Collapsible bean pole test

[LordV]

Went to the local camping shot and bought a replacement tent pole kit with 9.5 mm reinforced glass fibre pole sections. Got 7 sections altogether but 4 make a pole 7 foot high. The kit comes with a rubberised cord you thread through the middle which keeps it all together . I had to tape slightly the glass fibre end of each section to make a snug fit into the metal ferrules. This made an interesting pole which bends, so you can tension yourself against it but I suspect it will not take full body weight. The kit cost £12-99 not too bad but if you want something less flexible the all aluminium alloy version costs around £20. I fitted a rubber bung to the end it of it (a wine bubbler bung)
Anyway went into the garden to test if it works ok.
The result suggests it automatically will improve your shots ;)
Managed to find a large hoverfly Volucella zonaria - Queen of the hoverflies- about 20mm body length.
Natural light shots all focus stacked from around 4 shots by hand.

The last shot is a rather extreme cross-eye stereogram.

Brian V.

Click on Pics for larger size

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/555128378_7cc921e2a2.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/555128378_a9eac5cee2_o.jpg)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/552503857_18063b0ef3.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/552503857_f6b209bbe6_o.jpg)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/555128398_9ed882726c.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/555128398_70d9496f1c_o.jpg)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/555128498_143a3417a4.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/555128498_766bce35ac_o.jpg)



Cross-eye stereogram- rather extreme

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1311/555128490_e16199b87f.jpg (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1311/555128490_e16199b87f_b.jpg)

[photobitz]

I guess it works pretty well then!
...now to get my eyes uncrossed after looking at that stereogram. lol

[JenzZx2]

I love those cross eyed stereograms!

The photos are beautiful, but do you have one of your new "bean pole"??

[LordV]

I love those cross eyed stereograms!

The photos are beautiful, but do you have one of your new "bean pole"??

Thanks Jen :)
I'll try to get a shot of the collapsing bean pole later.
Brian V.

[racketman]

bean pole gives more eye detail.

[skylab]

Very nice shots, Brian. Lovely detail.
Well done.
So its camera in one hand and poll in the other :lol: :lol:

[LordV]

bean pole gives more eye detail.
:) Thought the detail was pretty good for ISO400 natural light shots ;) .
Brian V.

[LordV]

Very nice shots, Brian. Lovely detail.
Well done.
So its camera in one hand and poll in the other :lol: :lol:

Thanks Brian :)
Not quite right, but I can see me catapulting my camera over a bush if I'm not careful.
Brian V.

[Muzz]

As always Brian very nice :)

Do you sell your photos? You could make a mint :)

[LordV]

As always Brian very nice :)

Do you sell your photos? You could make a mint :)

Thanks Muzz :)

I don't really try to sell pics but have sold enough one way and another to pay for my 20D and MPE-65 lens, but that was for newspaper,advertising and magazine use. My smugmug gallery has an area other people can by prints but I've hardly sold any from there (about $60 worth I think). Not sure the market for macro shots is that large.

Brian V.

[Lester Wareham]

Great shots as always Brian. You must get someone to snap you posing with your bean pole and camera ready for action!

[racketman]

Great shots as always Brian. You must get someone to snap you posing with your bean pole and camera ready for action!

7th post down

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=142566&page=2

[AeroSmith]

Nice stacks. You can't even tell. Maybe 4 is the magic number?

[LordV]

Thanks Lester and Josh :)
Josh not sure about 4 being a magic number but it certainly worked well with these.
brian V.

[dpastern]

Lovely shots Brian, impressively sharp and detailed for natural light shots. Have you considered a 1D mark III Brian? The high ISO performance is outstanding from what I've seen, you could do away with flash entirely (that's my goal to be honest).

Dave

[LordV]

Lovely shots Brian, impressively sharp and detailed for natural light shots. Have you considered a 1D mark III Brian? The high ISO performance is outstanding from what I've seen, you could do away with flash entirely (that's my goal to be honest).

Dave

Thanks Dave :)
Suspect I'll just wait for the High Iso performance to improve in the lower end cameras. I'd rather have a 350/400D for each of my lenses :). One thing I'd love to know is how much of the performance in higher end cameras is just software differences rather than extra hardware. IE are the lower end cameras just dumbed down ?
Brian V.

[eastcoastsponger]

Fanstatic pictures!!! However, since I'm new to all this I'm at a loss as to whats going on here....tent poles, stacks, cross-eyed stereograms....I have a lot to learn.

[LordV]

Fanstatic pictures!!! However, since I'm new to all this I'm at a loss as to whats going on here....tent poles, stacks, cross-eyed stereograms....I have a lot to learn.

Thanks for the compliment :)
I normally use a bean pole to stabilise the camera whilst taking macro shots- see pic below. I just grip it at the right height along with a bit of the camera. The pole is about 7 feet long so not that conveniant for travelling with - I just wanted a portable version of the same thing.
Focus stacking is a way of increasing the DOF in macro shots (always a problem) see
http://www.digitalgrin.com/showthread.php?t=61316 for a tutorial.

Cross eyed stereograms are just something I like doing. If you put a finger about 4 inches in front of your nose in front of the monitor and focus on it, you should notice that behind your finger the picture goes into 3 pics if you slowly remove your finger whilst looking at the third picture in the middle, you will find it is in 3-D.
Brian V.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/41/75900442_47fd4f3814.jpg

[twinx]

Superb shots Brian!!

I always wondered how you actually use this bean pole, it makes perfect sense now! :)

Caz

Ps... It's great to see the master at work... :cool:

[bandit 1]

Hiya Brian,

Excellent seris of shots, wonderful detail & beautiful rich colours.

Cheers for now
Mark

[LordV]

Superb shots Brian!!

I always wondered how you actually use this bean pole, it makes perfect sense now! :)

Caz

Ps... It's great to see the master at work... :cool:

:)
You've now seen my secret weapon- the cat spots the bugs for me ;)
Brian V.

[LordV]

Hiya Brian,

Excellent seris of shots, wonderful detail & beautiful rich colours.

Cheers for now
Mark

Thanks Mark :)
Think I did the hoverfly justice in these shots- they are marvellous looking bugs.
brian V.

[eastcoastsponger]

Thanks for the explanation and the links :)

[bandit 1]

Hiya Brian,

Having said your Cat spots for you, did you see Country file today ?? I turned it on halfway through the story but I gather there's a Bumble Bee Survey going on & a guy has trained his Dog to sniff out Bee's Nest's, how cool is that eh
here's a link, if you look next to the pic of the Spaniel you'll a Video Play Button, sit back & marvel !!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5197120.stm

Cheers for now
Mark




:)
You've now seen my secret weapon- the cat spots the bugs for me ;)
Brian V.

[LordV]

Thanks Mark- I had seen something about that dog before somewhere. :)
Brian V.