Telephoto Lenses for Bee Photography

I have a superb Sigma 105mm macro lens which I use to photograph bees. But sometimes I want to get closer. An example would be bees near the ground. So I've tried telephoto lenses with both diopter lenses screwed into the front and with extension tubes between the body and the telephoto lens.

The diopter lenses have not worked well with autofocus, which I like for fast moving bees.

But the extension tubes autofocus well and deliver sharpness which generally equals the Sigma after moderate sharpening. I shoot at f11, which works best with the Sigma and with the telephoto lenses.

I mostly use a 16mm extension tube, but 21mm works well with my 70-300 and my 70-350, at long zoom.

I have found success with all of the following:

Tamron 28-200, 70-180 and 70-300. I bought the 70-180 because it was reputed to focus faster. But I don't notice a difference.

Sony 70-350 and 100-400. The 70-350 is APS-C but I always use a small crop out of the center.

I have used these lenses with Sony A6400, A7RIV and A1. Results are similar because they all have relatively close pixels per mm. The A1 "finds" the bees (eye) best and is the fastest.

I test for closest focus on a ruler and it's in the ballpark of a 3" subject width, which is magnification = 2:1 (subject:sensor), and 4" subject width (2.7:1).

Here are some examples. They are not necessarily the sharpest example from each lens.




Sigma 105 macro




Sony 100-400




Tamron 28-200




Tamron 70-180




Tamron 70-300




Sony 70-350

Awesome......

lovely photos of an apparently cooperative / patient subject (single photo subject and session, I presume)

NancyP said:

lovely photos of an apparently cooperative / patient subject (single photo subject and session, I presume)

Click to expand...

Are you joking NancyP?

AeroPhotographer said:

I test for closest focus on a ruler and it's in the ballpark of a 3" subject width, which is magnification = 2:1 (subject:sensor), and 4" subject width (2.7:1).

Click to expand...

I think these magnifications are usually referred to as 1:2 and 1:2.7.

You might want to refer to https://www.dpreview.com/articles/6519974919/macro-photography-understanding-magnification.

AeroPhotographer said:

I test for closest focus on a ruler and it's in the ballpark of a 3" subject width, which is magnification = 2:1 (subject:sensor), and 4" subject width (2.7:1).

Click to expand...

Not sure how you are determining magnification, but one of the best ways to do it is to simply take a photo of a metric ruler. Divide the width of your sensor by the number of millimeters that you see in the photo.

gardenersassistant said:

AeroPhotographer said:

I test for closest focus on a ruler and it's in the ballpark of a 3" subject width, which is magnification = 2:1 (subject:sensor), and 4" subject width (2.7:1).

Click to expand...

I think these magnifications are usually referred to as 1:2 and 1:2.7.

You might want to refer to https://www.dpreview.com/articles/6519974919/macro-photography-understanding-magnification.

Click to expand...

The author is correct, in that magnification has to do with how large the subject looks when projected onto the image plane. So a 22mm wide subject, projected 22mm wide on an full frame sensor that is 36mm wide, would be a life size (1:1) image. That same subject projected 22mm wide on an APS-C sensor that is 22mm wide would still be a life size (1:1) image. Likewise that same 22mm wide subject projected 22mm wide onto an micro 4/3 sensor that is 17mm wide would still be a life size (1:1) image. Granted the subject will look larger in the frame as the sensor size drops, but the mag does not change.

Wow, the number of times I have tried to explain what is and what is not macro and have gotten crucified on these forums. Nice to see an article on this site that backs up what I have been saying all along...

I've written this article about extending telephoto lenses for insect photography:


Alan