MPE-65 questions

I'm thinking about taking the plunge and buying an MP-E65. What else do I need? I have a good tripod and wireless trigger. Do I need a rail and does it need to be 2 way or 4 way. Hand holding is probably out of the question since I have a tremor and can blur an image shot at 1/500 sec using IS . I also have a dual flash macro setup I made but will I need a ring flash?

I almost only use the MP-E with flash hand held, above life size even steady hands need flash. Flash is 1/1000 or even 1/10000 of a second so it should freeze the motion but a tremor may make it impossible to get accurate focus.

I use the MT-24EX twin flash but it is expensive so an ordinary flash is great, plenty of top posts from flash bracket users, I find the twin flash easier to hold. The problem with a ring flash is the ring highlights which look very alarming.

If you are using a tripod then a rail with a rack and pinion advance is advised, but I think insects will be very hard to do this way. Partly because they will be easier to disturb and partly because it will be more difficult to align you focus plane with their main body axis to make the best of limited depth of field.

Thanks for the info Lester. I'm using a 5D3 and a 90ex speedlight as a master with a 270ex2 slave. This setup normally works very well except that the 90ex does not allow for high speed sync. I guess I'll have to experiment with lowering the flash power (shorter flash duration) and see if that helps freeze the action. I have a 580ex2 and 430ex2 which allow for high speed sync but that setup is very cumbersome.

I used a ring flash once with a model. I hated the catch lights. I didn't think about that happening with 'critters'.

With a ring flash and highly reflective subjects you can get highlights like these:

Yup, those catch lights really 'bug' me. Nice photo, by the way. I like the blue background. It sets the spider off in an unusual way.

With the twin flash you do get double highlights but this is not quite as annoying as the ring flash effect, you could always ratio one tube off if you think it is a problem.

I made a comparison of different lighting and setups before: natural light, mt24, mr14 etc...

http://orionmystery.bl​ogspot.com …rent-lighting-setups.html

A friend of mine also figures out an ingenious way of getting rid of the ring highlight, check it out:

http://orionmystery.bl​ogspot.com …11/hishams-macro-rig.html

High speed sync use does not help stop motion blur as the flash is pulsed numerous times whilst the shutter is open. Use of normal sync flash at say 1/200th of a second normally gives a flash pulse that is 1/1000th sec or faster and this becomes the effective shutter speed if it's the main source of light.

Brian v.

+1, I only use high speed sync for fill in flash on bright days where the sun is the main light source.

If you just want to get some natural light in the background then it is often enough to just increase the ISO or widen the apature a bit but keep ordinary 1st curtain sync.

Thanks for all the good information. I mostly use high speed sync on sunny days as fill when I'm trying to handhold the camera. I'm rarely able to get a sharp shot at 1/250 sec with the 100mm macro. Bumping the shutter speed up to 1/1000 sec and using high speed sync helps quite a bit.

Lester Wareham wrote in post #16220254
If you just want to get some natural light in the background then it is often enough to just increase the ISO or widen the apature a bit but keep ordinary 1st curtain sync.

is there any difference between 1st or 2nd curtain in a normal macro flash photo (i.e. 1/200th)?

DanThoman wrote in post #16220944
Thanks for all the good information. I mostly use high speed sync on sunny days as fill when I'm trying to handhold the camera. I'm rarely able to get a sharp shot at 1/250 sec with the 100mm macro. Bumping the shutter speed up to 1/1000 sec and using high speed sync helps quite a bit.

If flash becomes your primary light source then you stop worrying about shutter speed, since the flash power will be your shutter speed. and you can freeze a bullet midair with the flash light and even with a very slow shutter speed (providing there isn't enough natural light to blur the shot).

Warl0rd wrote in post #16221504
is there any difference between 1st or 2nd curtain in a normal macro flash photo (i.e. 1/200th)?

Use 2nd curtain sync with a slow shutter speed if you want trail effects, ie a vehicle going past at night with lights on.

With 1st curtain the flash fires at the start of the object motion, and 2nd at the end which looks more natural.

then why did you said "but keep ordinary 1st curtain sync"? I expect everyone not to be doing some trailing effects on macro

I have seen the second curtain trailing trick done with thinks like moths in flight, nice little project for you if you are up for it.

Its already hard enough to get my shots sharp with fast shutter

I was just wondering after what you said if 1st or 2nd curtain would make any difference on a standard 1/200th trigger, I guess not