A ring flash can be a great addition to any macro lens. When you think about how much less light there is hitting a single bug than there is hitting a whole mountain scene, you start to see why macro photography needs so much more light to get sharp shots. The mountains don't move, but that bee in flight can be nothing but a blur without a flash. Traditional flashes are too far away and aren't designed for extreme closeups. There are quite a few options out there, or you cam make one yourself. The one pictured above is one of the most ingenious camera hacks I've ever seen, though it has some competition from that guy who figured out how to use a rooster as a steadycam. Rather than using LEDs or other lights that need batteries and have to be synchronized with the camera, this one uses fiber optic cables to transmit light from the flash on your camera, taking advantage of the fact that the flash is already synchronized with the camera and puts out an impressive amount of light. No extra power cords or batteries necessary, and the ring setup with 150 fiber optic cables distributes the ...

Setting up your average tripod for doing macro work is like helping a giraffe with knee problems get a drink from a puddle. By the time you've got the whole thing set up, the light has changed, your subject has wandered off, and you couldn't get quite the angle you wanted.   The Gorillapod has been such an amazing solution to my problems. They market it as something to wrap around trees and fences and stuff, but I prefer it just perched on the ground like a regular tripod, but with near instant setup and flexibility.   You may have even seen these in the store. My first Gorillapod was given to me by my grandmother, and like the ones in the stores it was meant for those tiny point and shoot cameras. It would fall over under the weight of my camera lens when I used it with my SLR.  After a bit of research I found that they make a very nice larger model specifically to use as a tripod for SLR cameras.  This one has machined aluminum sockets and holds up to 11 pounds. I'm really impressed by the feel and quality of this thing. The feet and the widest point ...

If you haven't already noticed, most of this site is a review of this particular lens. It rarely leaves my camera, and for good reason, but as anyone who has spent any time with lenses knows, nothing comes without sacrifices. I'll start with the cons so as to not waste your time if any of them are deal breakers for you. Cons: This is a prime lens, as in not a zoom lens, as in no zooming. Tunnel vision. a 25° angle of view means that it pretty much sucks for landscape photography, and to take a big group portrait you have to stand back pretty far. It is optimized for 1.6x cameras like the 20D-50D and the Digital Rebel series, which is a plus if that is what you have, but it wouldn't function right on a full frame camera like the 5D MarkII Hmm, well, I'm out of cons already. On to the Pros: The lens doesn't change length when you focus. No bumping that bug off the leaf as your lens pokes out, and it lessens the risk grit and dis-alignment. The focusing wheel is big enough that you don't have to hunt for it, and is built really well. It is coarse enough ...