Trying macro photography

I've tried macro photography with Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens having +4 lens attached; and with old manual Russian-made Helios-44 lens + cheap Chinese extension ring.

The option with EF 85mm and +4 lens means full electronic control with autofocus.

Cheap extension ring is a piece of metal only, no electronic connection between camera and lens. This is why I used old Helios-44 - because it has manual aperture control.

The result with EF85 is in general good, but chromatic aberrations are strong on contrasty edges (depending on particular scene of course).

Helios-44 resulted much less CA however the transition between area in focus and completely unsharp part isn't very pleasant to my eye. EF85 produces a softer blur.

I must note however that the comparison isn't fair because I tried 2 lens in different conditions. Now as I noticed some interesting point I'll need to find some time to make a real comparison.


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New lens - Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM

I just made myself a Christmas gift - Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM. I am very glad I did - I tried it in a studio in the same day and I love it! It gives quite sharp picture full open (f 1.8) and it gives absolutely pin sharp one when closed just a little. Also background blur looks very nice with bright spots looking round rather than polygonal. Another nice thing is that autofocus is very fast. Well, I read all that in the reviews I found in the internet before buying this lens, I am just glad I can agree with all statements.

For studio use with my cropped EOS 40D it needs some space; but I bought it having full-frame EOS 5D Mk II in mind... If everything goes well I consider buying one next spring.


This picture was made at f3.5



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