Videos

Summer is a great time for close-up photography of flowers, insects, and other tiny subjects. But macro gear can be really expensive, especially if you want to venture into the realm of super high magnification that exceeds a 1:1 reproduction ratio.

The good news is you can build yourself a super cheap, super light, and super high magnification rig for about $230—lens and flash included! Swedish Photographer Micael Widell walks you through the simple steps in the video below.

At the heart of this system are a used lens (with an adapter) and an affordable flash with an articulating arm. Widell shows you how to make a cheap diffuser for the lens and use a simple bracket to get the flash exactly where you want it. You can pick up just about everything you need on eBay for chump change.

So how does this rig perform? The images here speak for themselves. Widell provides a detailed equipment list beneath the video.

There are more interesting videos on Widell’s YouTube channel, and don’t miss a recent tutorial we shared with four great tips for better macro photography.