[photolady95]

You need software that does stitching, like hugin or similar.

[noelcmn]

[photolady95]

i might be back here shortly. I just bought an AF Tamron 90mm f2.8, waiting for shipping information and got it for as much as I sold the old one I had, the Adaptall 2 model 72B.

[Arjay Bee]

i might be back here shortly. I just bought an AF Tamron 90mm f2.8, waiting for shipping information and got it for as much as I sold the old one I had, the Adaptall 2 model 72B.

You will love it - I had a Macro Takumar 50mm (the one that went to 1:1) and an s-m-c Macro Takumar 100mm and while both great, sold them and bought the Tamron 90mm. It is so effortless to use. As an A lens with aperture ring it can also be used on the older camera mounts like my MX.

The Takumars are great but I just found the adaptor ring to be another step.

I have also subsequently purchased an M 50 4 Macro as this lens is so sharp and can be used for other things in addition to macro.

---

Last edited by Arjay Bee; 04-16-2020 at 02:29 PM. Reason: More info

[photolady95]

You will love it - I had a Macro Takumar 50mm (the one that went to 1:1) and an s-m-c Macro Takumar 100mm and while both great, sold them and bought the Tamron 90mm. It is so effortless to use. As an A lens with aperture ring it can also be used on the older camera mounts like my MX.

The Takumars are great but I just found the adaptor ring to be another step.

I have also subsequently purchased an M 50 4 Macro as this lens is so sharp and can be used for other things in addition to macro.

My adaptall was a p.k. adapter model and this one as auto focus one is surely going to be easier to use. At least I can choose aperture in camera.

[Nightwatch]

Somehow I missed this thread, but nicely Photolady95 pointed me this way! I shave shot quite a few macros over the years (Starting with the *ist DS back in 2005) , and here are some of my faves.


Great Blue Skimmer, Libellula vibrans (3 shots focus stacked)


Southern Pine Sawyer Beetle, Monochamus titillator


Nut Weevil, genus Curculio


Paper wasps, Mischocyttarus mexicanus cubicola, AKA Double Trouble!


Grizzled Mantis, Gonatista grisea


Northern Dusk Singing Cicada, Megatibicen auletes


Juniper Stink Bug, Banasa euchlora


And this one from this week is the Black Caterpillar Hunter, Calosoma sayi


I have a lot more here
https://imgur.com/gallery/he5MP

And this year's macros are here.
https://imgur.com/a/RgnAERZ

[photolady95]

Those bugs are amazing. Thanks for joining us.

I started this thread in 2011 and it has grown a lot since then. The only rules i emposed were no over large photos and please limit each post to six photos each.

Otherwise, have fun.

[K2 to K50]

Somehow I missed this thread, but nicely Photolady95 pointed me this way! I shave shot quite a few macros over the years (Starting with the *ist DS back in 2005) , and here are some of my faves.


Great Blue Skimmer, Libellula vibrans (3 shots focus stacked)


Southern Pine Sawyer Beetle, Monochamus titillator


Nut Weevil, genus Curculio


Paper wasps, Mischocyttarus mexicanus cubicola, AKA Double Trouble!


Grizzled Mantis, Gonatista grisea


Northern Dusk Singing Cicada, Megatibicen auletes


Juniper Stink Bug, Banasa euchlora


And this one from this week is the Black Caterpillar Hunter, Calosoma sayi


I have a lot more here
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

And this year's macros are here.
2020 Macros - Album on Imgur

Nightwatch, these shots are amazing. The Great Blue Skimmer close-up is mind-blowing! Have you used any special magnifier equipment (eg the Raynor lenses) or extension tubes? Or reverse-mounting lenses?


I have a few butterfly shots, and a couple of grasshopper shots, and maybe one or two bee shots I feel OK with (just OK, not wildly triumphant), but so far, anything smaller and my shots all leave me feeling dis-gruntled - on focus, especially. Tiny spiders in particular, perfect focus seems to elude me. Despite the occasional attempt at flash, the use of tripod, apertures around F8-F14, mirror lock-up, shutter release cable, etc - in other words, all the theoretically right uses of my KP's arsenal of features.

[photolady95]

Nightwatch, these shots are amazing. The Great Blue Skimmer close-up is mind-blowing! Have you used any special magnifier equipment (eg the Raynor lenses) or extension tubes? Or reverse-mounting lenses?


I have a few butterfly shots, and a couple of grasshopper shots, and maybe one or two bee shots I feel OK with (just OK, not wildly triumphant), but so far, anything smaller and my shots all leave me feeling dis-gruntled - on focus, especially. Tiny spiders in particular, perfect focus seems to elude me. Despite the occasional attempt at flash, the use of tripod, apertures around F8-F14, mirror lock-up, shutter release cable, etc - in other words, all the theoretically right uses of my KP's arsenal of features.

Are you shooting in AF mode? Macro works best if you use MF, moving your camera back and forth to the subject til it's in focus. Do you have a dedicated macro lens, like the DA F 100mm 2.8? If you have a manual dedicated macro lens, you can use CIF (Catch in Focus) with it. I do this when I use a manual macro lens. They (members) say this CIF is for birds in flight but you can achieve the same thing if you use it for bugs, just moved the lens across the bug ever so slightly until the KP tells you it's in focus, the press the shutter button.

