Thanks very much Shaun and Sean, your honest feedback is very much appreciated. Regarding the noise, the K-m shots were at ISO 400 and the noise is most apparent on those where the light was fairly dim. With the K-m, even ISO 400 is pushing it as far as noise in shadow areas is concerned and I haven't applied noise reduction to these images. There is a small amount of sharpening in PS3, but not much.

I'm interested in Sean's comments on #7, this has had a crop, although not severe. It was taken with the Sigma 105 macro wide open at F2.8, so most of the image is out of focus by definition; my objective here was to get the eye sharp. The DOF on this one is almost non-existant and I'm unsure what Sean means by 'Odd/nervous OOF / blur'? If you could help by explaining a bit more Sean, as this is just what the lens rendered at F2.8? The colours in this one are accurate and true to life, they have not been altered at all.

The last one is an acquired taste, not the norm for a macro but I liked the shape the wings made and it somehow reminded me of a face

Thanks again to you both

Regards
David

I must have missed these when they were first posted! They are all excellent and look great in the almost mono colouring.

The first one is my favourite.

Regards
David

Very good advice. Here's one I've made, although this is for hot shoe flash, not the on-board version. This is about the fourth or fifth prototype and the most successful to date as it has adjustable tubes and fires flash from two directions, hence no shadows. I can get F16 at ISO 200 with this = perfect for macros with tubes attached.




Best wishes
David

Thanks Kevin much appreciated, apologies for the delay in acknowledging your comments.

Best wishes
David

Hi John

You will need to be patient and practice a lot with the extension tubes. They take some getting used to, but will yield great results if you stick with them. The best advice I can give is:

- Light is all important, you lose some with tubes so you need good daylight (sunlight preferably) or a decent source of diffused flashlight
- A monopod is useful for stability and flexibility of positioning
- Hold your breath when taking the images, any slight movement is magnified with tubes
- Use apertures of F11 upwards - you need this to get a decent depth of field

Keep at it and I'm sure you will get some stunners.

Regards
David

I'd probably go for a second hand K-x (great little camera) and a lens too! A very good K-x would cost under £250, leaving plenty for a decent lens. I have a K-x as backup to my K-5 and often find myself using this in preference, especially for macro work where its small size and light weight are a bonus.

Regards
David

High quality stuff, I like all of them, but #1 is my favourite.

Regards
David

Absolutely magnificent images Alan, your work is getting more and more impressive! I love them all and could not pick a favourite.

Regards
David

I liked the Badger (but background looked blown out?) and the rainbow. I must be honest and say that I wasn't blown away by the quality of these images - I think we have seen better on the forum and in the Gallery.

Regards
David

These were all shot in my garden today, with a combination of the K-m, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro and reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7.

Honeybee on Ice Plant, K-m reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7



European Peacock, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro



European Peacock Feeding, K-m, reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7



Peeping Through, K-m, reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7



Garden Spider & Prey, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro



Red Poppy, K-m, reversed Pentax-A 50mm F1.7



Little Moth, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro (BTW, can anyone identify this moth?)



Small Tortoiseshell, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro



Small Tortoiseshell Rear Elevation, K-x, Sigma 105mm F2.8 DG EX Macro



Thanks for looking, hope you like. CC welcomed.

Best wishes
David