Post your BUG shots!

Archibald wrote in post #18733883
Bee fly sipping nectar from an aster. Anastoechus spp I think. Funny chubby looking flies.

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forum: Macro

Hosted photo: posted by Archibald in
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forum: Macro

I love beeflies. Great captures.

Is this taken recently, Archie? Our flight season for them is typically earlier in the year, so just curious....

photosbytw wrote in post #18733807
Just another spider.............

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forum: Macro

Stunning detail! I'm going to have to get the MP-E one day!

Macroramphosis wrote in post #18733919
Is this taken recently, Archie? Our flight season for them is typically earlier in the year, so just curious....

The bee fly pic was taken in mid-August of this year.

We have hardly any bugs left here after several weeks of snow and frost back in September and October. While Europe was sweltering, we were freezing. But I still have a bunch of shots from before the frost that I am working on.

S.R.M. wrote in post #18734011
Stunning detail! I'm going to have to get the MP-E one day!

Yeah me, too.

Oh, wait - I need a camera to go with too, sigh.

Macroramphosis wrote in post #18734331
Yeah me, too.

Oh, wait - I need a camera to go with too, sigh.

Heh heh, don't know what you would gain compared to your S120 rig.

But if you really wanted the MP-E 65, you would just buy a cheap Rebel to go with it.

What is the lens like on an APC body - are there any disadvantages?

I will have to do something soon, Archie. My S120 is falling apart. It does not autofocus anymore correctly out of macro mode, and in macro mode there is some descrpancy beyween what I see on the LCD screen and what the sensor records, so I have to shoot in burst no matter whether I like it or not. And after five years I must have well over 300K actuations on the shutter. It definitely does not take the same photos as it used to. I'm unsure whether to find another S120 on eBay or move back into a proper body with some decent glass. A used 6D is calling my name (I like landscapes too), but then an M50 would be fun, and a 7Dii would be sensible. Sigh, so many choices and so little money.

Macroramphosis wrote in post #18734659
What is the lens like on an APC body - are there any disadvantages?

I will have to do something soon, Archie. My S120 is falling apart. It does not autofocus anymore correctly out of macro mode, and in macro mode there is some descrpancy beyween what I see on the LCD screen and what the sesor records, so I have to shoot in burst no matter whether I like it or not. And after five years I must have well over 300K actuations on the shutter. It definitely does not take the same photos as it used to. I'm unsure whether to find another S120 on eBay or move back into a proper body with some decent glass. A used 6D is calling my name (I like landscapes too), but then an M50 would be fun, and a 7Dii would be sensible. Sigh, so many choices and so little money.

I have only used the MP-E 65mm on a crop body, because that is all I have ever had. And it works great. The higher pixel density gives effectively more magnification compared to it being on an FF body. Well, that is an irrelevant comparison if you don't have experience with FF like me.

Consider the 80D when the time comes. Its sensor is better than that of the 7D2. Or look at the 77D, a less-known body. It is lighter in weight than the 80D, but has the same sensor. The 77D doesn't do micro-focus adjust, which might be an issue for regular shooting (probably not for macro, though). The only other thing with the 77D I can think of now is that it only goes in full stops in ISO. So you must choose 100, 200, 400, etc, and not in-between values.

I shot with the 65mm a bit late in the summer, hand-held. I haven't posted those pics yet. Generally my opinion is that shooting at higher than around 2X (on the crop body) is real tough when hand-holding. So for hand-holding, I usually shoot at 1.3X or less, and that works with the 100mm L with a 20mm extension tube. The 65mm really comes into its own in the macro studio, where I put it on a camera stand and arrange continuous lighting. Some use it differently, but that is how I prefer to use it. In the macro studio you are generally working at high magnification, which usually means stacking and dead specimens, and those are not easy to find usually. As mentioned before in this thread, we are reluctant to kill a bug for a picture.

So my 65 has seen less use in the last year. I'll get it going again, though. Of course it is also great for inanimate subjects.

I'm quite happy with my gear, but I'm keeping an eye on developments in mirrorless and micro 4/3. So far I don't see an advantage to switching.

Thanks for that Archie. I'm not a studio shooter, and my interest lies more with the photography side of macro rather than the entomological side, so shooting dead bugs is not my forte, nor desire. Your points are therefore all received with thanks.

And I have considered the 77D, but it is that precise lack of MFA that worries me slightly.The 80D has been on my radar, too. We'll have to wait and see how much I win on the lottery I guess. It was never my intention to be so poor at my age but that was before I discovered I had a daughter who wants to be the next world no.1 tennis champ. Boy, it's an expensive pension fund, but who knows, it might pay off

Thanks for the help!

Skipper, mid-August near Calgary.

I recently picked up a used 70D for $500 from KEH.

Hover fly, Big Hill Springs park, mid-August.

Dubi wrote in post #18734869
I recently picked up a used 70D for $500 from KEH.

Gear in France seems to be very expensive, right at the bitter end of the scale and we don't have too many camera shops where I am; certainly none that sell equipment at prices out of the ordinary. I haven't been able to locate a second-hand outlet either that does not have prices bordering on the insane. There's a shop an hour and a half away I once went into to wander around, but everything is locked up and they were exceedingly unfriendly and snooty about letting me touch anything. I felt like a tourist asking for a cheese sandwich in a Michelin restaurant!

Dom

Dom_N4865G wrote in post #18736041

That's neat and sharp too.
Is the ant about to eat the fly?
What are they on?