I've heard CIF is easier if you use Live View but I could never focus with Live View, I have always used the viewfinder because in my film days we didn't have LV.

I believe about the only bug shooter here who uses AF is WPresto, aka Walt.

[K2 to K50]

Are you shooting in AF mode? Macro works best if you use MF, moving your camera back and forth to the subject til it's in focus. Do you have a dedicated macro lens, like the DA F 100mm 2.8? If you have a manual dedicated macro lens, you can use CIF (Catch in Focus) with it. I do this when I use a manual macro lens. They (members) say this CIF is for birds in flight but you can achieve the same thing if you use it for bugs, just moved the lens across the bug ever so slightly until the KP tells you it's in focus, the press the shutter button.

I've heard CIF is easier if you use Live View but I could never focus with Live View, I have always used the viewfinder because in my film days we didn't have LV.

I believe about the only bug shooter here who uses AF is WPresto, aka Walt.

Thanks for the reply, Photolady95. I must confess, my 76yr old eyes are not brilliant in manual focus. I have 4 or 5 legacy film era lenses, but found I was no longer able to obtain a reliable success rate with them - particularly a 135mm and 200mm lens.

A little better with the 85mm F2 lens: see my 2 pics half way down this page
Pentax M 85mm f/2 samples - Page 4 - PentaxForums.com

And the occasional good luck with the Pentax M 50mm F4:

Refugee from Whipper-Snipping - Pentax User Photo Gallery

But, since acquiring the KP and the 100mm F2.8 Macro, that is my goto for attempted Macros, and I use autofocus almost exclusively;
Just a bug - PentaxForums.com
and
A Grasshopper - PentaxForums.com

as examples, with these two shot today (both crops of the originals)



The moth is maybe not too bad, but the spider - perhaps barely worth-while keeping except as a record of "still trying to get there". I shot about 8-10 shots of this spider, including 1 or two with the built-in flash on the KP, and this was the best of the lot, but still leaving a lot to be desired.

Tripod, shutter release cable, Mirror Lockup were all used. I am now sorry I did not try manual focus and Catch in Focus, as perhaps there was just enough breeze (although I couldn't feel any at the time) to move the spider's web by a millimetre or so.

But it is these smaller spiders I seem to have most problems with - and perhaps the autofocus starts to falter at this level? I did try some live view focusing on a different spider recently, but that was on more breezy day, and the thing was constantly moving in and out of focus - probably the perfect time to try Catch in Focus, but on-the-spot, I couldn't remember where to find it in the menu system!!!!

One thing I have started doing recently is removing the UV filters I had bought for all my new autofocus lens after reading a suggestion to do this somewhere in these forums (may have even been by yourself?? Not sure.

It is obvious after recent attempts on smaller spiders that I need to try some other techniques. Perhaps a macro rail. Does the magnification in Live View only jump between normal and 10x? If so I have not been able to find out how to use it, and 10x makes it very difficult to keep the camera trained on the intended subject.

Keen to receive any suggestions.

[photolady95]

This was shot using CIF. I have Essential Tremors so my hands shake a lot, and I'm 70 so I'm not seeing well either. I just move the camera in and out and across the subject to get CIF to work on my manual lenses. As you see below, it works great for macro of bugs.



And the album that shot was in:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1photolady/albums/72157694598704921

[noelcmn]

[K2 to K50]

This was shot using CIF. I have Essential Tremors so my hands shake a lot, and I'm 70 so I'm not seeing well either. I just move the camera in and out and across the subject to get CIF to work on my manual lenses. As you see below, it works great for macro of bugs.



And the album that shot was in:
Single in May 2018 Pentax A 50mm f2 + DCR-250 | Flickr

CIF has indeed worked very well - I checked the image (and others) in Flickr, and the detail is excellent. Thank you - I will give this feature a work-out next time I go hunting small critters.

[photolady95]

CIF has indeed worked very well - I checked the image (and others) in Flickr, and the detail is excellent. Thank you - I will give this feature a work-out next time I go hunting small critters.

Thanks for the compliment!
Yes, try it yourself next time you're hunting bugs. Remember to focus on spiders eyes.

[K2 to K50]

..........

I've heard CIF is easier if you use Live View but I could never focus with Live View, I have always used the viewfinder because in my film days we didn't have LV.

Been doing some trial CIF. I have also tried using Live View for the first time.

Not sure whether some of my CIF attempts were in Live View.

Have since found this thread which clearly seems to say CIF doesn't work in Live View.

DId find the magnification in Live View helped to check focus, but was tricky to use if even a slight breeze moved the spider's web!! Is the magnification feature in Live View adjustable, or are we restricted to normal and 10x??

Another couple of insect macro tries:

This fellow had just caught a butterfly while I watched (without camera!!!). By the time I got the camera, set up on tripod, etc this is all that was left. I think all the white "dust" particles all over the spider might be the remains of the butterfly wings!



Another type of bug.



EDIT: i realised I had omitted the link to the thread re CIF and Live View: now added to the words "this thread" above.