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It's certainly bulky, but it's also squishy. The gel and wire is all really flexible so you can mash it into any place you want it to go. I have no trouble shooting tiny critters in the tropics where everything moves faster. But yeah everybody makes their own tradeoffs for their lighting. Mine optimizes highlights and lifting shadows at the expense of being big, bulky, heavy, and awkward to carry (and even awkward to set down). Alex wild uses that same rosco material to photograph ants at 3-5x with an MP-E. He stacks like 4-5 sheets together and attached them to the top of his lens so they are just loose at the top. Imagine a 6 inch square book of rosco, with the bound end tied to the lens. The far end is flappy and loose. He then presses it against the ground or tree and shoots through it with a speedlight. Works great. Ultimately it's just a sheet of plastic, so whatever plastic you are using as a diffuser works. Edit: Jarlywarly, I can't stop thinking about your AD200 light. Would you mind weighing the flash head end of the EC200? I'm thinking I could connect the camera to the battery pack with a pc sync cable, so I wouldn't need the weight of the RF transmitter. I could then put the flash head on the camera hot shoe with a little cold shoe extension deal so I can angle it down more. I think I could save a ton of weight if I do that. Graniteman fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Oct 24, 2019 23:15
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I highly recommend the 180 mm Canon on the A7R3: 
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Oct 26, 2019 01:16
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Graniteman posted:It's certainly bulky, but it's also squishy. The gel and wire is all really flexible so you can mash it into any place you want it to go. I have no trouble shooting tiny critters in the tropics where everything moves faster. But yeah everybody makes their own tradeoffs for their lighting. Mine optimizes highlights and lifting shadows at the expense of being big, bulky, heavy, and awkward to carry (and even awkward to set down). I'll pull out the scales in a bit give me a few hours
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Oct 27, 2019 16:05
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We had a crazy heat wave here last week, so a lot of moths gathered at my door at night. This guy was my favorite. He looked like out of a Star Wars movie. 
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Oct 27, 2019 17:31
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jarlywarly posted:I'll pull out the scales in a bit give me a few hours 260g for the flash head. loving cool mothman!
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Oct 27, 2019 17:40
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jarlywarly posted:260g for the flash head. Nice, thank you! I think I can shed 500g by using your setup so I just ordered one. I decided to also get the round head since it looks like the diffusion from that head alone is good enough I may only need one layer of rosco gel.
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Oct 28, 2019 22:49
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Graniteman posted:Nice, thank you! I think I can shed 500g by using your setup so I just ordered one. I decided to also get the round head since it looks like the diffusion from that head alone is good enough I may only need one layer of rosco gel. Let me know how that round head is, might pick one up, check the power though before you buy it does vary based on the head. jarlywarly fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Oct 28, 2019 |
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Oct 28, 2019 23:20
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 Ants by Marc, on Flickr
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Nov 1, 2019 09:40
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Raikyn posted:
Ants are cool, just so very alien.
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Nov 1, 2019 10:39
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jarlywarly posted:Ants are cool ... ... until they invade your kitchen.
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Nov 2, 2019 00:04
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Finally have my Laowa 100mm and have been using it on and off for the last couple of weeks. Of course it's been super windy too, making it hard to shoot stuff that's hiding on leaves/in bushes. And I'm just making excuses for myself not getting outside enough. Here's a couple:    Still haven't quite mastered it yet, but liking what it's giving me so far. 
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Nov 9, 2019 07:16
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Nov 19, 2019 07:45
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this skin color mantis is terrifying
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Nov 19, 2019 13:20
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Nice shot! I like that you created a sense of personality!
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Nov 20, 2019 17:49
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Cheers! It's been too hot in SE Australia (since it's mostly on fire) to find any insects at the moment. They seem to be active early morning then disappear. ..so I went to the beach and hunted after some soldier crabs.   Very challenging to shoot, but also quite fun to watch them waddle about.
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Nov 30, 2019 03:19
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toggle posted:Cheers! Lovely! I've been thinking about beach macro for next year gotta find some rock pools.
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Nov 30, 2019 10:21
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 Mantis by Marc, on Flickr
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Dec 5, 2019 09:06
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More insect macro Mosquito by Marc, on Flickr
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Dec 23, 2019 09:12
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Jan 1, 2020 01:24
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Just picked up a Macro Takumar 50mm f/4 (the original 1:1 version) and started playing around with it on my X-E1. Hard to complain about $89 on ebay in immaculate shape. Making my first foray into anything macro (as well as most real photography), and this is very fun. Getting the depth of field and focus right is hard, and everyone is right that lighting is the key, but drat this is cool, and reading the various pointers earlier in the thread is really interesting and helpful, too. Borachon fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jan 17, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 03:28
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Borachon posted:Just picked up a Macro Takumar 50mm f/4 (the original 1:1 version) and started playing around with it on my X-E1. Hard to complain about $89 on ebay in immaculate shape. Welcome to the rabbit hole, soon you'll be 3d printing diffuser mounts, poring over flash timing specs, working out if you can belt mount 6 battery packs and importing movie grade silks.
