Suggestion(s) Please Butterfly Photography

As some may be aware there is a significant migration currently taking place in Calif. of Painted Lady Butterflies. Just standing in my driveway they're flying by at the rate of every couple seconds.

I plan to go on a trail hike and wondering about which lens to take along with my 6D Mark II.

I am NOT going to try and capture them in flight as that's too complicated. I'm willing to find a spot and just sit and park myself and wait for 1 or more to land on a flower (although they only stay still for a second or 2).

That said, would I be better off taking my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II or my Canon 100mm Macro lens?

Also---any tips on settings would be helpful. The weather in So. CA. is 80 degrees and spectacularly sunny.

Suggestions appreciated.

I think the 70-200, since you probably aren't going to get too close to too many butterflies where the macro would be effective. And probably a wider aperture so you blur the background.

I don't have the 100mm L macro so can't speak for that lens. I do have the 70-200mm L IS II and it is my favorite lens for butterflies. A painted lady butterfly will do a good job filling the frame at 200mm and MFD of 4'. However, be careful because depth-of-field is thin at those settings. I use an aperture around f8, use single point spot auto focus, and aim for the head of the butterfly.

Hope I'm not too late to be helpful. I've found that my 70-200 non-IS with 30mm of extension tubes (ish, I don't remember exactly what I've used for tubes) works well to get pretty close. Your IS II focuses a foot closer (4' instead of 5'). I'd think that'll do pretty well. I don't think I've ever been able to get closer than 3' without a butterfly flying away.

As far as settings, you may have to stop down a bit for DOF, especially if they're not holding their wings flat. If the wings are wide open and you can position yourself so that they're parallel to the sensor, you don't need as much DOF, but that's easier said than done. Otherwise, have fun and tweak as you go!

Edit: Apparently I didn't finish reading the thread before I posted, so I could have just written "^ What he said", but there ya go. Same advice twice!