I started photography not too long ago in October 2001, when I first bought a digital camera - Olympus C700 UZ. Insect photography was the first area I plunged into. Armed with just the camera, I was expecting wonderful results for my 1st trip. Naturally I was disappointed. Realising that taking pictures of bugs wasn't as simple, I began researching and asking around for pointers. A close-up filter was the first acquisition I made to beef up my arsernal, and my subsequent trips started to produce better results. There was some progress in my photography skills after each trip out there and I began to capture images that I am truely proud of. Although they weren't anything extraordinary compared to those taken by the experts out there, but it was wonderful knowing what this little prosumer camera can be capable of.After eight months of usage, I began to realise the limitations of the Olympus. One of them is the lack of a hotshoe, which results in its inability to attach an external flash. The workaround of attaching a flash bracket was too troublesome for me. So I proceeded to search for a better camera. After two months of research, I landed myself with the FujiFilm FinePix S602 Z. Although compromising on optical zoom, improvements in other areas made it a worthwhile switch. And I've never looked back since. The S602 offers a whole lot more over the C700 in terms of features and capabilities.
Below is the list of equipments and accessories I bring along when I photograph insects:
- FujiFilm S602 Z 3.1 Mp digital camera
- Fuji original 55-55mm adapter tube to allow attachment of filters
- HOYA Close-Up Filters and Macro Lens
- Vivitar 285HV flash
- Nikon SB-24 flash
- Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce diffuser
- Sony LSF-H58 Lens Hood
In insect macro photography, close-up filters and macro lens are some of the most essential items to compliment any digital cameras. In general, a digital camera's built-in macro capability is unable to achieve a magnification good enough to capture fine details of most insects. The macro mode of most cameras require you to be as close as 2-3 cm away from the subject. This is way too close, as most insects will naturally flee when something gets this near. Zooming doesn't help too, because the magnification is too little. Take the S602 for example, zooming all the way up (210mm) requires a minimum distance of around 90cm to focus. At that kind of distance, the magnification is not sufficient.
A close-up filter or macro lens has a wonderful capability that solves this issue. It actually reduces the distance the camera requires to focus. When this distance is reduced, the magnification is increased. Imagine youself looking at an object at a distance with your eyes. Now, move your eyes closer to the object. Does it seems bigger? Theoretically, close-up filters and macro lens have a fixed focusing distance (depending on the diopter rating), regardless of what camera you use. How do we know calculate this distance? Mathematically, you can calculate this by dividing 1 metre by the diopter rating and you'll get the focusing distance (in metre).
Take for example I have a +4 close-up filter, my focusing distance should be:
where
d is the diopter rating of the close-up filter or macro lens
But in practice, the actual distance may not be exactly as calculated. For example, when a +4 filter is used on the S602, instead of a focusing distance of 25cm, I get approximately 22cm. With a +2 filter, I'm getting around 35cm instead of the supposedly 50cm (1m divided by 2 = 50cm). You can conduct a quick check by switching to manual focus mode (with the close-up filter mounted on), zoom all the way up, then move the camera to and fro until you see the subject sharp in focus in the LCD. That should be the approximate distance you can focus at.
The settings I'm providing below are what I used for my FujiFilm FinePix S602 Z, Nikon SB-24 and Vivitar 285 HV. However, these settings can be applied to any other digital cameras and flash in general. Take them as a reference and try it out.
The S602 is generally an excellent camera for taking macros. Some of the features that render it suitable are:
- Wider Aperture range (F2.8 - F11) - F11 provides sufficient Depth Of Field (DOF) to compensate for the loss when using the close-up filters.
- Fast focusing speed - Extremely useful when attempting to shoot active insects.
- AF Area - Allows flexibility in composing the frame by selecting one of the 49 AF points.
The following are some default settings I normally set for my camera:
- Shooting mode: Manual
- Macro mode: Off
- Resolution: 6 megapixels
- Quality level: Fine
- Sensitivity: ISO 160
- Metering: Multi 64-division
- White Balance: Auto
Below are two pictures of my S602 camera together with the Sony Lens Hood and my recently acquired Nikon SB-24 Speedlight.
An external flash with the Omni-bounce diffuser are always used together. With the flash head tilted at approximately 45 degrees up, the omninally diffused flash will help light up the subject (much like actual sunlight) so that details on the insect can be captured. Harsh direct flash tends to wash out these details. In addition, the background will also be illuminated instead of being black in color. The good thing about the Vivitar 285HV and Nikon SB-24 is they both have variable-power modes. I normally select 1/4, 1/8 (only for SB-24) or 1/16 power, depending on the lighting conditions. Angle of the flash head is also adjusted according to the flash intensity required.
Here are two examples that demonstrate the results of using the omni-bounce diffuser. These are taken under extremely low lighting environment, with thick surrounding vegetations obstructing the sunlight.
| Next > |