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Jan 17, 2020 14:38
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Borachon posted:Just picked up a Macro Takumar 50mm f/4 (the original 1:1 version) and started playing around with it on my X-E1. Hard to complain about $89 on ebay in immaculate shape. I just started out with the same lens on a D70s I removed the ''hot mirror filter'' from this camera. I make my composition and focus more or less like I want it roughly, then I just go back and forward with the camera to get into focus with the main subject.  Full Spectrum by roland luijken, on Flickr
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Jan 20, 2020 15:08
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Orions Lord posted:I just started out with the same lens on a D70s I removed the ''hot mirror filter'' from this camera.
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Jan 20, 2020 19:49
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Infinite Karma posted:Did you remove the filter by yourself? Infrared photography always looks so cool, but it seems difficult to find a reputable place to modify a camera for a reasonable price. I don't really want to send my camera plus a few hundred bucks to a random address from the internet without knowing the quality (and that I'll actually get my camera back). I've done the mod myself following this tutorial site. It's not hard; you just need a clean space, a tiny screw driver, and enough organizational skills to not get all the screws mixed up. They also offer conversion services for a reasonable price, as well as already converted cameras. I can't vouch for their service (since I've never bought anything from them), but their tutorials are extremely detailed and they've been around for a decade.
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Jan 20, 2020 20:55
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Infinite Karma posted:Did you remove the filter by yourself? Infrared photography always looks so cool, but it seems difficult to find a reputable place to modify a camera for a reasonable price. I don't really want to send my camera plus a few hundred bucks to a random address from the internet without knowing the quality (and that I'll actually get my camera back). Removing the IR filter is a standard step for astro-use, and there are plenty of reputable vendors who do it, but I am not sure what your idea of "reasonable price" is.
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Jan 20, 2020 20:58
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Infinite Karma posted:Did you remove the filter by yourself? Infrared photography always looks so cool, but it seems difficult to find a reputable place to modify a camera for a reasonable price. I don't really want to send my camera plus a few hundred bucks to a random address from the internet without knowing the quality (and that I'll actually get my camera back). Yes I did it myself, but the d70s is one of the easiest to convert. This camera is also old and you can get one for about 80 Euro or so . I wouldn't do it on other camera's personally.
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Jan 21, 2020 09:12
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I was thinking of converting my old Canon t3i or 70D to infrared (which if the tutorial is accurate looks incredibly difficult, disconnecting all the ribbon cables and desoldering parts) is why I ask, and $300 is steep but not insane. When I checked previously a few years ago, I was seeing prices around $700 for the conversion, and people were advertising the service on their Geocities-style sites that did not seem like a good idea to send my $1000 camera along with a few hundred more for the service. So thanks for the info! Now I'll have to decide if it's worth a few hundred bucks to mess around with nonvisible light every once in a while.
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Jan 21, 2020 20:07
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I picked up a preconverted canon t6 for a friend on eBay for about the cost of a new one and it worked great for him.
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Jan 21, 2020 20:56
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Infinite Karma posted:I was thinking of converting my old Canon t3i or 70D to infrared (which if the tutorial is accurate looks incredibly difficult, disconnecting all the ribbon cables and desoldering parts) is why I ask, and $300 is steep but not insane. When I checked previously a few years ago, I was seeing prices around $700 for the conversion, and people were advertising the service on their Geocities-style sites that did not seem like a good idea to send my $1000 camera along with a few hundred more for the service. I was thinking (maybe) of buying an converted full spectrum Sony NEX 5N on ebay. Then mounting an M42 lens on it. The d70s is just 6mp that's oke but you can't crop it before it gets awfull. I have a Nex 7 with a M42 mount Carll Zeis 2.4 35mm already ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/duikenonline/albums/72157689641488503 ). Doing infrared macro is a new area at least for me then.
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Jan 22, 2020 09:55
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There are a few people on ebay who convert refurb bodies and sell them pretty cheap. I'll try and dig up the guy I got my fs a5000 from. I found that a lot cheaper than finding someone local to do the conversion (getting my D70 converted here in Australia cost $500, which is about what I paid for the a5000 as-converted). Live-view is so much more convenient, and you can use AF reliably too. Sony's FE 28-70 is actually a pretty serviceable lens in IR, FYI.
