Should I buy the XH-A1 for macro studio shooting?

Tiago Melo · September 30th, 2007, 04:50 PM

Don and Eric:
Thanks for clearing the adapters/diopters confusion and specially for posting the strawberry image and all the details... There's no doubt here: an image really speaks a thousand words... From what I see, DOF will not be much of an issue in my planned setup and as far as I can tell the zoom capabilities are more than enough for what I need...

Bill:
It's nice to know that camera operation will be similar to what I already do for macro photography... Anyway, I'll only be able to test it when I put my hands in the camera+diopters...

Jerome:
I already looked into other cameras but so far the A1 seems to feature the best combination of features + price... Anyway, I'll keep looking for a while...

Thanks everyone for the opinions so far...

Gaetan Rigaud · January 11th, 2008, 08:52 AM

Hi there,

what an interesting post : i've to found camera for exactly the same use than Tiago !!

Tiago:
i really want to know the final word of your quest. Did you finally buy the XH-A1, and are you satisfied?
The most important things for us is to have a decent DOF, and be capable to zoom from a 60cm to 100cm distance on a 3 or 4 cm field. Does the XH-A1 gives you these possibilities ?

GR

Ryan Avery · January 11th, 2008, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiago Melo

Hi Don,

Thanks for your reply...
Although I have not mentioned it, I obviously want to capture action shots...
You really believe this level of zooming is achievable with the A1 coupled with a simple diopter??? What would be the downside of this solution in comparison to a XL-H1 coupled to a macro lens??? For example, what will happen to the depth-of-field??? And distortion???

BTW... Could anyone suggest a good diopter??? I won't say that money is not an issue, but QUALITY is far more important to me than money... Up to a point, of course... :)

Are these good alternatives??? Which one would better fit my needs??? I have to ask, because I confess they all seem very similar to me...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...c_Diopter.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...c_Diopter.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...igh_grade.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...rter_Lens.html

This is probably too late for the decision that Tiago is making or has made, but I will fill you in on the difference between our Century diopter and others.

The Century diopters are achromatic diopters that are composed of two optical elments that corrent for the usual issues with diopters. One of these issues is the softening of the image at the corners that you get with a normal low cost diopter. Achromatic diopters are designed to reduce/eliminate the incidence of softening and create sharp corners on your image. Additionally, an achromatic diopter will reduce the incidence of chromatic abberations because it has two elements instead of one. The ideal situation would be a three element diopter but these are very costly to manufacture. Given the usual angle of light entering the lens in macro shooting (or controlled nature of lighting) chromatic abberation is usually not an issue that surpasses the abilities of a two element achromatic diopter.

Ryan Avery
Schneider Optics

Axel Ehrich · January 11th, 2008, 12:42 PM

Here are two photos extracted from a video I did last year. The macro used is a +3. The height of the crab is approx. 1 inch.
Axel

Gaetan Rigaud · January 15th, 2008, 10:30 AM

Axel:

thanks for posting photos. Can you tell me what is the distance between crab and the front of camera : is it a very "close-to shot" or is it a "tele-macro shot", because from my point of view, the tele-macro (at less 70 cm)is the only choice ...

Gaëtan Rigaud

Peter Wiley · January 15th, 2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiago Melo

Another thing that I wasn't clear enough when I posted the pictures is that those are acrylic teeth, mounted in a acrylic model...

I thought those gums looked pretty good. I wish mine looked as good.

Jonathan Shaw · January 15th, 2008, 05:17 PM

If you are looking at it specifically for macro why would you go to the expense of buying and A1 and then chucking a single element diopter on the front. Achromatic diopters are the way to go, quality is heaps better. I have been using single elemnet ones for a while with underwater macro and just changed to century ones.... heaps better! I wouldn't put a crap lens on a great camera.

Jon

Axel Ehrich · January 16th, 2008, 01:02 PM

Bonsoir Gaëtan,

sorry for my late answer. I did not have access to the internet for two days.

As to your question to my crab shots, the distance to the crab was about 20 cm and I had zoomed in about 50 % of the zoom range. More details about the macro lens: B+W NL-3. Environment: Beach with bright sunlight. You may want to use a large aperture number to have a bigger focus range. Otherwise most of the tiny object would be out of focus.

Tiago: If you really want to use a general purpose camcorder for your macro shooting, you should also test the achromatic diopters proposed by Jonathan. With my sample photos I just wanted to show that interesting photos also can be made with single lens systems. The single lens macros are much cheaper.

