Wow! Great shot!

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I'm itching to get out and do more shots.

I won this item this week;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140151344673&ssPage...

Very happy with it! The focus rails really make life a lot easier. These bellows have a slightly longer extension than my old one (150mm compared with 120mm). So with a 135mm lens I can get slightly bigger than 1:1 judging from what I have read.

Here are some shots I grabbed in the garden earlier on today to test out the new rig.

Lens was my trusty 135mm Super Takumar 3.5.



f22 ISO100, 1/6th shutter.



f16 ISO100 0.3 shutter.



f16 ISO100 1sec shutter.

The fly on the post photos are slightly grainy because I under exposed and had to bring it back in post. The fly kept flying off and then landing back in a new spot so just had to grab what I could.

I found this amazing website http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/fauna_macro_photography.htm

He tends to use TC's and a 180mm macro lens.

This guy tends to prefer 300mm plus extension tubes (absolutely incredible photos).
http://www.pbase.com/ronnie_14187/d200_galleries_

The Vivitar looks good. I'm just wondering what the differences would be between these newer lenses and the Super Takumar 135mm that I am currently using?

I just found this site with some test images using it on a Canon DSLR. Perhaps the 135 that I have is plenty good enough? Just a shame it is a screw mount which makes it awkward.
http://www.pbase.com/knickles/tak135
http://www.pbase.com/dazedgonebye/135mmf35

All great advice guys. Thanks.

The 90mm looks interesting, but I would prefer to be able to have a greater
working distance.

I'm having trouble getting my head around what sorts of ratios I can achieve with different combinations.

Is depth of field likely to be more manageable when using TC's instead of extension tubes?

Hi Jonathan,

Do you use extension tubes etc or TC's?

I'll probably investigate flash later. My bank account is already feeling the strain. But the idea of macro photography of subjects such as insects has really grabbed me in a way that I wasn't expecting.

I suppose the first step would be to get the extension tubes. At least then they will work with my current lens even though I will need to get very close to the subject.

Thanks Dave. I'm hoping to start going out a lot more to see if I can get some shots that are worth keeping.

Reading about macro photography from other guys who photograph nature, they seem to say not to bother with a flash. Many of them seem to be using very slow shutter speeds a lot of the time at around f-16. Though I have yet to make up my mind as to what to do about improving the equipment.

The bellows unit I have is old and is designed for S-mount lenses, and the 135mm S-mount lens I was using also seems to be showing a lot of CA on highlights.

My current main everyday lens is a Sigma 18-50 EX DC Macro. But I was considering getting a higher focal length + TC's as I feel that I would like to do a lot more macro work. Makes a change from landscapes and people!

Though it seems as if some of the longer focal length macro lenses in Sigmas range don't have a Pentax fit

Any suggestions for the best lens combination that doesn't break the bank and can still get professional results (all camera people being equal!)?

I'm thinking about perhaps the Kenko DG AF Extension Tube Set in combination with a fix focal length lens. The highest I can find in the Pentax range is the smc-DFA 100mm f2.8 Macro. Its a good price, but not sure of its quality, and preferably I'd like to go higher than this, perhaps 200 or 250mm. So not sure where to look.

Took some more photos today to experiment a bit more. This time with an old bellows unit and a 135mm Super Takumar lens. Some of these are cropped, others are left.

Lost a lot of light with the bellows. Most light was supplied by way of the on board camera flash (haven't budgeted for a decent flash unit yet). But it was difficult, or rather impossible, to find a happy medium between f-stop and shutter speed and low ISO. Most of these I did manage to take at 100ISO, but shutter speed and iris were still difficult.

How can I best overcome the incredibly shallow depth of field? I've read of some people taking multiple shots at different focus points. But when the wind is blowing the leaves that the insects are on about, and the cumbersome nature of taking pictures of such things with a tripod, how is this possible?

Anyhow, here are the best of the crop I managed today for what they are worth. This one was lucky. It was hovering in roughly the same place for around 30secs or so and by sheer fluke I managed to track it (most of the day I had spent getting frustrated at how awkward a macro lens is to aim!). Still didn't manage to get perfect focus though. I'm determined to get a better one!




I think it is the best of the ones I took today because it is in focus! The full resolution picture shows all the detail on the eyes. But I think it is also cool because it looks like some kind of cross between a fly and a praying mantis!



The rest of these are more generic. Well, more generic in relation to those above anyway.

I've never attempted macro photography before. But yesterday I saw a grasshopper resting on my dustbin lid, and it didn't seem to want to go anywhere. My father had some old extender tubes for S-mount lenses. So I used the adaptor to attach them plus a 55mm prime onto my K10D to see what would happen. It was pretty difficult to see what was happening as I had to put the lens in A mode and took the photo at f16, so it was very difficult to see what I was shooting.






Looks like something I'd like to do a lot more of, but perhaps with more colourful backgrounds and much better composition!

Just wondering if anyone had any tips on the best ways to obtain macro shots, and what sort of equipment is considered essential for it for maximum versitility, best lenses etc?

Would it be easier to mount a zoom on the front rather than a fixed focal length? Sounds like a dumb question, but since I know next to nothing about macro photography...

Highlights on the K10 seem to clip very suddenly.

As with high def video I always protect the highlights and then with Raw the K10 is superb for bringing out details in the shadows. Or so I have found so far.

The amount of recovery possible on the S3 etc is amazing. But the trade off is a much lower real pixel count. Yeah, I know we shouldn't be pixel counters, but there is no such thing as a free lunch.