Battle of Jericho: 300000 shots

I went in Berlin for few weeks in September. I studied there the insect collections of Nature History Museum (formerly Humbolt's Museum). I used my Olympus OMD EM1.1 to photograph the types of wild bee species.

The type of a species is the reference specimen labeled by the first scientist who discovers the species. For big animals, like mammals, the type is generally more or less useless. But, for a most small species, it is very important to document this type specimen to avoid mismatch in the names. This is of tremendous importance for groups where there are a lot of species.

Wild bees count around 20000 species, which is two times more species than all birds of the world. The genus that I study now is Anthophora, named in USA "Digger Bees", in Australia "Banded Bees", in UK "Flower Bees". They are near bumblebees, with the noticeable difference that flower bees are solitary while bumblebees make colonies.

I crossed the fabulous number of 300000 shots with my Olympus camera. The species that I pictured at this moment was Anthophora richaensis, the Jericho's Flower bee. It is a tiny, very fast flying wild bee. Until now, all known specimens have been collected in the Jericho surroundings. It is a very rare species and only half a dozen specimens are ever been observed.

This is a picture of the profile of the species, FEMALE

The Jericho flower bee, Anthophora richaensis, female, profile

This is face of the female.

The Jericho flower bee, Anthophora richaensis, female, face

This is a detail of antenna, using e-zoom (ratio 4x).

Jericho flower bee, female, right antenna.

See the extremity of abdomen, with plumose hairs and thin sculpturing of the cuticle.  Using Raynox MSN-202 and e-zoom (ratio around 5x)

Jericho flower bee, female, extremity of abdomen

Now the male.

Jericho Flower bee, male, profile

Jericho flower bee, male, face

Jericho flower bee, male, extremity of abdomen.  The reddish tooth are species-specific.

You could see here a picture of the device. Olympus OMD EM1.1, Zuiko 60 mm 1:2.8, Additional achromatic lenses Marumi DHG 200, Raynox DCR-250 or Raynox MSN-202. 3 Flash lights Godox TT350o, a small tripod Cambo M225, a Macrorail IShoot MFR150.

The device, here with a Marumi achromat.  I use 55mm lens with a 55-46mm stepping ring to avoid the coma aberation of the edges.

It is surprisingly not heavy:

Thanks to MFT, it is not heavy: 3.245 kg

The total price of this device is quite low, around 2000 euros. The Olympus OMD EM1.2 provides a bit more convenient selection of flash refill time, but this is counterbalanced by the much less practical articulated EVF. The titling EVF is simple and straightforward to use, while the articulated one requires paying more attention in hand movements of the focusing rail, and the regard movements are not so straightforward. With the tilting EVF you do a simple way and back movement of the eyes, while with the articulated one, it needs a triangular way. It looks a tiny detail but think that I can work 10 to 12 hours a day with this device. The IQ difference between EM1.1 and EM1.2 is negligible for this task. I recently bought a second EM1.1, 4000 shots second hand, 350 euros (MPB.COM). Nice bargain for a so convenient and robust material. I love this Olympus.

I use diaphragm 1:5.6, as it gives the best resolution for this lens. The "Focus Differential" is 2 or 3 (space interval between shots). I generally take 40 to 80 shots for stacking each picture.

Stacking is performed with Helicon Focus 7, method C (Pyramid). I also use Zerene stacker for some picture, when Helicon does not make the job (it occurs sometimes).

I use very often the e-zoom x2. When stacking, the lost of resolution is largely compensated by the "mean" effect. Moreover, when you e-zoom, you avoid the edges of the lens. It gives a noticeable advantage with the Raynox lenses, as they show an important coma aberration at edges. E-zooming completely avoids this. Marumi achromatics are better corrected and show generally better quality. You can use them without e-zoom.

Before to use the Olympus OMD EM1.1 for stacking, I used Nikon D7200 with Stackshot rail. My present Olympus device is much more convenient, cheaper and lighter. It allows me to take a flight with my whole stacking material in hand-luggage. I also made some stacking tests with the Nikon D850 of a friend but it is not so convenient, by far... and much heavier, while the final result is not conspicuously better.

Did I wrote already that I love the Olympus OMD EM1?

Fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing them and your technique. Bill

Great photos, thanks for sharing. I am also interested in Anthophora too, but more from a naturalist point of view. That Jericho bee looks fascinating! I see you mention the Oly 60mm, but what is the 55m lens you mention?

Macro and stacking is a marvelous use of m4/3. I just bought an EM-1 II and I think my success rate will be even higher with faster AF. I photograph butterflies and bees, especially Bumble Bees when they are approachable in the wild during hikes. I find that if one drops down to the level of the bees and shoots laterally rather than vertically most species have a pretty high tolerance for my presence, but it varies. That can go as low as about 8 -12" with the 60 macro (these are of course not stacked). We have 52 species of Bumble Bee in the Western US and 20-25 in Washington.

Just last week I "sponsored" a talk by an experienced researcher at our local outdoor club, recently retired from the WDNR, on pollination and specialization of plants and animals. It was a fascinating talk. Bees are so extremely important in the natural environment, as are all pollinators.

Bombus sylvicola or Forest Bumble Bee of mid to moderately high mountain areas here on the mint Monardella odoratissima which seems to be a very popular plant.

Apparently you don't absolutely need the pin to hold them still?

Nice shot Gary!

Pierre! Great shots and thanks for sharing your rig and technique!

