APS-C Sony E 30mm F3.5 Macro Image Thread

[FowlersFreeTime]

Well, despite the wealth of good advice I got from you all on the "Affordable macro lens" thread, I went ahead and bought the Sony E 30mm Macro anyway. link to previous discussion:

Affordable Macro Lens Advice?

I'm looking at purchasing a pre-owned Sony 30mm Macro. My intent is flower and food photography, not really interested in chasing bugs (I live in Florida, most of them bite back LOL). Pros: Compact & lightweight Autofocus 1:1 Cons: 30mm = 45mm full frame equivalent, so not that much...

www.alphashooters.com

To make a long story short, I'm happy with the decision. I think this lens is perfect for the person who wants to casually dip their proverbial toe into the Macro genre, without committing to a long focal length. For me, this lens is the perfect garden walk lens as you will see it takes photos from afar, up close, and can do family photos when needed. I found the autofocus useful for human and animal subjects as well as flowers that were moving a bit in the breeze.

Let me show you what I used it for on the first outing.
Note: global adjustments only, conservative on saturation and vibrance, no filters sharpening, or de-noising.

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3000001907349
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 200

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3000001907349
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 200

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3000001907349
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 200

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 125

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/3.5
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 160

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 200

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 200

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3000001907349
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 640

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 160

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 125

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 100

• Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro
• 30.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I did learn that this focal length means a lot more will be in frame than the typical macro lens, so I will need to remind myself to be very intentional and selective with my framing and focusing when taking "casual macro" shots.
Cheers.

 

[spudhead]

Well, despite the wealth of good advice I got from you all on the "Affordable macro lens" thread, I went ahead and bought the Sony E 30mm Macro anyway. link to previous discussion:

Affordable Macro Lens Advice?

I'm looking at purchasing a pre-owned Sony 30mm Macro. My intent is flower and food photography, not really interested in chasing bugs (I live in Florida, most of them bite back LOL). Pros: Compact & lightweight Autofocus 1:1 Cons: 30mm = 45mm full frame equivalent, so not that much...

www.alphashooters.com

To make a long story short, I'm happy with the decision. I think this lens is perfect for the person who wants to casually dip their proverbial toe into the Macro genre, without committing to a long focal length. For me, this lens is the perfect garden walk lens as you will see it takes photos from afar, up close, and can do family photos when needed. I found the autofocus useful for human and animal subjects as well as flowers that were moving a bit in the breeze.

Let me show you what I used it for on the first outing.
Note: global adjustments only, conservative on saturation and vibrance, no filters sharpening, or de-noising.

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looking good Chris

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Well, despite the wealth of good advice I got from you all

I love it! If I had a dollar for every time this could be written on this forum, I'd be able to afford an assistant to do my posts for me.

Nice Chrisso! Did you test out the closest focusing on anything?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I love it! If I had a dollar for every time this could be written on this forum, I'd be able to afford an assistant to do my posts for me.

Nice Chrisso! Did you test out the closest focusing on anything?

Thanks!
I have a few flowers and ferns in my back yard I want to try the minimum focusing distance on, but it has been very windy recently. I might try it indoors on something more mundane and use my mini LED panel for additional light.

 

[alexpler]

Beautiful shots, it looks like you bought a more than decent lens. I like the color renditions of the 4th picture (yellow tiger lilies?) and the peacock picture, great composition as well.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Beautiful shots, it looks like you bought a more than decent lens. I like the color renditions of the 4th picture (yellow tiger lilies?) and the peacock picture, great composition as well.

Thank you Alex. Most of the flowers are orchids, they grow so well here in Florida.
11 and 13 are different species, not sure what 11 is, but 13 (the last one) is a "torch ginger" or Hawaiian Torch Ginger plant.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Thanks!
I have a few flowers and ferns in my back yard I want to try the minimum focusing distance on, but it has been very windy recently. I might try it indoors on something more mundane and use my mini LED panel for additional light.

Try it on anything really small. I just wanted to see what the possibilities are with something like an insect.

 

[Gaz]

That was a great day out! I find myself taking out my 90 macro when I’m not sure what I’ll find on a walk. For very close macro I feel the need for a tripod because hand held is seemingly impossible for me to manage once the depth of field becomes minuscule.

