G'day Mike

Great start there. Nice exposure and colours.
I'm no expert, but here's what I do.
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Originally Posted by iceman
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I'm a newbie with macro so I didn't really know the best settings - I used f/2.8, which of course gives the most paper thin focal plane. I found it really difficult to hold focus on what I wanted when using handheld.
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As you've discovered, DoF is razor thin shooting so close to the subject. Even at f/11 your DoF can be less than 1mm at 1:1 or higher. My "go to" aperture is f/11. That gives a reasonable balance between DoF, allowing enough light in, and avoiding diffraction softening that becomes noticeable at f/16 and smaller apertures.
At f/11, it's still a fairly small aperture, so you might (probably will) struggle for light. Up the ISO (400-800) and drop shutter speed as slow as you dare (say 1/100s, 1/60s if you've got steady hands maybe). That's if you don't have flash. If you have flash, you can keep ISO 400 or so and increase shutter speed to 1/200s or so.
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Originally Posted by iceman
What do you macro guys use?
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Lens you mean? I've had the lens you have now, literally.

I currently have Sigma 105, Sigma 150, Canon 180L, and Canon MP-E65. My current favourite is the Sigma 150 - great balance of working distance and ease of use. This with 68mm Kenko extension tubes gives heaps of keepers up to 2:1 lifesize.
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Originally Posted by iceman
Do you use a monopod or tripod, or just handheld?
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All handheld. I have a Benro monopod (as mentioned in your monopod thread) that I sometimes use if I'm shooting higher than 2:1 magnification with the MP-E65. Very hard to handhold at that high a mag unless you're in a prone position with elbows on ground etc. I don't actually connect the camera to the monopod, but have the monopod extended and kind of grip the camera and monopod with the same hand. Like Brian "LordV" Valentine's beanpole technique. That's why I got the light CF monopod. Quick to adjust height, just slide hand and camera up or down.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/75900442/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/2712774517/
If you're shooting stationary subjects like your flowers, tripod ok. Unless it's really windy, you can close the aperture down and slow the shutter speed down too.
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Originally Posted by iceman
Do you use burst mode to compensate for the wobbly handheld and hope to get one in focus? 
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No. Take your time, practise, and be sure. Breathe. It's just technique.
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Originally Posted by iceman
Do you use Manual Focus or Auto Focus? Single post focus (right in the middle)?
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Always MF. The AF on macro lenses is pretty ordinary (ie slow). Too slow IMO for chasing bugs. Maybe OK for flowers if you're using a tripod.
What I do is set the magnification or focus point that I want first. Then slowly move in to the subject so the eyes or whatever are in focus then move just out of focus, the slightly rock backward until the eyes come into focus again and then snap. That way you maximise your DoF with eyes in focus plus as much of the body etc. Hope that makes sense?
Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
What f/ratio and shutter speed, or do you use AV or ??
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Think I covered that above. Always full Manual exposure on camera as per above. I'm using full manual on flash too, but you can use ETTL reliably as well.
I manually expose to 1-2 stops under with the camera settings, and then just use enough flash to light the subject. Like fill flash. Reason is to get some colour in the backgrounds, ie not black. But also hard to fully expose with the sort of apertures/speeds/ISO I'm using, so the flash helps just lift it a bit.