How to Get Super-Sharp Detailed MACRO, with a Zoom Lens 

I just found this video by chance and I am so excited about it! I just bought a 70x300mm telephoto lens for my camera and I really don't know much about it. I have had my camera for years, but never really played with it. I have been reading and reading and reading about the different function on the camera trying to learn as much as I can. You are by far my savior on earth. I've watched other videos to hopefully get answers to my questions and by the ends of those videos I was more confused than before I watched them. The other videos were too busy getting technical and just laying it on thick. You on the other hand stayed on point and so easy to understand. Your explanations were clear and easy to follow. I found myself taking notes and I plan on using them the next time I take my camera out. I feel like I have gotten great advice from you. I am excited about what else I can learn from your other videos. Thank you so much for your time in making this video!

Thank you, Rachel. I'm just starting out on macro photography and your video is very helpful pre-starting information for me. If I may say so, I also like the way you present things. Very humble, no pretense. You didn't even mind people seeing that you were checking your notes from time to time. Your images speak for themselves. Thanks again.

Thanks, Rachel - very helpful advice!

wow I saw your channel again after a few years and you are more fascinating I love your work and seeing that you continue with the a99ii as I do it only means that it is a great camera!

Great recap Rachel - Aperture / Depth of field relationship & high shutter speeds for macro results. I always enjoy a vibe of relaxation watching your presentations.

Glad to see you doing well Rachel!! Loving all your videos as always!!!!

Great tips, thank you!

WOW..those are some great shots. Thanks for sharing and good to see you back.

Good episode Rachel! Excellent advice, and the images provide the proof! Hope to see you soon.

really good tips Rachel ..thank you

Hi Rachel, glad to see you back. I really enjoy close-up photography while discovering the tiny world around me. Your advices are precious (I like the format) and reading the comments is interesting too. Thank you !

Wow great images Rachel. And great info on camera settings to capture sharp photos. 💛💚👏💚💛💚💛 Loved all the images.

Rachel, I love this teaching format!👍🏻 Please continue it. EXCELLENT IMAGES !🔥

Rachel, I'm so glad I came across your video. Thank you for taking the time to share the detailed tips. The images you displayed throughout this video were great. I look forward to viewing more of your work. You will surely have a positive influence on my photography as I follow your tips. Again, THANK YOU and I love your enthusiasm as it added to the enjoyment of viewing your instructional video!

Fantastic video Rachel. I myself am considering doing more macro.

Good enthusiasm, as usual / valid suggestions / great photos. Thanks.

Rachel, your video is like a crash course lesson, so happy to learn tips and tricks form you. Thank you so much sharing.

This is the best macro tips video I've seen. Thank you for this.

Great pictures. Your advice is terrific, and you make it easy to understand how to make great photos

Brilliant Rachel, thoroughly enjoyed this episode, thanks for the tips I shall now have a go myself, take it easy see you soon

Rachel, thank you for the tips and the photos, as always, where great.

Lots of great tips and info! Thank you!

Excellent information, interestingly presented. You are a good teacher. Thank you.

Very good video. You have certainly taken some wonderful photographs. I have a Fujifilm X-S20 mirrorless camera with a 1.5X crop sensor. With this I use a 70-300mm lens and a 1.4X teleconverter to give a maximum equivalent focal length of 630mm. When I go out wildlife photography I can photograph most things with that setup, but it does need sunny days to give the best results. I have manual shutter speed and aperture and use Auto-ISO to give the correct exposure, the camera is set to burst mode and I the shutter is electronic to prevent the mechanical shutter from wearing out. The setup is quite light and portable and I can carry it around for hours without noticing the weight. On reviewing the images it looks like the out of focus areas are more prone to noise, so I need to be more disciplined and must resist the temptation zooming in too much at the expense of depth of field. After upgrading my laptop to 4TB of storage, I will have some proper image processing software installed on it so I can try out advanced software that can reduced noise and upscale the resolution. I think that those techniques will be of great benefit to wildlife photographers.

Great lesson!

Thanks. Very good advice.