 

[Gaz]

Thank you Alex. Most of the flowers are orchids, they grow so well here in Florida.
11 and 13 are different species, not sure what 11 is, but 13 (the last one) is a "torch ginger" or Hawaiian Torch Ginger plant.

I have had #11 in my shade house. Not sure of the name but it’s not a true orchid. It goes wild, I recall, along the side of roads down Mexico way. Crucifix orchid?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I have had #11 in my shade house. Not sure of the name but it’s not a true orchid. It goes wild, I recall, along the side of roads down Mexico way. Crucifix orchid?

Next time I go to this park, I will look for it again. As I said, this one wasn't an orchid.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

That was a great day out! I find myself taking out my 90 macro when I’m not sure what I’ll find on a walk. For very close macro I feel the need for a tripod because hand held is seemingly impossible for me to manage once the depth of field becomes minuscule.

Exactly what I hope to avoid: wife and baby leave me behind so often when I'm just stopping along the path and shooting handheld... if I were to setup a tripod every time, they'd protest

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Have a look at something like this possibly Chris if you haven't already got something equivalent. Unbelievably sturdy and really well made. It's so light that I can just trek around a garden with it on the camera, then simply use it as needed. Or I just stick one leg in my shorts to have it on hand for street stuff. One of my favourite bits of kit and has really grown on me in the six months I've had it. It's a sexy little beast!

Explorer GX-PROK Gravity Explorer PRO Table Top Tripod Kit

Buy Explorer GX-PROK Gravity Explorer PRO Table Top Tripod Kit direct from the official Explorer Australia store. Free shipping on orders over $69.

explorerphotovideo.com.au

 

[Gaz]

Have a look at something like this possibly Chris if you haven't already got something equivalent. Unbelievably sturdy and really well made. It's so light that I can just trek around a garden with it on the camera, then simply use it as needed. Or I just stick one leg in my shorts to have it on hand for street stuff. One of my favourite bits of kit and has really grown on me in the six months I've had it. It's a sexy little beast!

Explorer GX-PROK Gravity Explorer PRO Table Top Tripod Kit

Buy Explorer GX-PROK Gravity Explorer PRO Table Top Tripod Kit direct from the official Explorer Australia store. Free shipping on orders over $69.

explorerphotovideo.com.au

Tripod in your shorts?

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Tripod in your shorts?

Yeah. Stick one tripod leg down the front of my shorts, then it's there when I need it. I'm an ideas man...

 

[Matthias]

Well, despite the wealth of good advice I got from you all on the "Affordable macro lens" thread, I went ahead and bought the Sony E 30mm Macro anyway. link to previous discussion:

Affordable Macro Lens Advice?

I'm looking at purchasing a pre-owned Sony 30mm Macro. My intent is flower and food photography, not really interested in chasing bugs (I live in Florida, most of them bite back LOL). Pros: Compact & lightweight Autofocus 1:1 Cons: 30mm = 45mm full frame equivalent, so not that much...

www.alphashooters.com

To make a long story short, I'm happy with the decision. I think this lens is perfect for the person who wants to casually dip their proverbial toe into the Macro genre, without committing to a long focal length. For me, this lens is the perfect garden walk lens as you will see it takes photos from afar, up close, and can do family photos when needed. I found the autofocus useful for human and animal subjects as well as flowers that were moving a bit in the breeze.

Let me show you what I used it for on the first outing.
Note: global adjustments only, conservative on saturation and vibrance, no filters sharpening, or de-noising.

View attachment 41285
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View attachment 41283
View attachment 41281
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View attachment 41286
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Nice shots, love the colors and vibrance!

Did you use autofocus, or DMF? How did it perform, did it grab focus directly on the subject or did you have to adjust?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Nice shots, love the colors and vibrance!

Did you use autofocus, or DMF? How did it perform, did it grab focus directly on the subject or did you have to adjust?

Autofocus was used for almost all of the shots. It worked well for the large orchids, but the smaller orchids were a little challenging with the gentle breeze we had. It was because of that breeze why I decided not to use manual focus.
For photo #11 (red and yellow flowers), I DID use manual focus, trying to focus on the closest flowers. I definitely needed to stop down more though, f8 was still too shallow a DOF.
For the shots of my daughter, Human eye detect AF locked on almost immediately.