Macro on a Micro Four Thirds

A couple years back I was at Edward Gardens taking a few shots when I saw a girl with a (then) new Olympus EP-1 with an adapted Nikkor 50mm f1.8 trying to take shots of a caterpillar.  Unfortunately the lens minimal focal distance didn't let her get anywhere close enough, so I decided to let her try out my Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 that I happened to be using.  

The results on her camera were outstanding.  The bright light levels let her keep the ISO (and noise) down and still retain a fast shutter speed, while the 2 stops of extra depth of field created by the small sensor allowed her to get excellent sharpness across the whole of the caterpillar, even at f4. 

I tried to take a photo of the same caterpillar a few minutes later, and could not get a shot anywhere near as good.  The thin depth of field made this very tricky, and stopping down meant I had shutter speed issues to content with.

I suspect running this lens, or another full frame Nikon mount macro of some sort with the Nikon V1 or J1 with a F mount adapter would yield truly excellent macro results, as long as there was enough light around.

Nikon D90 and Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro

The pick of the Nikon Manual Focus lenses

As mentioned in recent posts, the great thing about the Nikon D200, D300 and D7000 is that they meter with all Nikon mount Ai and Ai-S manual focus lenses.  The D700 also meters, and these lenses are just superb on full frame.

Here’s my pick of the must have Manual Focus lenses:

1.       Nikkor 20mm f4 –Classic tiny wide angle with great performance (about $250)

2.       Nikkor 24mm f2 – Until recently Nikon’s fastest ever 24mm (about $350)

3.       Nikkor 50mm f1.2 – Ultra wide aperture standard lens with super thin depth of field (about $450)

4.       Nikkor 55mm f2.8 Macro – Unbelievably sharp Macro lens.  Does 1:1 with an adapter (about $200)

5.       Nikkor 85mm f2 – Fabulous telephoto portrait lens – small, sharp, excellent (about $230)

6.       Nikon 100mm f2.8 Series E – Extremely compact and sharp tele lens and a bargain (about ($100)

7.       Nikkor 105mm f2.5 – Another great classic portrait lens ($160-$230)

8.       Nikkor 135mm f2 – Fast, sharp and reasonably priced (about $300)


9.       Tamron 90mm f2.5 Adaptall Macro – Lovely, sharp Macro. Does 1:1 with an adapter (about $170)

Nikon D2X with Nikon 135mm f2 Ai-S lens, shot at f2.8

There's some lenses not on this list that many will say are worthy, but in tomorrow's post you'll see why they have been left off....

10 Stops Bright

I shot this purple daisy in my parent’s garden in Australia.  In the summer time it is extremely bright there and can cause incredible contrast.  This makes it really difficult to do landscapes in broad daylight, but controlled contrast can also work very well.

With this photo I held the daisy up by hand in the sunlight and photographed it against the shady background.  I used spot metering to get a more accurate light reading on the daisy, but even still I think it is over exposed.  I think there could easily be over 10 stops difference between the daisy and the background (just the faintest hint of a background can be seen), and it makes the daisy really pop.

Red lens

A while back I was taking some Macro shots of some camera equipment and got this very cool red flare in this Nikon 55mm f1.2 lens.  Very unusual.  I’m pretty sure it’s caused by the bounce flash from the SB-800.

 All up though, its a good shot as the composition and writing work with the unusual flare.

Banksia focus – Which is better?

I have no idea which of these shots is better.  Does focusing on the tips of the flower or the centre of the flower work best?  No idea, but I like both of them.

The banksia is indigenous to Australia and this very healthy plant is growing in my parent’s large garden in Mt Gambier, South Australia.  

I shot this with a Nikon D2X and a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 manual focus lens at f2.8.  Even at f2.8 this lens is excellent for sharpness colour rendition.  If you find one, buy it - they are a bargain given their level of performance.

Sparkly

One of the interesting things about African Violets is that they are very sparkly when viewed close up.  It’s like they’ve all just had a fight with a can of glitter.  

The Nikon 55mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor (with which this shot was taken) is one of those lenses that is always outstandingly sharp – a bench mark for which all other Nikon lenses are judged.  You can see from this huge crop just how sharp it continues to be.