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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Whats the best Macro lens for red cameras?

A Pl version that is extremely high quality and cheap is the red prime pro lenses. They are close focus at around 4-6 inches - it's almost like everything 50 and below is a macro. No idea why they were made that way.
[added some files from todays practicals for some vfx textures - 50mm RPP at 6k Dragon Weapon] R3D is also referencable from my blog]
 

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I am amazed that the widest focal length anyone has suggested is 90mm & others suggesting upto 200mm.

I prefer to do macro between 32mm - 60mmm & yes I do do an awful lot. I also like the camera to move, see how far you have to move the camera if you using a 200mm v 50mm. The camera move will be much less & smoother with a wider lens.

It's a great shame that Arri only make the 100mm master macro. If I have a budget I use the Leica Sumulux with digi diapers up to + 5 diopters. Ultra primeswith dig diopters are OK too.
 
Stephen Williams said:
I am amazed that the widest focal length anyone has suggested is 90mm & others suggesting upto 200mm.

I prefer to do macro between 32mm - 60mmm & yes I do do an awful lot. I also like the camera to move, see how far you have to move the camera if you using a 200mm v 50mm. The camera move will be much less & smoother with a wider lens.

It's a great shame that Arri only make the 100mm master macro. If I have a budget I use the Leica Sumulux with digi diapers up to + 5 diopters. Ultra primeswith dig diopters are OK too.
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How do you light for that kind of work? I'd assume you have a lot of problems with camera shadow at 32mm?

Not being cynical, genuinely curious–I've heard Michael Bay (a great product photographer, let's leave debates about his other merits out of this, please) likes to shoot his inserts and macro shots wide, which required some modification by Panavision and interesting post work to fix up periscope vignetting–but he makes it work. For stills, long lenses make sense to me for product photography (excepting DoF issues, hence the 90mm TSE being a favorite of mine) but when you've got camera motion, wide angles definitely seem compelling and more dynamic/smoother.

Would like to see some of your work and some pointers re: how you lit it. There's a case to be made for wider lenses for macro, but it's more difficult and less traditional to accomplish that way IMO.
 
so much info in this thread! ty for al the feedback! keep it coming! So I'm lucky enough to have some awesome friends who will be lending me a few options to test out. and also going to work with diopters for the first time with my CNE set on the 19th.
 
Matt W. said:
How do you light for that kind of work? I'd assume you have a lot of problems with camera shadow at 32mm?

Not being cynical, genuinely curious–I've heard Michael Bay (a great product photographer, let's leave debates about his other merits out of this, please) likes to shoot his inserts and macro shots wide, which required some modification by Panavision and interesting post work to fix up periscope vignetting–but he makes it work. For stills, long lenses make sense to me for product photography (excepting DoF issues, hence the 90mm TSE being a favorite of mine) but when you've got camera motion, wide angles definitely seem compelling and more dynamic/smoother.


Would like to see some of your work and some pointers re: how you lit it. There's a case to be made for wider lenses for macro, but it's more difficult and less traditional to accomplish that way IMO.
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The cleverest macro work I ever did was with a Fries Mitchell 35mm camera, where the camera focused by moving backwards & the lens was static.

Lighting can be fun, it really depends by how long I have for a shot, if it's 1 hour I will use a 50mm or 60mm, if the client actually wants something exceptional then wider lenses come out, I need more time but no real crew other than the director. I use a lot of 150w dedolights.

As I only currently do about 15 days of macro a year there is no justification in modifying a camera just for macro, in the 35mm film days I did 50-100 days a year so special kit was a no brainer.

Shane Kelly said:
Get a nikon mount for your epic and use the zeiss zf 50mm makro and the zeiss 100mm makro. (both F2)
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The problem with many supposedly 'macro' lenses read Zeiss ZX i/ CP"'s they have the lens moving in a tube so quite useless as far as getting physically close & lighting is concerned. The Arri Macro's also have the same issue being converted still lenses (does not apply to Master Macro, but as only 100mm not for me.)
 
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