Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens

Please share some setting ideas for this lens on the Canon Rebel EOS. Need f-stops, ss, distance for day & night shots. Only other lens I have is the 17-55 that came with the camera as a kit purchase. Any one using this setup please share your experiences. Thanks:?:

This has been discussed here a time or two. Basically you want to shoot high F-stops (16-22) for good DOF. Shutter should be 1/60th but preferably 1/125thy to freeze the subject. Almost all shots will be with strobe fill. There are very few opportunities for available light shots with macro lenses, but many opportunities for strobe fill with ambient light negative space. I shot this pic with my 60mm at F9 during the day to get this blue background.

The composition of this shot allowed me to get good percieved DOF with a profile. If I would have tried to work in the other eyeball, it would be out of focus, and that might have distracted from the image.

So during the day, keep the F-stop at 16 or 22 or higher if you need the DOF unless you see an opportunity where the negative space might add something to the picture. Then step down the F-stop and take a few test shots of the negative space to expose it properly, then adjust your fill lighting. Depending on the animal you may want to shoot in manual mode and just slowly move your camera in and out til it is sharp. Use a good aiming light if you use autofocus so the lens can find and lock. Remember, the lens looks for contrast variation for which to lock on the subject, so in low light, the lens might hunt....and it may be too late to get the shot when the animals flips you the fin as he swims impatiently away.

Joe

Great pic! Thanks for sharing. Will be using 2 SB 105s & spotting light. What about distance? I know this is a macro & have heard 10" for distance, but in playing on land it appears greater distance is possible with zooming in.

The distance depends on the subject. 10 to 20 inches or more is common if you are shooting fish. Smaller things like nudibranchs require closer lens to subject distancs, say three inches. Beauty is in the eyes my friend. If you are shooting digi (and you are), be creative, try new things, practice lighting and composition.....use your histogram and make sure your LCD brightness is at it's lowest setting if you don't use your histogram.

Have fun.

Joe