Macro Focus Stacking with M.Zuiko 90mm + Raynox DCR-250 (and a surprise ending...)

[@MicaelWidell]

Thanks for watching! Don't forget to check out youtube.com/@naturefold and please also visit my... 🐞 favorite gear: micaelwidell.com/#gear 🐛 lens guide: lensguide.micaelwidell.com 🪳 monthly newsletter: micaelwidell.com 🐜 instagram: instagram.com/mwroll

[@naturefold]

Thanks so much for the shoutout Micael, glad I was able to inspire a new technique and it looks like you found some really cool subjects! Great tip with being a bit selective with which photos to use for a final stack - I often see photos where it feels like it's a massive stack just for the sake of having a big stack, whereas being intentional with the depth in a stack often gives a much nicer result than always having the entire subject covered.

[@MicaelWidell]

Agree. I often find partial stacks more aesthetically pleasing. Often full stacks look a bit artificial and weird. Keep up the great work with your videos!

[@mihaidavid359]

Your content is so awesome! I subscribed a month ago.

[@taylorhickman84]

@@MicaelWidell I feel the same way, the complete stacks that I've done end up loosing all dimensionality.

[@fromia1]

I have always heard these two don't pair too well together, so glad to see you post this 😊

[@glennhunt3595]

Agree with you on your comment Micael about Naturefold , a very talented young man and knows his stuff about the species he's photographing. 👍

[@lmmdh]

woWWOW - - - BRAVO Bravissimo for your magnificent images, super clean & classy. Great colors and composition as well. You're a master in the field.

[@NotSoGoodGamingTV]

Love the attidute towards the pictures in this one! The 90mm lens from olympus is such an insane creative tool, one of the few lenses that gives me a lot of lens envy.

[@EnriqueFromKentucky]

I recently discovered naturefold as well! Great channel. Glad to see more people posting Macro photography content.

[@d.k.1394]

Another great older video

[@sampodhorsky178]

Amazing photos, I love it! I am a beginner but the combo of my om-1 mark II and 90mm stole my heart. Excellent lens and camera.

[@drumdrumcymbal1594]

You can use generative fill in Photoshop to get rid of foreground blur.

[@petestokes9727]

Can't wait to see 4x magnification results when you switch MACRO mode on!!! Thanks for your content really enjoy it!!!

[@xinqiwang3301]

Thanks Michael for telling me Ranox250 a few days ago. I got my Ranox250. It actually can turn a telephone lens to super macro.

[@BIGplanetLife]

@MicaelWidell Hi Micael..Great video!! You can also look underneath the leaf litter and and fallen limbs and branches laying in the forest. I encourage you to get off the path and dig around under the leaf litter and rotting logs/branches and underneath larger rocks that you are able to lift up. Just remember to place these back how you found them after the photo session. Good look with your macro subject searching. Have a great day!!

[@d.k.1394]

Loved the photo you used to advertise this video

[@sdrtcacgnrjrc]

Beautiful images 👍🏼

[@apex_life]

Can wait for the next video with the correct magnification 😊

[@kenpeterson3414]

Thank you for your insight into macro photography, I love your videos..I need to get serious about using my flash with reflector..I have the Raynor 250 also & it messes with my auto focus ability, so I have to use manual only.. Stay safe..👍

[@fotiss8883]

I really like Alexis' videos! He is a great photographer and a good young man. I hope his account gets the attention it deserves!

[@waynecox5138]

Thank you. I will have to try it.

[@mk1photography62]

A really informative and great useful video many thanks and I plan to get a 90mm macro in January 2025

[@mariusm2402]

40 Photos stacked free hand... Impressive calmness. Drinking way too much coffee for that. On top, most of the insects are not that slow as well.

[@joryblock7129]

brilliant

[@d.k.1394]

Great vid

[@AMedATjmE67cfqLo]

Thanks for the great video and new channel recommendation. When you show the individual images going into a stack, there is a little bit of variance in the exposure / brightness at each frame. Is this something that can be avoided with some flash / shutter speed settings, or something that you have to correct in post? If you have to correct it, how do you do it efficiently for those large stacks?

