Insect Macros

For anyone who has made it past the title here are a few images from the last couple of days with the newly acquired Pentax F1.7 teleconverter (thanks Davex) partnered with the DFA 100 macro and K5. All natural light shots which is my preference, although I'm going to also try out a CardiffGareth design onboard flash diffuser. I'm also really looking forward to trying the tc on the 55-300 (but am already thinking about a DA*300). C&C welcome as always.

Fritillary feeding on thistle:




Grasshopper:




Tiny Somethingorother, Took A While To Work Out Which Way Round It Goes:




Metallic Fly Not Good Enough But I Liked The Background:




Froghopper (Pretty Weeny 3-4mm Long):




Answers On A Postcard Please, Feeding On Blackberry:




Fly:




Ants Harvesting Honeydew From Aphids (came across this late in the day, will try for some better shots tomorrow):

Speaking as someone that is not a great fan of insects, birds or flowers pictures, I love the first image, but, there is always a but, the 'orange' blur in the back-ground is a bit distracting ?

But, another, but, ( Duh ), I still think it is a top image, well into the 9.5's, well done !!!

Thanks for your comment Galoot. The orange blur is its wing so I thought it best to keep it

I thought that, but looking at it quickly, it makes it take on the image of a DC9 / DC 10 ?

p.s. I've upped my rating of 9.5 to a 9.7, I'm being too 'picky' great image

Ah but the 10-17 fisheye doesn't really lend itself to that sort of thing does it John

Some great shots there Adrian, the quality is outstanding I'll go 9.9999999999 for the Fritillary shot

Excellent... still sharp even with the converter.
It should work OK with the 55-300mm and is a well
known partner to the DA*300

Great set, my favourite is the ??? feeding on the blackberry.

I took a few shots yesterday of a green grasshopper, as usual total rubbish, so just deleted, one day I will get it right, only been trying since the 1970’s. So there's time yet.

Take care.

Chris R.

Excellent set. Lovely and sharp. Well done. Love the grass & frog hoppers.... excellent.

A great set of images, clean, sharp and well presentd.

Best regards

Super shots. Did you use a tripod or was your camera hand held? Also, approximately, how much cropping was there.

Roughly what F stop and speed did you use?

I need to improve my macro photography and your comments should help me.

Cheers.....John

1, 2, & 7 are stand outs. Seems very, very crisp with excellent colour. I missed out on a 1.7 a couple of months back on ebay, by £1 in the last seconds - still stings

Thanks. The metallic fly was handheld (but in prone position resting on elbows), the rest with a tripod.

1 1/60th f8 ISO 400, 75%
2 1/60th f9 ISO 400, 90%
3 1/50th f7.1 ISO 400, 44%
4 1/250th f8 ISO 400, 73%
5 1/4 f14 ISO 100, 42%
6 0.3 f16 ISO 400, 52%
7 0.4 f16 ISO 100, 60%
8 1/125th f8 ISO 400 87%

% is the cropped/original ratio on the longest edge. 3,5 and 6 are very small subjects and larger crops than I would like - I set myself a minimum limit of 2000 pixels longest edge. I'm starting to experiment with other options to get closer, but it's damned difficult though.

Love Grasshopper and Froghopper! The Fly shot is freakishly sharp. The thing on the blackberry is just freakish!

Perfect pictures as always DrO.

The 'thing' on the blackberry is an assassin bug larvae if anyone wants to know.

Kind regards

Charlotte

Great set .. I use the 1.7x a lot with macro lenses.