Body workout on bees, with examples

[Akira]

My 105/2 DC developed a hairline crack and later the entire lens split into two. No issue so far with the AF 85/1.4 although I can see a crack is about to form.

So, the problems seem to be about the A/M ring in general...  Thanks for the info!

[Frank Fremerey]

Ok. Back to the bees this afternoon.

Heresy meaning you recommend 30 year old designs over
9 year old designs meaning they do not get their act together
in Micro Nikkor design.

Original purpose  of the test was to find whether modern AF
might be able to track bees in flight.

Short answer: No. Not even a bee running around on a flower
collecting.

I had to return to old school MF and a lot of luck.

In very good light I  can sometimes find the initial focus by hand then let AF kick in to track her on the flower.

AF for initial focus and Body Movement to track does sometimes work too.

Best method is still MF initial and body movement to track.

I wish for a pattern recognition AF that can learn how to spell "bee" by  being taught via touch screen.

What does Dr Lens say concerningthis idea?

[Erik Lund]

...Heresy meaning you recommend 30 year old designs over
9 year old designs meaning they do not get their act together
in Micro Nikkor design.
...

They are different tools for different jobs! The design criteria is chosen from different targets

The cracking M/A ring only occurs for some lenses and olny some samples. I belive we narrowed it down to cracking can happen on first batches of lenses, My 20-35mm 2.8 AF-D doesnt have any cracking although it has benn and still is being used frequently. And I have had many more with this design without cracks, only seen the cracks on other peoples lenses.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Erik: The 200/4 lens you and Bjørn are discussing, is that this model: http://www.dba.dk/prime-nikon-nikkor-200mm-f-4/id-1017431054/
I sold my 105 micro when I thought I would switch to Fuji, not sure if the above lens is worth buying? It's certainly cheap...

Ps. Hopefully, this slight sidetrack is okay, otherwise I'm sorry and hope the mods will either delete it or move it.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Nope, that is the non-Micro 200/4. A good lens but not anything like the 200/4 Micro-Nikkor AI/AIS.

Go check the models out on Roland Vink's Nikon page.

[Jakov Minić]

I used the non-micro 200/4 with a PN-11 and got very good results for butterflies.
It gives you great working distance.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

But with a very limited range f magnification, around 1:3. Plus, very slow focusing as this is a unit-focusing design and hence focusing travel is long and the lens barrel alters its length.

The 180ED + PN-11 is a known combination, but having the same drawbacks. Quality is good though.

[Akira]

In this particular case, PN-11 doesn't seem to be useful.  But for other applications, PN-11 is very functional.  You can attach a universal joint style accessory shoe and mount a flash or a LED light onto the shoe.  Thanks to the 90-degree click of the collar, you can switch between the portrait and landscape orientations easily while keeping the light source at the top.

[rosko]

You can attach a universal joint style accessory shoe and mount a flash or a LED light onto the shoe. 

How clever is that !

And certainly very sturdy.

Thanks for thr tip, Akira. 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

If you don't need a continuously changeable magnification from ~0 (infinity focus) , it is entirely possible to add a PN-11 to the Micro-Nikkor 200 mm f/4 (AI/AIS) as well.

[Frank Fremerey]

The 4/200mm Micro I bought yesterday afternoon arrived this morning.

It is in fact in even better condition than I expected.

The construction is pretty much like the AF 180/f=2.8:

Lots of air in the back, then the aperture and the block of lenses up front. Small and light lens. Much better than the modern Behemouths

I am looking forward to testing it.


Another question that got lost above:

 What about the a beansack recommondation or a very small sturdy tripod for work on or very near the floor or table - Like 5cm to 15cm?



Another annotation:

Taking pictures of bees living in earth holes  requires equipment I did not  think about in advance. Bloddy frst timer.

1) A pair of scissors to cut grass and straw obstructing the viewing angle of the lens

///OT///  I had to fire up the big machine again because editing posts on the phone it a PITA . Please add a simple Mobile Theme!!! \\\OT\\\

2) The bean sack or other small means (small spade with a 1/4inch screw on to?) to not make my arms going to sleep while waiting.

3) Ideally a remote control via WIFi with Tablet preview (Cam Ranger) or a movement trigger to capture bees coming back (they need less that 1/2 second to land and disappear in the whole.

[Akira]

How clever is that !

And certainly very sturdy.

Thanks for thr tip, Akira. 

Francis, glad to be of any help.

[Akira]

Another question that got lost above:

 What about the a beansack recommondation or a very small sturdy tripod for work on or very near the floor or table - Like 5cm to 15cm?

Frank, have you looked at Novoflex Minipod?

http://www.novoflex.com/de/produkte/stativ--und-haltesysteme/mini-stative/minipod/

[Akira]

Or a contraption I assembled a while ago.  It is less flexible than Novoflex Minipod, but sturdier.

The problem is that it may take some time to collect all the parts...

[Frank Fremerey]

Akira: something like that. Where do you buy those parts?