Micael Widell Newsletter #11
Captain's log
February was a good month. I got to travel to Spain to do macro photography. I published five YouTube videos. I got to test interesting gear, such as the Mitakon 85mm 1x-5x rev2 lens and the Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 lens (review coming soon), as well as try smartphone macro photography. Below a summary of exciting photography related things I found during February. Enjoy :)
Buy my prints
For the first time ever, I will now offer prints of some of my favorite macro shots. You, dear subscriber of this newsletter, is the first one to get the opportunity to buy a print. Not only that, but you will get a 25% discount with the discount code mwnews which is valid until the end of March 2020. Go check out the prints here.
When you do get your print, I would love if you wrote a short message to me with your review of the quality of the print. Darkroom.tech has a good reputation, but what matters to me in the end is that YOU are happy with the quality.
Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 mkII
Taken with the Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 mkII
In my last newsletter I wrote about this lens and how much I wanted to get it. So I bought it. It is actually amazing. Not only can you now finally get the same depth of field with a small APS-C lens as with a full frame 50mm f/1.4 lens, but the aperture of f/0.95 is truly great to take shots indoors in poor light. I love this lens, and the only problem I have with it is that my Sony A6000 camera sensor seems to have an issue with the extreme angle that light hits the sensor at f/0.95, which sometimes creates banding in the photos. I wonder if that would happen on a Fujifilm camera? Will make a review video of the lens soon.
Thomas Shahan
As I got together with Stewart Wood this month to record our first chat with each other, we both discovered that we had been inspired to begin macro photography by the same person: Thomas Shahan. So this is just short appeal to you to go watch his videos if you have not already.
These videos are what got me inspired to try macro photography three years ago:
- An Introduction to High-Magnification Macro Photography
- Methods in Macro Photography with Thomas Shahan
I also suggest you watch this beautiful video about making woodcuts
My best photo of February
Looking through all the photos I took in February, the one above, taken with the Sandmarc macro lens and my iPhone 11 Pro, is my favorite. Go check this video to see me take it.
Favorite Instagram finds during February
Click the photos to go the post – leave a like and follow these great photographers :)
My Published Videos since the last newsletter
- Why I love the Samyang AF 35mm f/1.4
- iPhone Macro Photography with the Sandmarc Macro Lens
- What's In My Macro Photography Camera Bag 2020?
- Mitakon 85mm 1-5x Macro Lens Review (January 2020 Version!)
- Chat with Macro Photographer Stewart Wood
- Also see my appearance in Stewart Woods video
Goodbye for now
Thank you for reading this far, and see you in a month! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, Instagram and 500px in the meantime. And also feel free to tell your friends about this newsletter, and to reply to it if you have feedback or comments :)
/Micael