I'm new to macro photography. This little yellow fly was probably 1/2 the size of your pinky nail. I couldn't even tell it was actually a bug until I got it in focus with my macro lens. I was using a Laowa 100mm macro lens. This lens is fully manual. No auto focus, no nothing. That being said getting a sharp photo can be extremely difficult. Especially with a fast moving subject. It took me hundreds of photos to get a few sharp photos that I felt were usable. I basically used 2 different methods to try to focus. One being moving the focus ring. And the other, which seems to work better, setting the focus ring and moving closer/further away to focus. Which is still very challenging with a subject like this. I also ran these photos through Topaz denoise which I also just recently bought. And I must say it actually makes a world of difference. I was quite surprised how well it actually worked. I would appreciate any feedback on these images and if anyone has any advice on capturing sharp close up images with a manual lens I'm all ears. Thanks!
I'm no macro photographer, Kyle, but the entomologist photographers here seem to focus-stack by moving in while shooting continuously. I imagine AF or MF would make little difference then, except perhaps getting you started in focus more quickly. With tiny critters, though, wanting maximum mag, I imagine you'd stop down, select minimum focus distance, move in, start firing as it comes into focus, and keep going till the rearmost part is OOF again.