thanks, I know they are supposed to be pests but they just look so cool (at least the ones I have.
New Camera (Canon 6D)
- Thread starter noy
- Start date
thanks, I know they are supposed to be pests but they just look so cool (at least the ones I have.
yeah no problem using it for background screen - flattered you would ask!
thanks for the kind comments thanhreef and Jordan!
New lens MP-E 65mm
Finally broke down and bought this bad boy. Still learning how to use it.
My first impression is that it is very difficult to use. Instead of a focal length adjustment the barrel length determines the level of magnification for the image (1x-5x). You focus by adjusting your distance to the subject - which essentially means you need to have focus rails to use this lens. The depth of field is VERY VERY shallow and this means unless you intend to use this for the "thats what the skin of an acro/euphyllia/whatever looks like" type magnification shots you will have to focus stack to have any meaningful composition. This brings you to another problem - because of the magnification effect - the blur on the out of focus portion of the shots are very prominent. This means that the auto-align feature in photoshop won't work. This essentially means layering the shots over yourself, do a blend and then manually taking out the blur and you will probably have to re-define the masks in the layers in a stacked shot. This means hours of work for one shot (or perhaps focus stack oriented software might solve this problem.)
Another problem is the working distance - its very minimal - your subject needs to be very close to the aquarium glass to get a focused shot.
The other problem is getting enough light on the subject. The lens is advertised as a f/2.8 at 1x but it isn't (there are lots of articles explaining this) - its more like a 5.6. At higher mag - this gets worse. So you end up shooting at high ISO. BUT because of the magnification the distortion from the ISO (even for a 6d) is very pronounced. I am going to try using flash to mitigate this for my next set of shots but setting up the shot will be tricky because of the limited working distance.
Here are some shots using the lens out of the box. I'm still getting the hang of it.
Close up of a cool australian mushroom leather
IMG_2307
Focus stacked tip of an efflo
stackedacro
Frogspawn Euphyllia
IMG_2314
Rainbow Torch
IMG_2312
Gold Hammers
IMG_2309
Low light close up of a gorgonian polyp
IMG_2320
This shot shows how shallow the depth of field is. I think this shot is at about 2-3x magnification on a single gorgonian polyp. Yet, i cannot bring the entire polyp into focus.
If anyone has this lens - feel free to share your thoughts.
Finally broke down and bought this bad boy. Still learning how to use it.
My first impression is that it is very difficult to use. Instead of a focal length adjustment the barrel length determines the level of magnification for the image (1x-5x). You focus by adjusting your distance to the subject - which essentially means you need to have focus rails to use this lens. The depth of field is VERY VERY shallow and this means unless you intend to use this for the "thats what the skin of an acro/euphyllia/whatever looks like" type magnification shots you will have to focus stack to have any meaningful composition. This brings you to another problem - because of the magnification effect - the blur on the out of focus portion of the shots are very prominent. This means that the auto-align feature in photoshop won't work. This essentially means layering the shots over yourself, do a blend and then manually taking out the blur and you will probably have to re-define the masks in the layers in a stacked shot. This means hours of work for one shot (or perhaps focus stack oriented software might solve this problem.)
Another problem is the working distance - its very minimal - your subject needs to be very close to the aquarium glass to get a focused shot.
The other problem is getting enough light on the subject. The lens is advertised as a f/2.8 at 1x but it isn't (there are lots of articles explaining this) - its more like a 5.6. At higher mag - this gets worse. So you end up shooting at high ISO. BUT because of the magnification the distortion from the ISO (even for a 6d) is very pronounced. I am going to try using flash to mitigate this for my next set of shots but setting up the shot will be tricky because of the limited working distance.
Here are some shots using the lens out of the box. I'm still getting the hang of it.
Close up of a cool australian mushroom leather
IMG_2307 Focus stacked tip of an efflo
stackedacro Frogspawn Euphyllia
IMG_2314 Rainbow Torch
IMG_2312 Gold Hammers
IMG_2309 Low light close up of a gorgonian polyp
IMG_2320 This shot shows how shallow the depth of field is. I think this shot is at about 2-3x magnification on a single gorgonian polyp. Yet, i cannot bring the entire polyp into focus.
If anyone has this lens - feel free to share your thoughts.
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Reef Bass
colors and textures
Thanks for detailing your experience with the MP-E 65. With my fondness for macros, I've been eyeing it for a while. I've heard the need for a close subject, need for light and the shallow DOF things. Focus stacking seems like a particularly good idea to increase the width of the focal plane.
