DOF ?

[whaase]

I was playing around with some macro shots tonight. I'm using 3 kenko extention tubes and a 50 1.8. I'm finding the DOF way too narrow when shooting jagged objects or anything not smooth. Even bumping to F4 or F8 it didn't change (I didn't think it really would lol)

Would a dedicated macro lens help with that? Or is it just the way close ups like this work?

[Andrushka]

the effects of depth of field are much more dramatic when shooting macro. You will usually need something much smaller than F/8 (try F/16) to get much of your subject in focus

[whaase]

the effects of depth of field are much more dramatic when shooting macro. You will usually need something much smaller than F/8 (try F/16) to get much of your subject in focus

That's what I thought and tried. But going from 1.8 to 8 didn't make a difference at all. I'm just wondering if that's a side effect of the extention tubes?

[LordV]

That's what I thought and tried. But going from 1.8 to 8 didn't make a difference at all. I'm just wondering if that's a side effect of the extention tubes?
It does make a difference but with macro you are dealing with very thin DOF anyway. The DOF at a given aperture and magnification is the same in macro (for a given camera) no matter how you achieve the magnification, so it's the same whether you are using ext tubes or a dedicated macro lens.

Upto 1:1 magnification most peeps shoot around F11 to get reasonable DOF.

[eForce]

I don't think it's your tubes. Proximity has a HUGE impact on DOF. Shallow dof is a direct result of macto unless you dramatically decrease your aperture.

I have a 70mm Sigma Macro (luv it) and get the same results.

[JeffreyG]

The depth of field in the range of 1:2 and greater magnification is wholly dependent on the degree of magnification. It does not matter if you use a macro lens or tubes to get there.

I usually consider f/11 the open end of the range for macro shooting and I would not hesitate to go to f/22 if needed. Focus stacking is another useful approach.

This is why the most important tools of macro photography are the tripod and some kind of macro flash rig.