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Jan 22, 2020 10:19
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Figured I'd post a shot I recently found and edited from last year while I wait for insect season. Blue Train by Aves Lux, on Flickr
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Jan 26, 2020 21:31
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Graniteman posted:Edit: Jarlywarly, I can't stop thinking about your AD200 light. Would you mind weighing the flash head end of the EC200? I'm thinking I could connect the camera to the battery pack with a pc sync cable, so I wouldn't need the weight of the RF transmitter. I could then put the flash head on the camera hot shoe with a little cold shoe extension deal so I can angle it down more. I think I could save a ton of weight if I do that. Jarlywarly, I'm officially ripping off your hardware idea! I did end up buying a AD200 with the EC200 extension last fall, and while it's not any lighter than what I was using, I love how fast the flash recycles, and the power output, so much I'm not disappointed. I also really like that there's a modeling light built in, so I don't need to strap a bicycle lamp to my lens for shooting at night, so that's a net weight savings. I did buy the round flash head for it, but I don't know that I'll use it because, like you warned me, you do lose a stop of light. The modeling light on the round head is radically more bright than the fresnel head modeling light, so I may use the round head at night. I just bought a belt clip with a hole in it so I could screw it to the body of the AD200 with a 1/4-20 screw, and then clip it to my belt. No ghost busting for me to start with. I'm also triggering it using a pc-sync cable that I cable tied to the EC200 cable. I have heaps of wireless triggers, but I wanted to save weight to start with. I've got the flash head friction arm in my camera hot shoe, and if I put a wireless trigger in the hot shoe, and then the friction arm in that... it just feels like a lot. I'm sure I'll try it at some point. Maybe a flash trigger then a smaller friction arm than what I'm using. I also bought a Laowa 100mm so I can hopefully stop carrying both the MP-E 65mm and the 100mm /f2.8 L for field photography. I just got the lens yesterday and first impressions are good. Now I just need to sit and stare at this gear for a few months until it warms enough for the bugs to come back. I was also briefly pissed that Laowa released a Fuji APS-C version of the 100mm 2X lens literally the day after my 100mm canon lens shipped. I had visions of switching to my much more light and ergonomic X-T2 for macro photography using the smaller Laowa 65mm 2x lens. But the new Laowa lens is full manual, with no electronic aperture control. I can't see chasing bugs with the lens already stopped down to f/11. I imagine it COULD work with the camera showing you a bright image in the viewfinder, but I'd want to maybe rent a lens first.
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Jan 31, 2020 14:39
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Graniteman posted:Jarlywarly, I'm officially ripping off your hardware idea! I did end up buying a AD200 with the EC200 extension last fall, and while it's not any lighter than what I was using, I love how fast the flash recycles, and the power output, so much I'm not disappointed. I also really like that there's a modeling light built in, so I don't need to strap a bicycle lamp to my lens for shooting at night, so that's a net weight savings. Yeah it's a great setup I'd love to see a photo of your assemblage! Have fun. Yes manual focus is fine but you need electronic aperture control for bugs cos f/11+ is way too dark which is why I'm sticking with my Canon 80D and the Laowa 100mm even though it's bulky as gently caress. I might look at the EOS R5 with the Laowa adapted when that camera gets a release. Make sure your AD200 is firing fast enough to freeze out the shake, it shows you on the display what the flash on time is.
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Jan 31, 2020 16:43
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jarlywarly posted:Yeah it's a great setup I'd love to see a photo of your assemblage! Have fun. My one hope for manual aperture is that when shooting on a mirrorless camera you can have the camera disable exposure preview, so it will electronically amplify the image you are seeing so it won't be dark. I just expect it to be too grainy to nail focus with 2:1 macro. But I'd be interested to try it someday so I'll maybe rent a lens.
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Jan 31, 2020 17:52
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Generic macro of a large beast that I've only seen twice so far. It's a 3+" long grasshopper/locus, perhaps a California Rose-winged Grasshopper?
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Feb 1, 2020 19:00
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a beauty, almost too big for macro!
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Feb 1, 2020 19:10
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theHUNGERian posted:Generic macro of a large beast that I've only seen twice so far. It's a 3+" long grasshopper/locus, perhaps a California Rose-winged Grasshopper? Great stuff! Here's an Australian native blue banded bee: 
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Feb 2, 2020 07:55
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toggle posted:Great stuff! holy crap, nice work!
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Feb 2, 2020 13:41
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toggle posted:Here's an Australian native blue banded bee: Insects in flight are super cool!
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Feb 2, 2020 17:32
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I got some ants Backyard shenanigans by Marc, on Flickr
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Feb 3, 2020 09:17
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