A7r3 & Printing Nikkor 105mm: Male Damselflies

e6filmuser

I have been working towards this dream 1:1 combination of hardware for several years. The A7r1 let me down a bit with shutter shake and lack of IS. Those are overcome with the A7r3.

The Printing-Nikkor 105mm is optimised for 1:1 and is supposed to cover full frame. It gives vignetting in the very corners of the frame, perhaps because the sensor is a bit larger than some FF ones. Anyway, the results are worth the tiny amount of cropping.

Although the lens is optimised at f2.8, I need f8, as used here, to get useful DOF. I believe I have used this lens with a hood previously but this time I did not, as is my practice with most macro lenses.

This is not a test of the combinations best performance but a trial of what it will do for me for the subjects I shoot. So, no tripod!

The working distance of about 180mm, in front of a lens (front element) extended about 210mm from the flange, takes a bit of getting used to but it does distance me from my subjects.

Today was sunny and warm but with constantly gusting breeze. Together with the damsels seeming to prefer the whippiest leaves to settle on, this made quite a frustrating session, with many shots out of focus. However, I have a few which show what I hoped to see. In one case I have gone back to the TIFF, cropped and processed separately to show the detail. I preferred, where I could, shooting at an angle to the insect to get both eyes visible, rather than a profile, sharp from the eyes to the tip of the abdomen.

What took me a little by surprise, after shooting so many on m4/3 over several years, was finding the whole length of the insect, and some space, in the frame at closest focus.

The stereo is crosseye.

Harold