[@MicaelWidell]

As long as the variance is small, it seems like the stacking software takes care of it. There are no great ways to completely avoid this, but in practice it is not an issue

[@morex7893]

Hello Micael, a question; are you not loosing a lot of light from the flash when using the V350 with the OM-90 lens vs using the V350 with the Olympus 60 macro? The distance between flash and diffuser is much longer when using the OM-90 macro lens.

[@MicaelWidell]

The difference in distance between the light and the subject is negligible when using a suited diffuser, as the diffuser will put the light right above the end of the lens. The difference in working distance between the 60mm and 90mm is pretty small at high magnifications. So I can use the same strength.

[@tomlee812]

A very interesting video, Thank you. I can never seem to get a decent stack using hand held (I try (!) to use Zerene). I think I need a lot more practice to get an acceptable stack.

[@MicaelWidell]

It requires some practice to hold the camera and the subject still enough. Took me a year or so to learn to do it properly.

[@ukaszbanaszkiewicz8328]

try to use the LCD screen more, for me it is much more convenient, I don't use the viewfinder at all

[@DavidBrown-if8vn]

Hey, how cool you also discovered that younger guys macro page. I just subscribed to lim last month. He does have some good insights. How random you found him too.

[@hotgoose82]

Hello, another inspiring video. I would like ask you on brand and type of your backpack?

[@MicaelWidell]

Peak design. I think the model is called Zip 15L

[@trytobeunique]

i use the MC 20 Teleconverter and its easier to use than the Raynox 250. It's the same magnification. The trick with the bork isn't new but the problem im my opinion is, that the side of the bork where the insects are situated doesn`t look very good,

[@nuagedemots8524]

Hello, I wanted to express my gratitude for all your videos that have helped me improve in macro photography, even though I am aware that I still have much to learn. I would like to seek your opinion regarding the opportunity to acquire an OM-1 Mk2 and the 90mm macro, considering the recent developments at OM System and the uncertainties about the future of this company. Should I instead consider a OM-1 Mk 1 or Panasonic camera to stay in the M4/3 format, or switch to a full-frame camera, without yet deciding on the brand ? I still have my E-M5 Mk2 with a 60mm lens that performs admirably. However, I feel a bit lost regarding the limited evolution of the OM-1 Mk2, especially regarding its price. What hardware advice could you give me ?

[@MicaelWidell]

If your main focus is macro and wildlife, I personally think that the OM system is the best gear you can get. That's why I use it. I agree it feels uncertain what future it has, now that OM is its own company - hard to know if it will be around in 10 years or not. Regarding camera, I think I would go for the OM-1 mk1, as it is cheaper than the mk2, and I personally see no benefits at all for a macro photographer in the mk2 - all the new features are aimed at wildlife or landscape photographers.

[@nuagedemots8524]

@@MicaelWidell I would like to thank you once again for your advice. Luck came my way when I stumbled upon a particularly interesting promotion for the Mk2 with the 90 ! Now, I'm diving into setting up the device, hoping to better master adjusting the flash power in manual mode to achieve properly exposed photos. I also plan to revisit your old videos, knowing that you share consistently relevant advice. Thank you again for your invaluable assistance ! I wish you continued success with your always instructive videos.

[@alainlajoie2906]

Hello Micael. I do you manage to take multiple consecutives photos with flahs without ending up with light intensity variations ? I use MF12 flash from Godox and if I take two picture to fast, the second one will not have full strenght flash.

[@MicaelWidell]

With a good flash this does not happen. I use the Godox v350 and it is very consistent even when stacking fast. There are small variations, but that is not a problem when stacking in Helicon Focus.

[@alainlajoie2906]

@@MicaelWidell The Godox MF12 are really not meeting this standard, Thanks for the answer.

[@crumpet3302]

Really happy to see the 90mm lens working with the DCR-250 since I saw lots of people saying they don't pair well. Is there any chance of you trying the MC-20 Teleconverter, 90mm macro and Raynox 250 together? That combo works with the Olympus 60mm macro, so it would be really interesting to see if you can do it on this lens as well.

[@MicaelWidell]

Not sure it is a good idea to combine all three haha. But I will try teleconverters.

