Eye of the....dragonfly (Macro 5 shots)

Thirdfox

I seem to be getting insect/bug macros these days - came across this dragonfly drying itself from the rain and took a few photos of it. Enjoy the view from up close!

Actual size:


1:1 magnification:


wings:


4:1 magnification (eyelashes):


4:1 magnification (eye cells):

Mycroft H

Savage shots. Love the second one, so much detail.

I must get a reverse adapter for my 50 and try some of this...

artyeva

amazing shots! the one of the wings is just fab - and who knew dragonflies had eyelashes??!:D

Tallon

wow, spectacular shots

bernard0368

Lovely shots, What lens are you using??

Thirdfox

equipment used here was a 55-200mm vr as the primary lens - macro reverse filter ring - attaching a 50mm f2 lens onto the end of that and a sb-600 speedlite.

By mounting a lens properly on the camera body before mounting a reversed lens you get auto-exposure, auto-aperture closing and i-TTL flash control. So a lot more convenient than simply reversing a lens onto the body.

mrmac

Thirdfox wrote: »

equipment used here was a 55-200mm vr as the primary lens - macro reverse filter ring - attaching a 50mm f2 lens onto the end of that ....

I have never tried this - but I'd like to have a go!

How did you mount the 50mm onto the reverse filter ring?

I thought these had a male thread, on one end, to suit your lense, and a lense mount on the other? So how do you connect a lense mount, to a lense mount?

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious

gary82

Great shots!!

mrmac

mrmac wrote: »

I have never tried this - but I'd like to have a go!

How did you mount the 50mm onto the reverse filter ring?

.......

Got an answer to my own question.

A macro coupler! Using the filter thread on both sides.
Doh, obvious eh!

Ok - now gotta find a 72mm to 52mm coupler

Thirdfox

Yup and since you don't reverse the primary lens you get AF, auto exposure, aperture control etc. (though AF doesn't work at all really ). Auto exposure and iTTL flash control is fantastic though.

Also preferably you'd want to reverse mount a large lens onto a smaller one (openings that is) otherwise you get a tiny image circle surrounded by pitch black.

cian1500ww

Thats great, I never knew you could do that. Is there a guide somewhere on how to do it or would someone kindly explain it to newbie like me ?? :rolleyes:

mrmac

cian1500ww wrote: »

Thats great, I never knew you could do that. Is there a guide somewhere on how to do it or would someone kindly explain it to newbie like me ?? :rolleyes:

From trawling through google, and using the info from Thirdfox, here's what you can try.

Mount a long zoom lens onto your camera, e.g. 200mm, as normal.

You need to then mount a "macro coupler" onto this lense.
These are an adapter with a male screw thread on each end. The size of the screw thread must be the same as the filter thread on each lense. These can be got with different thread size on each side, i.e. you can conntect a 77mm to a 52mm.

Then you mount the smaller lense, in reverse, onto the front of the zoom lense, using it's filter thread, screwed onto the other end of the "macro coupler".

A rare looking setup, and as Thirdfox mention, if you go from a large diameter zoom, to a small diameter reversed lense, you'll get a black border to your shot.

Also, be careful to support your reversed lense, especially if it has a plastic filter thread.

Thirdfox

http://shop.ebay.ie/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=macro+coupler
One of these (for around 5-10 euro)

Your long zoom lens (I used 55-200mm)

And get a cheap old nice prime (with an aperture ring) - I used a 50mm f2 prime lens (which incidently I can still use as a lowlight prime) for around 35 euro.

Bob's your uncle - you now have a rudimentary macro zoom lens - 1:1 to 4:1 for way cheaper than a dedicated one. You work out the magnification ratio by dividing the long number by the smaller number i.e. 200mm + 50mm = 4x lifesize magnification.

But your working distance will be tiny - with my set up it was around 10 cm from the end of the lens to the object I'm photographing...not good for jittery bugs.

Of course you'll need a good flash too

sikahunter

can i get shots like this with a sigma 70-300 macro lens please help how do you use 1:1

unreggd

U bastard! You completely just put my dragonfly pic to shame

:P

Im back to Dubai in August so watch out!!


Where did ye take them? They're amazo!!

Thirdfox

Dubai might not be a good place - it's better to catch them in cold weather as the coolness slows them down and dulls their senses. Dawn is a great time to go out.

This one was hiding from a thunderstorm just outside my door...