Malcolm, if you haven't already tried them, extension tubes can be useful for getting closer with a larger lens. I started getting serious about macro photography with a 70-300 lens plus a 25 mm tube.
But on the downside, a good quality tube isn't exactly cheap and they do require a bit of extra light.
Vic, several issues raised there.
All digital images respond well to a 'little' bit of sharpening. The big question is how to go about it. Most cameras which use a Jpeg format will have sharpening automatically applied. A better method is to shoot Raw then carefully and selectively apply some sharpening. This can get a bit technical although the basics are very simple. When (very rarely) I shoot Jpeg I always turn off the automatic 'enhancements'.
Flash can be useful, especially if you want to use a narrow aperture or reduce ISO etc. I did once consider a ring flash but thought they were a bit cumbersome and far too fragile for the way I treat my equipment. But they do have some advantages for studio type photography if you don't have the 'proper' studio lighting.
A standard externally mounted flash unit proved very useful and it also doubles for general photography. I normally set my camera to the Tv setting somewhere around 1/200 (whatever produces a good aperture size) and use 100 or 200 ISO to keep the background noise low. It does however take a bit of experimentation and some flash output adjustment before you get consistent good results.
I even found that the basic camera 'pop up' flash could give reasonable images providing I removed the lens hood.
Prime lenses like the 300 or 400 from both Nikon and Canon are good performers and are universally liked by bird photographers.
Macro photography is a totally subject though. I would say that there are basically two reasons why I photograph insects. Firstly for identification; which requires a clear shot of the important areas, which is usually rather difficult and doesn't produce a good 'hang on the wall' result.
The second reason, once I have obtained identification, is for an asthetically pleasing photograph; which can be very difficult to obtain with a live insect. You need to consider some difficult lighting problems coupled with an interesting photographic angle which shows off the subject well while retaining good depth of field, etc. And without scaring away your nervous model.
I get very few insect photos of which I am really proud. Averaging less than one a week during the summer. Photographing live insects in their natural wild surroundings is definitely a specialised technique.
Finally, with regard to lens testing. Try this simple method.
Attach a page from a newspaper or better still a good colour magazine to a vertical wall (I use Blu tack) set up your camera with required lens on a stable tripod and take several shots at different settings. And try all your lenses so you will get a good all round result.
I like to focus on part of the page which has some black text and a photograph (preferably colour) and arrange the camera position so that some text and part of the photograph are both in the scene.
Examine the results with a bit of magnification, either on the camera review screen or download to the computer. Any weakness in your equipment, or technique, will soon become obvious.
ps. for sharpening information have a read of this tutorial
Tutorials - Sharpness
This one
http://www.ronbigelow.com/template_images/header_02.png
and also here
http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/...ng-toolkit.htm
Afterwards, you should be an expert on the subject but if you need anything more I will add a couple more tutorial links.
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Linear Mode
