wonny
15th of February 2007 (Thu), 01:15
I noticed a couple springtails in my fishtank this morning, so I decided to take a couple shots using the following super ghetto rig:
http://x5e.xanga.com/441d436119232106774247/w75583198.jpg
Canon Rebel XT
Full set of Kenko Extension Tubes (68mm)
Canon 1.4x II
Canon 100mm/2.8 Macro with the following settings: F13, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Canon 50/1.8 reversed via a coupling ring
Canon Speedlite 580EX, Master mode mounted on the hotshoe, +1/3 FEC
Canon Speedlight 430EX, Slave mode, +2 FEC
I was shooting in my room at night, so I needed a great deal of light. Since I don't have a flash bracket or offshoe extension cord, I used the wireless flash to help light the subjects. The flashes were both bounced off a large piece of foam core, which was resting just above my shooting area. You can actually see the foam core resting on top of my monitor in the picture above.
Out of 20 pictures, this was the best (not cropped at all):
http://xd0.xanga.com/192d5a6149332106774239/w75583191.jpg
Couple thoughts:
Depth of field was tiny and the view finder was very dark. I would see dark spots in the viewfinder and just snap away. It was a miracle that I got this one in focus!
Working distance was almost non-existant. I think it was less than 3/4 of an inch.
The rig is very large and quick frankly, a pain to work with. My girlfriend was with me and without her help (positioning the subjects while I looked through the viewfinder), I would not have the patience to get any shots!While the image quality is useable, I probably won't carry this rig into the field. 3/4 of an inch is not enough working distance for me, and this thing is not easy to handhold! I think I'll probably stick to the 100/2.8 and the extension tubes for day to day shooting. I'm curious what kind of magnification I'm getting with the super rig...
As a reference, the springtails were sitting on a cotton ear swab in the first picture (black spot on the crop below):
http://x52.xanga.com/102d306712230106774230/w75583183.jpg
They were tiny!
Thanks for looking.
http://x5e.xanga.com/441d436119232106774247/w75583198.jpg
Canon Rebel XT
Full set of Kenko Extension Tubes (68mm)
Canon 1.4x II
Canon 100mm/2.8 Macro with the following settings: F13, 1/125 sec, ISO 400
Canon 50/1.8 reversed via a coupling ring
Canon Speedlite 580EX, Master mode mounted on the hotshoe, +1/3 FEC
Canon Speedlight 430EX, Slave mode, +2 FEC
I was shooting in my room at night, so I needed a great deal of light. Since I don't have a flash bracket or offshoe extension cord, I used the wireless flash to help light the subjects. The flashes were both bounced off a large piece of foam core, which was resting just above my shooting area. You can actually see the foam core resting on top of my monitor in the picture above.
Out of 20 pictures, this was the best (not cropped at all):
http://xd0.xanga.com/192d5a6149332106774239/w75583191.jpg
Couple thoughts:
Depth of field was tiny and the view finder was very dark. I would see dark spots in the viewfinder and just snap away. It was a miracle that I got this one in focus!
Working distance was almost non-existant. I think it was less than 3/4 of an inch.
The rig is very large and quick frankly, a pain to work with. My girlfriend was with me and without her help (positioning the subjects while I looked through the viewfinder), I would not have the patience to get any shots!While the image quality is useable, I probably won't carry this rig into the field. 3/4 of an inch is not enough working distance for me, and this thing is not easy to handhold! I think I'll probably stick to the 100/2.8 and the extension tubes for day to day shooting. I'm curious what kind of magnification I'm getting with the super rig...
As a reference, the springtails were sitting on a cotton ear swab in the first picture (black spot on the crop below):
http://x52.xanga.com/102d306712230106774230/w75583183.jpg
They were tiny!
Thanks for looking.