[@MarkusHorrer]

They Raynox 250 doesn‘t work well with the OM 90mm, it creates a terrible white haze over the entire image unless you stop down to f9 or lower. That‘s why you can‘t see many issues here as he shoots between f9 and f11. That‘s also the reason why it won‘t work with the MC20, you’ll have to stop down so much it‘ll be almost impossible to get enough light on there and diffraction is gonna kill all sharpness. The Nisi 49mm works a lot better with the 90mm, no white haze even wide open, sharper and better color reproduction. It also does work coupled with the MC20 teleconverter to get to a field of view of

[@crumpet3302]

​@@MarkusHorrer Thanks for the tip, I haven't seen anyone else mention using the Nisi with it.

[@Jaiiiiiii1]

Have you done a video trying to push the limits of reverse lens macro? It's how I'm starting out before I can get a raynox or such, and I wanna see what you can manage with such a simple setup

[@MicaelWidell]

Not really pushed the limits, but you can get very far with it. Just get a reverse adapter and some extension tubes. Check my budget macro playlist on my channel and you will find a couple of videos with reverse mounted lenses.

[@paulcollingridge8387]

Congratulations on 'almost' hitting 100k followers (99.9k). Great video. One skill all wildlife macrophotographers need is how to use a 'key' to identify species; using a key will help us capture important features of the insect. I would also encourage the uploading of photos with GPS and ecological data... It is very easy and will let the experts confirm a rare species - I have over 30 unique records for my region, which helps ecologists measure the impact of environmental changes and conservation work - I upload to iRecord in the UK

[@csc-photo]

I can't get the hang of handheld focus stacking. Maybe it's the software I'm using - I've heard Photoshop is actually not the best at this task. And probably a combination of that, and me just needing to practice handheld stacking more often :)

[@pepemau5]

so this video is like trailer to 4times magnification :D

[@MicaelWidell]

Haha I guess so, definitely want to try it for real soon

[@th500e]

Does the 90 mm work with the Raynox plus MC-14? Have you tried this as well?

[@MicaelWidell]

Haven't tried that particular combination, but I can't see why it shouldn't work. Might try it someday, even though it sounds a bit crazy and overkill.

[@hjones451]

Insects beware, Micael has you sussed out with this excellent combination. 22 degrees in the UK today.

[@ericlundquist3466]

Question when you in camera focus stack set to RAW, do you get 1 raw + 1jpeg per stacked image? Slightly annoying it does that for me so now I set to super fine jpeg

[@MicaelWidell]

I actually use the Focus Bracket feature, that way I don't get the jpegs. If you use the in camera focus stack feature, you are limited to 8 photos, and you get the jpegs no matter if you want them or not.

[@ericlundquist3466]

@MicaelWidell I'll give that a shot. I've been trying many shortcuts in helicon, like duplicating the photos and then uploading them to helicon. Didn't notice much of a difference, lol

[@IMANGHAFOORI]

what happens if we attach two Raynoxes head to head using a coupler ring... and then put the whole thing on a lens?

[@MicaelWidell]

You get even more magnification :)

[@IMANGHAFOORI]

@@MicaelWidell Could you please make a video for it? about how much magnification it yields and how impressive the results are.

[@ComteZera]

Nice, I've already made the same mistake 😅

[@MicaelWidell]

Oh no!

[@jh-lx5if]

That **** lens switch, even on the 60mm it’s so annoying to have to back off from the subject and use 2 hands to change the switch then go back and find the bug again… 😢

[@d.k.1394]

I been looking under logs for yrs 😊😊😊

[@d.k.1394]

I am looking for money or a 19 yo girl friend 😆

[@prochicken5304]

Can U show type of file, Raw or Jpeg, tks

[@MicaelWidell]

I always shoot in RAW

[@Hari_Kumar04]

Is tat dcr250 or msn 202!?

[@MicaelWidell]

dcr 250

[@Hari_Kumar04]

@@MicaelWidell looks different from mine!! Thanks sir

[@MicaelWidell]

Maybe because I had step down rings attached

[@d.k.1394]

Hi from aussie

[@pepemau5]

its fun why sony still doesnt release new firmware for stacking, for A7IV, joke

[@markstevens6682]

Mistakes are easy to make, but hard to learn from….

[@disjenmgn]

8 years macro photography and NEVER turned some wood????? WTF?????