I was testing the maximum working range of the MP-E 65 lens using a 1x magnification and pressing the camera lens up to the glass to see what object i can focus on. This branch of the gorgonian was the subject furtherest away from the glass that i could focus on. You can see even the polyps near the back are out of focus on this shot. The distance from the centre of the gorg to the front of the glass was about 13 1/2 inches.
IMG_2362
IMG_2362This shot of another branch of the gorg show the limited depth of field.
The polyps of this gorg i would estimate to be no longer than 1/2" in length just to give one a reference. The first shot is at f/2.8 - the second is at f/11 (sorry for the blur lines - my nps tank auto aerates at specific intervals)
menella1 closeup
IMG_2364
You can see - even at f11 - not all the polyps are within focus.
The polyps of this gorg i would estimate to be no longer than 1/2" in length just to give one a reference. The first shot is at f/2.8 - the second is at f/11 (sorry for the blur lines - my nps tank auto aerates at specific intervals)
menella1 closeup IMG_2364You can see - even at f11 - not all the polyps are within focus.
jroovers
New member
Great photos Noy! I don't think the composition is off IMO, but again these things are so subjective... I think a couple of the shots (the one torch shot for example, and maybe the orange hammer) could have benefitted from a tighter crop/composition, but I think they are very lovely shots!
Just curious as to the other adjustments you had to make to shoot at f11 vs f 2.8... I'm assuming you had to considerably jack up the ISO and lower the shutter speed to compensate.
One of these days when I'm in town I'm going to have to pay you a visit, you have some awesome looking corals and gorgs
This shot of another branch of the gorg show the limited depth of field.
The polyps of this gorg i would estimate to be no longer than 1/2" in length just to give one a reference. The first shot is at f/2.8 - the second is at f/11 (sorry for the blur lines - my nps tank auto aerates at specific intervals)
You can see - even at f11 - not all the polyps are within focus.
Just curious as to the other adjustments you had to make to shoot at f11 vs f 2.8... I'm assuming you had to considerably jack up the ISO and lower the shutter speed to compensate.
One of these days when I'm in town I'm going to have to pay you a visit, you have some awesome looking corals and gorgs
Thanks for the comments jordan - definitely if you get a chance swing by and see the setups. Had to jack the ISO up to 12500 for the f11 shot.
I was thinking about the composition comments and i think sometimes when your focus is on a specific coral - you almost think of it as a portrait and thats why one tends to put it in the center. Nonetheless the comments are useful as it makes me think a bit more about composition both during the shoot and editing.
here is the big tank - moved all the nps and sps to other tanks.
fts1
More of the mushroom - just can't get over the polyps on this thing (sure paid a pretty penny for it at RR)
IMG_2388
Translucent Frogspawn
transluscent frogspawn
Copperband
This little guy was cruising around so just shot him with the 100mm
cb1
I was thinking about the composition comments and i think sometimes when your focus is on a specific coral - you almost think of it as a portrait and thats why one tends to put it in the center. Nonetheless the comments are useful as it makes me think a bit more about composition both during the shoot and editing.
here is the big tank - moved all the nps and sps to other tanks.
fts1 More of the mushroom - just can't get over the polyps on this thing (sure paid a pretty penny for it at RR)
IMG_2388 Translucent Frogspawn
transluscent frogspawn Copperband
This little guy was cruising around so just shot him with the 100mm
cb1
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patheticsquid
New member
Great shots! I am going to need to stop by and checkout the tanks/your gear at some point. The MPE shots are at 1x-2x I am assuming. Edit: Scratch that, just remembered you are on full frame and I am shooting M4/3, very hard to tell. Its really hard to learn to use that lens, especially if you are trying to do a 5x or further with good depth of field.
I have found a few things that really help. The basic rules for aquarium macro are of utmost importance, like turning off absolutely all flow and ensuring there is no reflection. Specific to this lens, for maximum stability you want a heavy studio tripod with a geared head and a focus rail. Anything causing floor vibrations should be shut off (air conditioner, fans ect), as the shutter speed can be very long. I also use an 100 lumen Actinic flashlight to illuminate my subject and shorten the shutter speed.
I have found a few things that really help. The basic rules for aquarium macro are of utmost importance, like turning off absolutely all flow and ensuring there is no reflection. Specific to this lens, for maximum stability you want a heavy studio tripod with a geared head and a focus rail. Anything causing floor vibrations should be shut off (air conditioner, fans ect), as the shutter speed can be very long. I also use an 100 lumen Actinic flashlight to illuminate my subject and shorten the shutter speed.
