My first ever macro

Hi,
This is my first ever macro photo. It is a photo of a 1986 £2 British coin. Since I was going to remove the lens for sensor cleaning, I decided to have a go at macro photography. I originally tried to have the camera in one hand and the lens in the other, but then I realised I ran out of hands to hit the shutter. I then used my tripod to hold the camera and it took ages trying to get it into place so it can be in focus. I used a fluorescent light right next to the camera and coin. As I was having difficulty holding the lens still, I set the camera to TV mode at 1/50 second. Since it was very warm, I could not stand it for much longer as the heat of the light was making me much warmer, and I was sweating. I just took two shots. Do you think it would be better to convert it to black and white?

It was taken at 18mm and ISO 200. I presume it goes down to f/4.5 when the lens is taken out, and I think that explains why there is such a narrow depth of field. Comment and criticism is welcome.

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Came out well - actually rather like the colour as is. You can preset the aperture on the lens to say F8 for greater DOF by removing it with that aperture set and the DOF preview button held down.
Brian V.

Thanks, I will try to change the aperture. The coin is supposed to be a bit of a golden colour. I will try to see what else I can do to keep still for longer.

The second set of macros

This time I decided to use the flash instead of the fluorescent table lamp. I held the camera with my right hand and the lens with my left hand and balanced them as well as I could.
1

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