What lens for butterflies, dragonflies

Ann McRae

I have the 17 - 85 mm, the 85mm f1.8 and the wonderful 70 - 200 mm f2.8 L.
I have a great flower garden and wonderful butterflies, birds and bees visiting. I haven't tried anything but the 70 - 200....not very successfully - I'm thinking the problem is a combo of camera shake (the dang thing is heavy!) and too little dof for nice sharp photos. Should I just switch to one of the other lenses or cameras (828 for example).

What would you try???

ann

John Mueller

Ann,I think the 70-200 would work good on the butterflies.
Try it on a tri or monopod.

gtc

macro
hi anne

i would think of either a 60mm macro for real close,still encounters or a 100mm macro for greater working distance and therefore to catch things in flight-
a ball head on your tripod may help or otherwise an image stabilised lens-i am not aware of any IS macro lenses though,which is not to say that they dont exist.a ring flash or other macro flash setup should allow you to handhold up to say 200mm.

beware ann-macrophotography is addictive and can turn you a little nerdy...

gc

Ann McRae wrote:

I have the 17 - 85 mm, the 85mm f1.8 and the wonderful 70 - 200 mm f2.8 L.
I have a great flower garden and wonderful butterflies, birds and bees visiting. I haven't tried anything but the 70 - 200....not very successfully - I'm thinking the problem is a combo of camera shake (the dang thing is heavy!) and too little dof for nice sharp photos. Should I just switch to one of the other lenses or cameras (828 for example).

What would you try???

ann

Khaos

If there's enough light, the 100 macro, usm version. The 85 is a nice lens but the minimum focus distance is too long for this.

I'm guessing the 135 L would be really good for this also.

pathfinder

The 150-180mm macros are ideal for flutterbies - they allow you to stand off a little more and not disturb them like you will do with a shorter macro lens, and the longer focal length provides shallower DOF for those nice smooth backgrounds.
Canon makes a 500D 77mm diameter close up adapter lens that fits nicely on a 70-200 f2.8 IS for close focusing also. But it WILL be heavy.

Ring flash creates nice flat light - good for intra-oral photos, but a standard flash off to the side of the subject tends to create more visually satisfying images.

Butterflies can be lots of fun to shoot - this was shot with a 180mm Tamron macro lens in sunlight with fill flash


I am still waiting for the appearance of the swallowtails again this year.

Lord Vetinari

Use flash
Did a few shots of a butterfly the other day- using flash made it a lot easier
see http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1031&message=14147490

Brian V.

gtc

quote pathfinder[ Ring flash creates nice flat light - good for intra-oral photos, but a standard flash off to the side of the subject tends to create more visually satisfying images]

At the risk of being accused of pedantry, I have to disagree with this-old ring flash used to provide only flat lighting(which is good if you want greater detail)but most good dedicated TTL ringflash are able to either vary strength of flash tube on one side of the ring or turn it off completely, to give shadows.

If the ringflash does not have this facility then one side can be diffused to create some shadow-a reflector can also be used if shadow is important.

USAIR

I use the 70-200 f/2.8L IS it works great I think
Gives you some room to work and not get too close...but you must flipp the switch to 1.4 - infinity
And the IS helps a lot too.
It won't take the place of a macro but it's another opition

I have question with this lens which would work better the 500D or extenion tubes ?
About the same ?

Thanks
Fred

pathfinder

gtc wrote:

quote pathfinder[ Ring flash creates nice flat light - good for intra-oral photos, but a standard flash off to the side of the subject tends to create more visually satisfying images]

At the risk of being accused of pedantry, I have to disagree with this-old ring flash used to provide only flat lighting(which is good if you want greater detail)but most good dedicated TTL ringflash are able to either vary strength of flash tube on one side of the ring or turn it off completely, to give shadows.

If the ringflash does not have this facility then one side can be diffused to create some shadow-a reflector can also be used if shadow is important.

I am intimately familiar with the ability of the Canon MR-14EX Ringlite to vary the lighting ratios up to 1-16 - I own an MR-14EX and use one - but it is not very bright at any distance and the ratios really are not that useful with the longer macro lenses that I prefer - 150 -180 mm. I think the riiglight excels at shooting flat subjects like a printed page, or subjects very close to the fron element of the lens, likethe shorted focallength macros I mentioned. Even the MT-24EX is not as useful with the 150-180mm macros as a seperate flash which can illuminate the subject from a 90 degree axis to the lens.

I think the ringlight is really designed for 50-60mm macros and might create useful lighting shading with those focal lengths. For the longer lenses I think the standard 550ex or the 580ex with a macro bracket like the Wimberly is more effective. Just my opinion of course.

JohnR

I guess it depends. I had to use my 80-200mm lens to get this shot of the dragonfly.





But macro is fun! You miss a lot without one...like this guy here

gtc

ringlights
i agree-the ringlight is useful for close shooting of insects but wouldn't have the reach for longer lenses- different strokes for different folks(glass)-i just thought it important to point out the advances in ringflash which enable shadows to be introduced rather than totally flat lighting-i have a canon ef-s 60mm macro on order and should shortly be in bugshooters heaven.....


I think the ringlight is really designed for 50-60mm macros and might create useful lighting shading with those focal lengths. For the longer lenses I think the standard 550ex or the 580ex with a macro bracket like the Wimberly is more effective. Just my opinion of course.[/QUOTE]