>>4101777Better than AF is a way to hoick your camera up and down smoothly in precise steps so you can get focus exactly. I actually use a cheapo lightstand with a fitting so the camera points down. If I loosen one of the nuts I can slowly move up and down and lock it in place once I see sharp focus on the zoomed in view.
Your lens might also suck at high magnification but making sure it's in focus across the whole field is vital.
This was taken with my setup and I think it's at least on par with what a lab might give me, except also in RAW so a lot more malleable.
