Looking to improve my macro game

I've been getting more and more interested in macro photography for a while and think I am ready to make some investments.

I have mostly been using a (26mp) Fuji x-t3 with the 60mm .5x macro, with or without extension tubes (getting me a bit above 1:1), or even the Fuji 70-300 which I find very sharp and gives me .33 magnification (up to about 1:1 with extension tubes/ teleconverter, etc.); the latter lens also has the advantage of giving me about 1.5 feet of working distance which is great for bugs, my primary interest. I often focus stack.

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

I'm looking to up my game, which mostly means more detail, more magnification, etc. A few options I have been mulling are:

1. I have thought of the Venus 2x 60mm macro for Fuji, it is supposed to be very sharp and would give me more magnification, but of course only manual focus, no exif, much more difficult focus stacking.

2. I am now thinking of getting a z7 (on sale for about $1800 now, 46mp full frame) and the 105mm z macro lens (on sale for about $950). This would probably be fantastic for larger, tolerant insects but doesn't help much for smaller ones. Bees, for example, don't fill my crop sensor so I would be trading 26mp on crop for something like 20mp on the crop area of the FF sensor. Probably a sharper lens (than the Fuji 60mm, although that is no slouch), and would not require extension tubes (which, while hollow, I believe diminish image quality a bit through flaring or ghosting or some other darned thing).

3. I could also pick up the Fuji 80mm macro (about $1200) which is supposed to be a bit sharper than the 60mm (and goes 1:1 and gives me VR) but...the working distance on the 80mm at 1:1 is almost the same as the working distance of the 60mm with two extension tubes (a bit more than 1:1), so I am not sure I would gain much.

I would probably want to stick to either Fuji or Nikon as I have a lot of gear for those systems and nothing for Sony or Cannon.

So, any thoughts?

Thanks!

Your off to a good start.  The 70-300 lens with converter sound like a very useful set up.  It will work with all the " normal size insects " and you still have infinity focus.  I don't know if your lens will auto focus with a 2X converter.

I have a Sony camera and my favorite lens is the FE 90 mm macro G lens.  I have a step down ring to use the NISI 58 mm close up lens.  That is 5 diopters.  I carry the NISI lens in my pocket and if I have something very small, I take it out and screw it onto the 90 mm lens.  I get very good results with that.

I also have my Sigma 150 mm macro lens for A mount that I need an adapter for.  I have both the 1.4 x and 2x converters for it.  I lose auto focus with the 2x converter but I have a 300 mm lens that will focus down to 30 cm with a 2:1 magnification.

Here is something I did yesterday with the 90 mm and NISI filter/lens.

The bee is about 3 mm long.  The flower is in the portulaca family.

macrouser wrote:

Your off to a good start. The 70-300 lens with converter sound like a very useful set up. It will work with all the " normal size insects " and you still have infinity focus. I don't know if your lens will auto focus with a 2X converter.

I have a Sony camera and my favorite lens is the FE 90 mm macro G lens. I have a step down ring to use the NISI 58 mm close up lens. That is 5 diopters. I carry the NISI lens in my pocket and if I have something very small, I take it out and screw it onto the 90 mm lens. I get very good results with that.

I also have my Sigma 150 mm macro lens for A mount that I need an adapter for. I have both the 1.4 x and 2x converters for it. I lose auto focus with the 2x converter but I have a 300 mm lens that will focus down to 30 cm with a 2:1 magnification.

Here is something I did yesterday with the 90 mm and NISI filter/lens.

The bee is about 3 mm long. The flower is in the portulaca family.

Thanks macrouser, given that your bee is so small, that is an impressive amount of detail. Had you not written that, I might not have been so impressed or looked so closely, but I can see now that the pollen grains are not merely specks as I often see in my pictures, but little 3-dimensional balls. Well done.

I had not really considered diopters from an impression that what you lose a significant amount of the benefit of the increased magnification with the additional pieces of glass, but I will take another look at that.

Thanks!

The NISI lenses are APO and high quality.

The 77 mm thread one is about 2.5 diopters and best for longer lenses like 300 mm.

I really love your lady bug shot - great composition!

I'm also "adjusting" my macro rig. I currently use my APS-C Sony with 100/2.8 macro lens (sometimes w/Raynox 250).

I recently added a 30/2.8 macro lens to my MFT kit - both of my Lumix bodies support in-camera stacking however so far I think I get better results stacking by myself.

I'm on the fence re: getting the Laowa 25 for my FF Sony which goes from 2.5x to 5x. I'm waiting until my expendable funds recover.

I think you're doing great based on what you've shared.