Body workout on bees, with examples

[Erik Lund]

But as Erik is probably right even the "in focus" parts here are not biting. So the 105VR does not shine in this discipline while it was really nice in the Tomatoe thread.

Interesting. So can you or Erik say whether you think it's the optical qualities of the 105VR that are stopping you getting the quality you want, or is it
- Not being able to acquire sharp focus quickly enough, or
- Subject movement affecting the image more than usual because of the magnification involved?

...

Yes to both.

Difficult to see what is shot with what lens when you don't clearly state what you have used but ramble about various lenses in the posts Frank.

Depth of field with these sharp lenses is not what counts, depth of focus is much more important and as stated the eyes as always...

Your way to low in shutter speed IMHO so I would go into various kinds of illumination, LED panels large softbox I suggest again, they simply can't know if there is one or two suns...

It seems the road is long... Is it worth it... I hope it pays well!

[Frank Fremerey]

Erik. Before I do a paid job in a field I first want to be sure my setup works as expexted.
So I look into LED panels that run on batteries and do not spoil the mood.

The shots with the laser rig do not arise any interest in me. I could as well start to shoot dead animals instead.

Dead animals do behave in technical shots.

But this is not my goal. My goal is to create immersive shots that seem like a window into an animals world.

[Michael Erlewine]

Nikon D800E with CV-125mm

I tend to take non-moving images of insects. This was taken a year or so ago.

[Frank Fremerey]

Michael: Which aperture to you use? 22?

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael: Which aperture to you use? 22?

No, more like f/11

Here is another from the same time period.

[Erik Lund]

Thanks Michael, outstanding! They pop right out and the little guys are crisp and clean.
The back ground is a bit on the rough side but that is compromise here I realize that!
APO 125mm CV is nice!

[Peter Connan]

Do you perhaps have access to the new 300mm f4 E and a 1.4 teleconverter?

I have had my best results on admittedly somewhat larger insects (butterflies and dragonflies) using it's pedecessor (the Af-S). It has a relatively short minimum focus distance of 1.3m and much faster AF than any of the micro lenses I know of.

I have also found that using close-up tubes that get a lens into the second (further) half of the focus range speeds up AF quite a lot.