and blue. For this shot I found red really worked well as it contrasted well against the light pastel background. Magnifying live view and swiping across the LCD to verify focus peaking is very helpful. A pitfall of the M3 is no cable cable shutter release capability. One can overcome this using the Canon EOS Remote or Canon Connect apps to remotely control the camera via smart phone. If you are concerned about the WiFi connection draining battery life you can use LCD touch shutter coupled with a timer delay to take the shot. With a light weight ground hugging rig you can easy move camera position and angle for rough framing and focal plane alignment. I did this a lot with this subject as it was very active. Leaving it's grass blade perch to pluck mosquitoes flying by. I was quite pleased watching this activity. Not only was it interesting but I'm sure it spared me a bite or two. Thank you my little brown friend and I look forward to our next photo session. M3 isn't limited to tripod based macro photography. I have found it competent with the MP-E 65mm or for a lighter weight rig the Canon 60mm EF-s Macro lens couple with the MT-24EX. Larger diffused setups with a speed light a diffuser box work well but bulk of the rig negates the compactness of the camera. In the Weeds with the M3, 60mm EF-s Macro with 36mm Tube and MT-24EX. Beware, there's spiders in the weeds. Waiting patiently for the unsuspecting insect to happen by. I never noticed them before but after I saw this one I noticed spiders are a common occurrence on Paspalum notatum. I find the colors of the spider against the green and purple of the seed head quite striking but in full sun the spider gets lost in a background of drying straw grasses in the background. Blacking out the background with a quick flash burst suits this subject and scene well. I noticed the wild grass seed heads swaying in the wind. I don't usually shoot on these grasses but there weren't any flower patches so I pulled out the field stool and started watching the grass stalks. I have fond memories of this particular grass. As a child we would chew the stalks. The interior of stem is consists of airy fibrous chambers that run the length of the stalk. As you chew on it, sucrose is released not overly sweet, rather a mild natural sugar taste. I was very surprised to see an abundance of insect life on the seed heads. This grasshopper was one of the first critters I saw. My friend the dragon took up perch on a stack of twigs and branch trimmings in my backyard. Over the course of an hour or so I watched it and slowly moved closer to the perch to get a shot. It would fly off if I moved too quickly only to return a short time later. I finally got close enough to get a few shots. Surprisingly my friend the dragon was quite comfortable with the camera's proximity (from time to time I stumble across one that doesn't seem bothered) that I was afforded several ~2:1 side profile shots. I'm still working with the Canon M3 but decided to try out an old Metz 40MZ 3i flash with an DIY diffuser. I like the flash as it's squatty and long which equates to the flash head almost reaching the end of the Canon EF-S 60mm lens with 20mm of extension tube. Another neat feature of the flash is the head can tilt down about 10 degrees. It's an old analog flash and when coupled with the SCA 3101 M2 module allows for TTL. I don't use the TTL capability for exposure but it is important when using the Canon M3 as the camera recognizes there is a flash is attached and exposure simulation illuminates live view so one can see the subject/scene. If you try to use an old manual flash without TTL, exposure simulation (can't be turned off on the M3) treats the live view feed on the rear LCD as if there is no flash attached resulting in a black frame and literally no way to focus minus adding some sort of focusing lamp/torch.
Thank you for the article and the amazing photos! Is the kind of photography I like the most (well, not the extreme macros with too dark or black backgrounds, but that is me). I don't have yet a macro lens for my Canon so, the best macros I did were with a bridge camera, Nikon Coolpix L340 - surprisingly good for a camera with such a small sensor (1/2.3").
those are absolutely gorgeous! and thanks for showing your rig. i avoided the M series due to the lack of viewfinder, but for your needs, it seems it's utterly perfect.
An excellent write up and wonderful imagery! I always enjoy seeing and hearing about others methods for macro photography, thank you for sharing this with us all.
Thank you Vasile and glad you enjoyed the write up. I can understand your dislike of extreme macro with black backgrounds. I have no doubt one can take good macros with a bridge camera. I have often considered picking one up as I can see obvious benefits size/weight benefits and the possible ability to shoot one handed. Not quite as small as your Nikon Coolpix, I am a big fan of the Olympus EM-1 for macro. There isn't as much latitude with exposure compared to an APS-C or FF camera but once you figure out the sweet spot excellent results can be achieved.
Thank you pcake and you are most welcome. The M series isn't for everyone but if one can work around the limitations the cameras are more than capable of producing very nice images. The M3 actually has an add on viewfinder (separate purchase). I have one but have found I just don't use it that much. The tilting LCD is fine for my needs in most situations. QUOTE="pcake, post: 1016, member: 993"]those are absolutely gorgeous! and thanks for showing your rig. i avoided the M series due to the lack of viewfinder, but for your needs, it seems it's utterly perfect.[/QUOTE]
William, thank you for sharing your approach and fabulous macro images, the insight is greatly appreciated. The images are outstanding, I can only imagine the pleasure and satisfaction you received from producing them. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work, Jean-Louis
Usually, I don't read long posts. But this is not a simple post, is a micro-enciclopedy of macro-photography. Ilustrated with fantastic pictures. Thank you for sharing this with us. By the way, you make me remember that I have some macro rings somewhere, and it's a nice weather.
Your images are stunning William, especially the last in this series of the dragonfly. Very well captured.
It's nice to see some-thing that stimulate an interest in a part of photography I have not done for a while. One technical question if I may, do you take multiple shots at varying apertures and then stack them in Photoshop or are they strait out of the camera as is. You have made some very nice shots
Thank you Craig. If it has stirred interest on your end even better! To answer your question these are all single shot macro. For the most part SOOC minus normal raw teaks, i.e - exposure, contrast, sharpening, etc., in post.
Thanks that's informative now for one more annoying question, I know a insect doesn't stay still for long but have you tried taking a series of shots say 6 to 9 and stitched them together in Photoshop similar to a landscape Panorama. This would give you a complete picture of the insect in macro. The photo if it were to be blown up to A4 , A3 or larger would look pretty neat.
Hi Craig, yes I shoot field stacks whenever I can. I have used photoshop to compile the individual frames but more often than not I prefer to use a program called Zerene to stack images. When executed and processed properly the final images does look nice on screen and in print.
Thanks for the info I looked up Zerene on you tube and it looks interesting. I must give it a go some-time.
