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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 100 - 100th Celebration >> Challenge 100 - Color > 8th Place
6
by Jim H.
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11-AUG-2007 Jim H.

8th Place
6
by Jim H.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon MP-E65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro
1/250s f/11.0 at 65.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time11-Aug-2007 02:49:24
MakeCanon
ModelCanon EOS 20D
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length65 mm
Exposure Time1/250 sec
Aperturef/11
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Mode (-1)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Canon DSLR Challenge18-Aug-2007 22:39
I have been known to bring a bug or two into the house to photograph them. Don't tell my wife! For this one, I found her (him?) crawling on me while I was filling my car one night. So I put her in a cup and brought her home to photograph. I later found another one crawling on my shirt so I took them both outside and put them on a tree.

A lot of times I have bugs (lots of jumping spiders for some reason) in my office. So I sometimes try to shoot them while they're on my keyboard (they love it for some reason) or I'll try to "herd" them out into the middle of my desk for better shooting. I got one to stand on a penny for me a while back which made for some fun shots with something to give it scale.

In the case of this ladybird, I put her on the DVD and she wandered all around it while I shot various photos. I then figured out that blowing on her caused her to hold still for a while afterwards. The DVD had a lot of dust on it and she had it on her from wandering around in it. Blowing both her and the DVD off made for a better look but had the fortunate benefit of getting her to hold still too :)

As long as the bugs are harmless types, I don't mind bringing them in to shoot. And sometimes I prefer a set up background for them over whatever I found them on. I do find a lot of them attracted to lights where I work at night, and the backgrounds there are usually pretty unattractive.

Still, the vast majority of the bugs I shoot are just outside in their "native habitat". I find a lot of them in my yard, my parents' yard, and at night under lights where I work. The lights attract all manner of bugs :)

Jim H.
Canon DSLR Challenge18-Aug-2007 17:59
Beautiful color reflection and a truly amazing macro, Jim. I'm always curious about the bugs themselves in these shots. Stupid question but, do you go around catching bugs in a glass jar, then bring them home to your studio to capture (no pun) them in the setting of your choice? Thank you for sharing this marvelous image and, your info on the setup and use of this lens.... it will have to go on my micro macro list :-) Markjay
Canon DSLR Challenge17-Aug-2007 18:53
Wow Jim - Very impressive Macro, I'll have to look into that lens! The reflections are even colorful! CJ
Guest 16-Aug-2007 04:33
Good read, Jim, on the MP-E65...thanks for the detailed info. Oh, and by the way, this is a damn fine image :-) -Michael
Vikas Malhotra14-Aug-2007 08:08
Thanks a lot Jim for the detailed review, really appreciate it. I guess I will wait and think about this lens as with my 100mm macro and ext tubes I find the going kind of tough so can imagine it will be that much tougher with this lens. But will keep all that you stated in mind in case I do decide to go in for the MPE65. Thanks again.

Cheers, Vikas.
Canon DSLR Challenge13-Aug-2007 12:35
Great shot Jim. Love the colour from the CD diffraction pattern.

Thanks for the explanation as well. That lens has been on my wish list for a couple of years now but it is quite expensive here.

I use the 100mm 2.8 macro with a bunch of tubes but that lens seems way better for crispness/colour. ~ Regards Melbob
Canon DSLR Challenge12-Aug-2007 23:23
Thank you.

I don't think the lens is what makes very close macros difficult. I believe that people claim it to be difficult to work with as a way to dissuade people from buying it as their first or only macro lens. It doesn't focus beyond 1X (the range is 1X to 5X), so it's fairly useless except for very tiny objects. It basically picks up where a "normal" macro lens leaves off.

Any time you're dealing with high magnifications, you have certain problems: Any camera shake causes blurriness. Depth of field is tiny. Working distances are small. And the views through such rigs are always dim. This is true if you use a reversed lens setup or lots of extension tubes or whatever.

The MP-E actually makes life easier than it might otherwise be for such shooting because you can adjust it continuously from 1X to 5X which makes it easy to get a setting that frames things to your liking. I liken it to a macro lens on a set of auto bellows but it's more rugged and easier to pack around. It's fairly compact when retracted to the 1X setting.

The lens doesn't really have any focusing capability. Instead, the ring adjusts the length of the "bellows" which sets the magnification. So focus is achieved by moving the entire camera/lens back and forth to get the focus to lie where you want. But then that's the way I shoot with any macro lens for very close shooting.

And the view through the lens is always dark because the "effective apertures" range from f/5.6 to f/16.8 (1X to 5X with lens set to f/2.8). So I often use a small LED flashlight to illuminate the subject so I can see something. They rate the lens at f/2.8 because that's the theoretical aperture the lens would have at infinity focus. I guess that's how all lenses' apertures are rated but this lens, of course, cannot focus to infinity, so it's sort of a useless specification in this case. But again, this would be the same if you were using any other rig with such magnifications, so this lens itself isn't the source of the difficulty, it's just a fact of life for such magnifications.

So I guess it's all relative. Shooting higher magnification macros requires certain care, but really, the MP-E makes it easier than the alternatives.

I also cheat and almost always use flash for macro. That lets me use a high shutter speed - and if the flash is providing most of the light, then the flash pulse freezes my shaking and movement. I almost never use a tripod for macro (or anything else) because doing so makes it impossible to track and follow moving bugs and it doesn't do me any good if the wind's blowing anyhow.

I usually try to cheat and prop my left hand against a solid surface and use that hand to then hold and manipulate the end of the lens to get the critter framed and in focus. For this shot, I propped the DVD up a bit so that I could get the lens down to a relatively low angle with respect to the bug and I was resting the flash mounting ring against the desk.

I would not recommend someone buy one of these lenses for their first macro lens, but if they find that they really love macro shooting with a regular macro lens, but want to get even closer, then it's a great way to go. It does have very nice optical characteristics. The colors really seem to pop with this lens.

Jim H.


Canon DSLR Challenge12-Aug-2007 16:47
Excellent macro, beautiful colours. You sure can work that lens, believe its not easy to use? Was thinking of buying it but when I read about it, seemed kind of difficult to use hence stayed away from it. What has been your experience with it Jim? Thanks.

Cheers, Vikas.
jnconradie12-Aug-2007 12:41
Outstanding macro, Jim. You really know how to handle that lens. The colours are exceptional, as well as the detail. Compliments jnconradie
Guest 11-Aug-2007 23:29
I'll remember that trick! Thanks for sharing it!
Debbi
Canon DSLR Challenge11-Aug-2007 21:04
Thank you all. This was taken with the MP-E 65mm macro lens. It's an odd device that gives you magnifications between 1X and 5X. In this case, the shot was taken at about 2.5X.

The bug was on a DVD so the colors below it are entirely from diffraction of the flash's light. Depending on the angle from which I shot, the colors changed as did the exposure (with the ETTL system being affected by "seeing" more or less returned light). I liked the purples and blues from this angle.

I also figured out a neat trick. If I blew on the bug, it tried to hold on for dear life against the "wind". So then it'd sit still for a little while after that and pose for me. I was initially just trying to remove dust from the DVD and the ladybug :)

Jim H.
Guest 11-Aug-2007 13:35
Beautiful! I love the play with colors too!
Debbi
Julie Bird11-Aug-2007 12:46
Jim, this is great in every way; colour, composition, focus. Julie
Canon DSLR Challenge11-Aug-2007 10:52
Very, very impressive Jim...but I knew it was your's before I opened the image...what does that mean, I wonder? I thought that this was your 60mm macro...but 65mm? A different lens?

Great colors and I seriously like the purple border. best Wishes, Traveller