Great info here Rachel and wonderful photos! Close-up photography is so much fun. Your insects are great (not easy!) and I love the toad at 17:24 - you can even see the landscape reflected in its eye! Thanks for talking about the issue of cropping. I am always baffled by those who look at this disparagingly. Frankly, it can be loads of fun finding smaller images within an image. Like you said, it's art! Thanks for keeping it playful!

love you , thank you

Very interesting vlog Rachel. I did change to back button focus about a year ago and it takes a bit of getting used to, but I find it much better now. Not everyone's choice but works well for me. Great vlog! 👍.

Great job, Im kind of new to this, and i like your advice on how you do it. thanks alot.

Rachel!! Nice to see you're back. I had to check the video release date to make sure that this is a new video. I hear a kind of roughness in your voice. Hope you are in good health. Good advice as usual. You are a favorite of mine. Take care.

Muchas gracias por tu video, es exelente para entender conmceptos a considerar en el fotografia macro. saludos desde Chile. Thank you very much for your video, it is excellent for understanding concepts to consider in macro photography. greetings from Chile.

So helpful and well thought out. Thank you so much Rachel! Exactly what I was looking for being a hand held shooter. The demo images look world class on my big screen TV! Looking forward to the demo on location!

Great video, Rachel😊 One thing I would add and that's when you take your pics, the best time to take them is when you're breathing out and right near the bottom of your outgoing breath. That's when your hands will be at their steadiest and you have the least tension in your arms and chest. I've been shooting a lot of film lately. Taking pics of everything and anything. I have about 8 or so films to get processed sitting in my fridge!! You hear people saying they struggle to get through a roll of 36, I can go through a roll that size pretty easily!!! Not uncommon for me to take 3 or 4 rolls out on a shoot and go through all of them in an hour or so, but I try to space the shots out😊📸

Some great tips there Rachel I've been shooting birds recently using Manual but with ISO on auto and it works really well. I'm now going to try this on macro shooting using some of your tips also. I use a crop sensor Nikon D7200 because my full frame D800 is not as responsive and far too slow.

Thank you

I used to fail a lot with macro shots. A D7200, Nikon 105mm macro, and frustration. Autofocus was difficult. The crop factor might have made the 105 inappropriate. Now, my Z6ii, same lens (FTZ adapter), and my results are surprisingly better. Still haven’t found the secret to getting those solid black backgrounds, but will do research. I use DXO Photolab 5 and exporting with the full Prime noise processing allows me to use auto ISO maximum at up to 12,000 ( seldom goes that high ) and get great images. With only 24 MP, cropping would seem to be out, but actually it is not bad at all. Nice big pixels seem to work really well and produce an image quality I never dreamed of until I experienced it firsthand. Thanks for your video. It was interesting and the examples were appreciated. More please.

Great info thanks! Love the floral sheer curtains as well, do you recall where you got them?

Thanks I learnt alot from just listening to you

Good advice. I find that using back button focus helps for quick focusing. Also helps control camera movement.

Hi Rachel thank you for this very well done and informative video. I am getting into macro photography and will be upgrading my Dslr Nikon to a mirrorless one. I’m torn between the 24mp or the 45mp versions. Just curious about what size SD card do you recommend for the 24mp and 45mp camera?

очень красиво!

I found an old bridge-camera for really good price. It has 40x zoom and 1cm minimum focus distance in Macro mode. Can I use it for Macro Photography? Model: Fujifilm Finepix S8200

I Have been feeling very unispired lately. Tomorrow I will be out in my garden with my camera. Many Thanks

Cool! Is that an alpha SLT? I still use one!

Very good advice. I'll add one bit: Intentional Camera Movement is a thing, and sometimes "missed" photos can be cool. I also don't mind a little wing blur on butterflies -- that can look really cool. :)

Hi Rachel, Mike, West Bromwich, not been on YT for quite a while, just wondered if Tim still had his channel as I can no longer find him, hope you and your family are all keeping well, Regards Mike

You should do a macro critique.

it's the pixel size that counts...related to megapixels.

I hope you are alright. No video in more than 2 months. Be well number 1.

New episodes twice weekly ???????

very　useful！

Good tips. A somewhat minor point - not all memory cards are SD cards.