Gaetan Rigaud · January 20th, 2008, 03:15 AM

Axel:

thanks a lot for reply !
Your samples photos are really nice and shows the good performance of the XH-A1 / Single lens diopters couple.

Jonathan:
However i'm starting to think about achromatic diopter as the ideal solution for my main way of use: teeth and surgery shooting .It seems to be the best way to shoot macro whith a non-removable lense camera...
Let's take a look to achromatics diopters!

David McGiffert · January 22nd, 2008, 01:39 AM

Wow Eric,
That looks like it was shot from the veranda of one of
the casita's at Los Frailes.
Or, more likely
I'm probably halucinating...either way, a good pic.
lol...

David

January 11th, 2008, 12:42 PM	#19
Axel Ehrich New Boot Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Munich, Germany Posts: 7	Macro Here are two photos extracted from a video I did last year. The macro used is a +3. The height of the crab is approx. 1 inch. Axel Attached Thumbnails

January 15th, 2008, 05:17 PM	#22
Jonathan Shaw Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 552	If you are looking at it specifically for macro why would you go to the expense of buying and A1 and then chucking a single element diopter on the front. Achromatic diopters are the way to go, quality is heaps better. I have been using single elemnet ones for a while with underwater macro and just changed to century ones.... heaps better! I wouldn't put a crap lens on a great camera. Jon __________________ www.ginclearfilm.com www.facebook.com/ginclearfilm

September 30th, 2007, 04:50 PM	#16
Tiago Melo New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Florianopolis (Brasil) Posts: 13	Don and Eric: Thanks for clearing the adapters/diopters confusion and specially for posting the strawberry image and all the details... There's no doubt here: an image really speaks a thousand words... From what I see, DOF will not be much of an issue in my planned setup and as far as I can tell the zoom capabilities are more than enough for what I need... Bill: It's nice to know that camera operation will be similar to what I already do for macro photography... Anyway, I'll only be able to test it when I put my hands in the camera+diopters... Jerome: I already looked into other cameras but so far the A1 seems to feature the best combination of features + price... Anyway, I'll keep looking for a while... Thanks everyone for the opinions so far...

January 11th, 2008, 08:52 AM	#17
Gaetan Rigaud Tourist Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: France Posts: 3	Hi there, what an interesting post : i've to found camera for exactly the same use than Tiago !! Tiago: i really want to know the final word of your quest. Did you finally buy the XH-A1, and are you satisfied? The most important things for us is to have a decent DOF, and be capable to zoom from a 60cm to 100cm distance on a 3 or 4 cm field. Does the XH-A1 gives you these possibilities ? GR

January 15th, 2008, 10:30 AM	#20
Gaetan Rigaud Tourist Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: France Posts: 3	Axel: thanks for posting photos. Can you tell me what is the distance between crab and the front of camera : is it a very "close-to shot" or is it a "tele-macro shot", because from my point of view, the tele-macro (at less 70 cm)is the only choice ... Gaëtan Rigaud

January 16th, 2008, 01:02 PM	#23
Axel Ehrich New Boot Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Munich, Germany Posts: 7	Bonsoir Gaëtan, sorry for my late answer. I did not have access to the internet for two days. As to your question to my crab shots, the distance to the crab was about 20 cm and I had zoomed in about 50 % of the zoom range. More details about the macro lens: B+W NL-3. Environment: Beach with bright sunlight. You may want to use a large aperture number to have a bigger focus range. Otherwise most of the tiny object would be out of focus. Tiago: If you really want to use a general purpose camcorder for your macro shooting, you should also test the achromatic diopters proposed by Jonathan. With my sample photos I just wanted to show that interesting photos also can be made with single lens systems. The single lens macros are much cheaper.

January 20th, 2008, 03:15 AM	#24
Gaetan Rigaud Tourist Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: France Posts: 3	Axel: thanks a lot for reply ! Your samples photos are really nice and shows the good performance of the XH-A1 / Single lens diopters couple. Jonathan: However i'm starting to think about achromatic diopter as the ideal solution for my main way of use: teeth and surgery shooting .It seems to be the best way to shoot macro whith a non-removable lense camera... Let's take a look to achromatics diopters!

January 22nd, 2008, 01:39 AM	#25
David McGiffert Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Topanga, CA Posts: 139	Wow Eric, That looks like it was shot from the veranda of one of the casita's at Los Frailes. Or, more likely I'm probably halucinating...either way, a good pic. lol... David