Well I have previously been unable to really sit down and play with my new to me (2nd owner) K20d. I set up the tripod, threw on a 30mm extension tube, my FA 50/1.4 and fired up my flash. The results are pretty darned good compared to what I was able to do with my K100d in the past.


First is unadulterated, second is also unadulterated other than being a crop at 100%.





I need to dust off the orchid blooms with some compressed air and try again.

[MoiVous]

Pretty good for a first go.

BTW, how did you set up the flash? ie reflector/bounce/Reduced power/PTTL etc

You've got me wondering what I'll be able to do when my extension tubes arrive

[matiki]

Pretty good for a first go.

BTW, how did you set up the flash? ie reflector/bounce/Reduced power/PTTL etc

You've got me wondering what I'll be able to do when my extension tubes arrive

Thanks.

I just had my flash in the hotshoe, bounced off the ceiling. Subject was about 9" away, so there's a shadow from the bounce that you can see in the first image. I'm going to try to recompose the shot this weekend with the flash off-camera to see if I can get rid of that shadow. It was also in my kitchen, which has a lot of light to begin with. The flash got rid of the warm tone I was seeing under the overhead lights, and also let me increase my DOF with a smaller aperture.

When you compose with extension tubes it can be quite tricky. Your range of focus can become quite limited - not your DOF, that's like normal, but your focus ring may only focus in the first 1/10th of travel or so. After that there's no range at which it's in focus. That said, this is a much better result than when I used to use a reverse coupler or macro ring.

[Ash]

Very detailed macro.
The front-flashing has certainly lit the subject well, though not my favourite when harsh shadows are cast.
You certainly did well with the focusing and DoF control. Good tip on how you found focus with the ext tubes.

[gawan]

Wonderful detail!

[matiki]

Thanks Ash, gawan.

I went to experiment with the shot again, only to find my cat had offe'd the orchids!

Ah well.