I forgot my macro lens

[brian1208]

so had to make do with cropping images from my Panasonic 35-100 f2.8 on the EM-1

We went on a coach trip to Rodmarton Manor in the Cotswolds today to photograph snowdrops, crocuses and anything else that was open.

Like a fool I forgot to pack my macro lens and of course the bumbles and hovers were in action so all I could do was get to the minimum focal distance, use the smallest single point focus and hope that the crops would show some detail.

I don't think its done too badly but what do you reckon (I won't forget the macro in future though, it was very frustrating )

This is what I started with



and these are what I managed to get by a massive crop (these are all 100% crop un-resized)




It was loaded with mites but on reading up about them I see that they are essentially harmless to the bee, feeding on bits of pollen and the like, only causing a problem when they literally overload the bee and make flying difficult!



It was nice to see a little Dronefly out too as these are my first indicators of Spring (our Queen Buff tail Bumble tends to feed all Winter if its warm enough in our garden)



As I said, not up to proper macro standard but not bad record shots I reckon

[banjukes]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

fantastic shots for non macro!

[pandora]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

Brian - That's why you need an XZ-2 with inbuilt super macro F1.8 to within 1cm of subject.

That said, the pany did justice to all..

[Wee man]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

Good details see it has mites on number 3 .

[brian1208]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

Brian - That's why you need an XZ-2 with inbuilt super macro F1.8 to within 1cm of subject.

That said, the pany did justice to all..

That, or a better memory! (I was sure I'd packed it )

[Greytop]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

I think you and the 35-100 have done an excellent job there Brian.

[Phill D]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

They look excellent Brian. It's difficult to work out how much better the macro would have been. What would you have expected to have been the improvement from a dedicated lens?

[David Morison]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

Excellent close ups. In all honesty I don't think a Macro lens would have improved on these, you may have got closer but that can spook the subject and cause lighting problems.

David

[brian1208]

Re: I forgot my macro lens

Thanks both, as an ardent "macroist" I'm sure that the results would have been much better with the macro lens (I use the Oly 60mm), the eyes of the Hoverfly would have shown the reticulations and the hairs + details of the funny little paddle structure on the front, for example

these aren't too bad but hopefully I will soon be able to share some images of what I consider to be "decent" macro images of my favourite subjects

As to scaring them off, I have learnt how to approach them so that I can practically (and literally) have the lens a few mm from their noses and they ignore me (and have trained a few others in these techniques as well ) Its all down to the angle of approach and carefully noting the direction of any shadows and where they fall

As a quick example (not very good but one I grabbed out of a convenient file), this is an equivalent 100% crop of a Bumble Bee feeding on the flower of a Loganberry, shot from behind the petals of the flower. It shows the opened proboscis of the Bumble Bee with the feeding tube coming out of the center and the pair of little feelers on the end that it uses to manipulate nectar into the tube