Bee - youtiful.

You must have shot at a high shutter time. The bees look like they're not even moving.

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Macro and stacking is a marvelous use of m4/3. I just bought an EM-1 II and I think my success rate will be even higher with faster AF. I photograph butterflies and bees, especially Bumble Bees when they are approachable in the wild during hikes. I find that if one drops down to the level of the bees and shoots laterally rather than vertically most species have a pretty high tolerance for my presence, but it varies. That can go as low as about 8 -12" with the 60 macro (these are of course not stacked). We have 52 species of Bumble Bee in the Western US and 20-25 in Washington.

Just last week I "sponsored" a talk by an experienced researcher at our local outdoor club, recently retired from the WDNR, on pollination and specialization of plants and animals. It was a fascinating talk. Bees are so extremely important in the natural environment, as are all pollinators.

Bombus sylvicola or Forest Bumble Bee of mid to moderately high mountain areas here on the mint Monardella odoratissima which seems to be a very popular plant.

Splendid picture.  This bumblebee is fairly abundant everywhere in the north of N. America.  It is also one of the prettiest species.  You have been lucky to shot it at this low speed.

Generally, bumblebees offer this opportunity : they forage hard but their movement can stop when their head is deep in the flower.  That's the good moment to shot, as you did.

Other wild bees are never stopping their movement.  Surprisingly the common honey bee is quite difficult to shot as it is a nervous species.

Then the flash is often THE ONLY solution.

Honey bee on Rhododendron ferrugineus. Oly OMD EM1.1, 60mm macro, ring flash Oly T8

Pierre

DrHook59 wrote:

Great photos, thanks for sharing. I am also interested in Anthophora too, but more from a naturalist point of view. That Jericho bee looks fascinating! I see you mention the Oly 60mm, but what is the 55m lens you mention?

Indeed, my caption looks confusing. I use the Olympus 60mm 1:2.8 macro lens for all lab work. To reach ratio higher than 1:1, I first intensively tried with extension tube.

I discovered that it emphasize dramatically the diffraction. I switched then to Raynox. However, the frontal lens of Raynox has a small diameter, actually smaller than the already small 46mm of the Oympus 60mm. Than means that you optically use the very edges of the Raynox lens. And it clearly makes a terrible coma aberation.

The Marumi achromatics are available in various diameters. I decided to buy a Marumi clearly larger than the Olympus 60mm in order that only the middle of the lens would be optically used. I chosen 55mm wide Marumi because it fit with the screw diameter of the Olympus T8 ring flash.

It appears as a perfect choice as 1) the IQ of the Marumi is clearly better than Raynox (and it is valid for all Marumi achromatics vs all Raynox ones); 2) than to this wider diameter it dos not show coma aberation.

I also tried an Hoya achomatic same diameter, also low coma aberation, but very strong chromatic one.

You can use the Marumi 200 (+5 diopters)

https://www.amazon.com/Marumi-DHG-55mm-Achromat-Lens/dp/B003DIR5DQ

or the Marumi 330 (+3 diopters)

https://www.amazon.com/Marumi-Achromat-Macro-Close-Filter/dp/B00SNM8BG2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Marumi+330&qid=1574842152&s=electronics&sr=1-2

Be care to order the diameter you need.  Not everywhere available.

You can stack Marumi lenses.  You will lose some IQ but not a lot.  You can even stack Raynox and Marumi.  Just try what fits with your need.

THIS use of achromatics is radically different from FF.  With FF you generally do not care of diffraction and then, you use extension tubes instead.

Pierre

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Macro and stacking is a marvelous use of m4/3. I just bought an EM-1 II and I think my success rate will be even higher with faster AF. I photograph butterflies and bees, especially Bumble Bees when they are approachable in the wild during hikes. I find that if one drops down to the level of the bees and shoots laterally rather than vertically most species have a pretty high tolerance for my presence, but it varies. That can go as low as about 8 -12" with the 60 macro (these are of course not stacked). We have 52 species of Bumble Bee in the Western US and 20-25 in Washington.

Just last week I "sponsored" a talk by an experienced researcher at our local outdoor club, recently retired from the WDNR, on pollination and specialization of plants and animals. It was a fascinating talk. Bees are so extremely important in the natural environment, as are all pollinators.

Bombus sylvicola or Forest Bumble Bee of mid to moderately high mountain areas here on the mint Monardella odoratissima which seems to be a very popular plant.

To make you jealous. The same species pictured in NE. Siberia this summer. I shot it with Olympus OMD EM1.2 with Panasonic 45-175mm and Marumi 330 (+3), fantastic combination.

Bombus lapponicus foraging Comarum palustris. Chokurdakh, NE Siberia, July 2019

Bombus sylvicola is actually a subspecies of the Polar species called Bombus lapponicus. In SIberia, it is Bombus lapponicus lapponicus, while in N. America it is Bombus lapponicus sylvicola.

I LOVE also the Olympus T8 ring flash. I modified it bu replacing its original reflector with a plastic tuna-fish-mayonnaise box. I know that it sounds weird but it makes perfect results.

In the (very cold) SIberian lab, using the Olympus T8 ring flash modified with a tuna-mayonnaise box as reflector.

Be aware of this extraordinary flash. See here:

http://www.alanwood.net/photography/olympus/t8-ring-flash.html

It could be found on ebay, very often WITHOUT the original reflector, but as you may see you can replace it with cheap things.

Pierre