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Nikon D70 ,Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR AF
1/400s f/32.0 at 400.0mm iso640 with Canon 500d and Flash hand held


Nikon D70 ,Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR AF
1/250s f/32.0 at 400.0mm iso400 with Flash & Canon 500d hand held

Wow Kerry, these are terrific, especially the hornet thing... Any details on the Canon 500d? I've heard of it but don't know anything about it and I'd love to try it for this sort of stuff, and on the 80-400 too!

Kerry,
haven't you been warned about posting absolutely wonderful macro shots all the time ?!?!?

You know the pschycologist I'm seeing about my lens lust keeps telling me that you are the catalyst. If I succumb to my lens lust, I might need to send you a bill for 50%.....

Seriously, really nice photos (again) ! Do you find the VR aids much in these types of shots (using high telephoto with slower than focal length shutter speeds) ? I noticed the 2nd shot is 400mm @ 1/250sec f32 - handheld. VR sounds like a blessing in this situation.

Keep up the good work & don't listen to me......keep on posting your outstanding work  PS.. I still say you should be getting published

Dontcha just love that VR??

And who says the 80-400 isn't sharp??

Great stuff Kerry.

Great shots Kerry. If I ever see one of these lenses cheap I might buy one

Somebody in the Phototrader made me laugh, they had a secondhand one for sale for $2400.

mudder wrote:Wow Kerry, these are terrific, especially the hornet thing... Any details on the Canon 500d? I've heard of it but don't know anything about it and I'd love to try it for this sort of stuff, and on the 80-400 too!

Thanks, Andrew. I appreciate the kind comments.

The 500d is a lens, but screws into the filter threads on the front of the camera. Nikon has the 5T & 6T lenses, IIRC, that do the same things. I use the Canon because it comes in 77mm thread size, so fits on any of my lenses, with stepup rings, except the Bigma.

The lens magnifies the image and can significantly alter, shorten, the normal minimum focus distance of the lens its attached to. IIRC, the MFD for the 80-400 at 400mm is around 13ft. With the 300d attached, the MFD is reduced to about 2ft. That allows you to fill the frame with small subjects.

Perfect examples of the photographer’s work

Aussie Dave wrote:You know the pschycologist I'm seeing about my lens lust keeps telling me that you are the catalyst. If I succumb to my lens lust, I might need to send you a bill for 50%.....

Seriously, really nice photos (again) ! Do you find the VR aids much in these types of shots (using high telephoto with slower than focal length shutter speeds) ? I noticed the 2nd shot is 400mm @ 1/250sec f32 - handheld. VR sounds like a blessing in this situation.

Thanks for the very kind comments, Dave. Sorry about your headshrinker bills...

Yes, I think the VR does help. When you go above 1:1 magnification, camera shake and/or subject motion blur and movement really becomes an issue. Of course, VR won't help with subject issues, but it's better than not having it, if you're going to attempt those shots hand held. They're very low percentage shots, like 1%, if the subject is moving with any speed.

I'd love to see a 100 and 200mm AF-S VR Macro lenses that were affordable....

Very nice Kerry, better than I ever thought from a non dedicated macro lens

kipper wrote:Great shots Kerry. If I ever see one of these lenses cheap I might buy one

Somebody in the Phototrader made me laugh, they had a secondhand one for sale for $2400.

Thanks, Darryl!

You know, for all the bad press this lens gets, especially on focus speed, you'd think it would be easy and cheap to get on the used market....

Gary, Chris and Glen, thanks for the kind comments!

Kipper, even worse, I saw a s/h 70-200 on ebay with a $2400 buy it now price!!

Kerry first of all great work - really superb.

I have both pieces of equipment that you have used and whilst I have not tried the Cannon on the 80-400 yet I have played around with it on the 70-200, and my results have been dissapointing when compared to yours.

Can I ask you to post the full image so that I can see the amount cropped? I am sure that will help me.

Oneputt wrote:Kerry first of all great work - really superb.

I have both pieces of equipment that you have used and whilst I have not tried the Cannon on the 80-400 yet I have played around with it on the 70-200, and my results have been dissapointing when compared to yours.

Can I ask you to post the full image so that I can see the amount cropped? I am sure that will help me.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind compliment.

The wasp is only cropped for aspect ratio to 4:3. The bee photo isn't cropped at all. I can send you the originals, if you still would like to see them.

I'm not sure what you expect to see, with regard to comparison of the 70-200 photos to these. With the Canon 500d attached, at 400mm the magnification is slightly more than 1:1. At 200mm, it looks like it's slightly less than 1:2, so I guess that you're getting less than half the magnification. Makes sense, doesn't it? The magnification of 400mm is about twice that of 200mm.

With the Kenko 1.4x TC combined with the Canon on the 80-400, it gets close to 1.6:1 magnification.

An easy way to check your mag is to shoot a metric ruler. The d70 sensor is 24.3mm wide, IIRC. So, 1:1 mag would show no more than 24.3mm of the ruler, for the full width of the frame.

Kerry thanks for your response. I have just conducted an experiment and the results are as you suggest with the 80-400 as opposed to the 70-200, and yes it does make sense

Oneputt wrote:Kerry thanks for your response. I have just conducted an experiment and the results are as you suggest with the 80-400 as opposed to the 70-200, and yes it does make sense

Cool. Both of those insects were less than an inch long. An inch is about 25mm. The wasp is longer than the bee and neither of them completely fill the frame, so you know that the magnification is approximately 1:1 on the d70 sensor.

Had I used the 1.4x TC, along with the 500d, the bee would have completely filled the frame and the wasp would have been well beyond the edges of the frame.

Great shots, esp the bee one (second one).

How did you have the flash - just mounted on-camera?

DionM wrote:Great shots, esp the bee one (second one).

How did you have the flash - just mounted on-camera?

Thanks, Dion. I appreciate the kind words.

Yes, I'm using the sb800, mounted on the camera. I plan to get a flash bracket though, to elevate the flash. I already have a dual flash bracket for macros, but with the bracket, both sb800s and the sc-29, it's way too much weight to be comfortable for very long on hand held excursions.

Excellent results...lovely colours

Big V wrote:Excellent results...lovely colours

Thanks, I appreciate the comments.