Monarch butterfly slow motion video

Here is a 2-1/2 minute video I shot Friday in a friend's front yard.

This was shot at 200 fps in 1080p h.265 10 bit OMLog400, at 1/400th shutter, f/8, iso 800, in the shade except for the last 1/3.  Tripod, manual focus, fixed shutter/aperture/iso/wb, no filter, no vnd, using an Olympus OM-1 and 150-400 Pro zoom lens with 1.25x engaged and 1.4x added.  OMDS Log400 LUT applied in post, no other adjustments, straight out of camera.

The subject distance was 3-5 feet from the front of the lens, roughly.  The most difficult task is to focus accurately before the insect moves on to another spot.  I've been practicing nearly every day for the last few weeks, so I am getting better at it.

I am amazed at how much magnification I can get from this lens/camera combination.  I tried using an external 7" monitor instead of the viewfinder to get a better view of the focus but there is no HDMI out signal at this frame rate, so I will continue with the evf.

I may try the Sony A1 with a Tamron 150-500 zoom but I don't think the close focus limit is anywhere near the small sensor Olympus setup.  The codecs and resolution might be better, not sure yet.  If not, the Olympus setup is certainly good enough for grand kid entertainment quality nature videos.  And it is very portable.

Late model camera/video gear is really good for us amateurs with some time available to learn how to use it!   I'm getting there.  Thanks for taking a look.

Joe Lynch wrote:

Here is a 2-1/2 minute video I shot Friday in a friend's front yard.

This was shot at 200 fps in 1080p h.265 10 bit OMLog400, at 1/400th shutter, f/8, iso 800, in the shade except for the last 1/3. Tripod, manual focus, fixed shutter/aperture/iso/wb, no filter, no vnd, using an Olympus OM-1 and 150-400 Pro zoom lens with 1.25x engaged and 1.4x added. OMDS Log400 LUT applied in post, no other adjustments, straight out of camera.

The subject distance was 3-5 feet from the front of the lens, roughly. The most difficult task is to focus accurately before the insect moves on to another spot. I've been practicing nearly every day for the last few weeks, so I am getting better at it.

I am amazed at how much magnification I can get from this lens/camera combination. I tried using an external 7" monitor instead of the viewfinder to get a better view of the focus but there is no HDMI out signal at this frame rate, so I will continue with the evf.

I may try the Sony A1 with a Tamron 150-500 zoom but I don't think the close focus limit is anywhere near the small sensor Olympus setup. The codecs and resolution might be better, not sure yet. If not, the Olympus setup is certainly good enough for grand kid entertainment quality nature videos. And it is very portable.

Late model camera/video gear is really good for us amateurs with some time available to learn how to use it! I'm getting there. Thanks for taking a look.

It looks very nice Joe.

Interesting to see the very intricate behaviour at these types of range/magnification. Maybe some wider framing mixed-in would have been nice too {just my own preference though}, but either way, it is an interesting watch.

I have pretty much decided to switch entirely to insect video now {after 50 plus years of bird stills/video}, so am tweaking my gear-selections for that purpose.

The close focus of my 400mm telephoto is 4.5m, so both my 300mm options {50-300mm and 300mm prime} are effectively longer and more compact than my 400mm, for this type of purpose....both having a 2.5m mfd.

My only tube seems to have limited use for mfd with these lenses, so i am trying to decide whether the Nisi close-up lens maybe a worthwhile purchase....as i do have both an external {and in-camera} tc option available to help increase image size, if needed....along with my Nikkor 35-70mm ais, which has a nice close-focus feature {not macro}.

My external monitor does let me visually manual focus at 1080/120 and 180fps, as my G9 is internally converting the video to 1080/60 {or 1080/30} before it passes through the external monitor....which is a big help for my old eyes with focus magnification/peaking.

I don't know if your Olympus set-up is able to give the 150-400mm manual-focus ring a mechanical 'feel' to its rotation....via an internal setting?

I personally find manually focusing long telephotos with my Tilta Follow-Focus gadget, to be preferable to using my lenses focus rings when on a tripod, as the side-orientation of the focusing action seems to help with disengaging my old brain from telling my focusing hand to stop trying to follow the subject with that hand too.... as those functions need to be left to my other hand {which is on the pan-bar}.

So, i am almost all set-up and ready to go.

cheers.

Nice, but I don't think that's a monarch. See here for a comparison .

Busted! I'll have to look a little closer at your source and some others, maybe a Soldier butterfly instead of a Monarch?

At least I'm consistent--I haven't correctly identified any small creature in a video yet. That's what I get for hitting the publish button before doing some research.

Thanks, Victor.

JThe subject distance was 3-5 feet from the front of the lens, roughly. The most difficult task is to focus accurately before the insect moves on to another spot. I've been practicing nearly every day for the last few weeks, so I am getting better at it.

I am amazed at how much magnification I can get from this lens/camera combination. I tried using an external 7" monitor instead of the viewfinder to get a better view of the focus but there is no HDMI out signal at this frame rate, so I will continue with the evf.

I may try the Sony A1 with a Tamron 150-500 zoom but I don't think the close focus limit is anywhere near the small sensor Olympus setup. The codecs and resolution might be better, not sure yet. If not, the Olympus setup is certainly good enough for grand kid entertainment quality nature videos. And it is very portable.

Late model camera/video gear is really good for us amateurs with some time available to learn how to use it! I'm getting there. Thanks for taking a look.

This was very nice. I have three comments, not so much for you but for anyone pursuing this interesting subject:

1. I do not see that we learn a lot from very slow motion for butterflies or bees. Their action is pretty clear. Half speed seems revealing enough, and that permits shooting at 60 fps and 4K, with high resolution that brings out the very interesting details of these insects.

2. Perhaps your views are sometimes a bit too close up, with the full butterfly sometimes cut off.

3. With a crop camera that crops even more at 60 fps, like the Canon R7, one can use a small telephoto with no extenders. In this case, a 18-150 zoom, be 3 feet away and get plenty of closeups of butterflies and bees. The camera has fast AF, needed for catching the fast appearance of these critters.

Here is an example at 4K 60p slowed to 30p with a short telephoto zoom:

In many cases I could have come closer but I chose not to for aesthetics.

Alan_W1 wrote:

It looks very nice Joe.

Interesting to see the very intricate behaviour at these types of range/magnification. Maybe some wider framing mixed-in would have been nice too {just my own preference though}, but either way, it is an interesting watch.

Agreed on the framing.  I was in too big of a hurry, and it was manual focus practice for me, instead of a more well thought out butterfly shoot, which I haven't done before.   Thanks for the comment.

I have pretty much decided to switch entirely to insect video now {after 50 plus years of bird stills/video}, so am tweaking my gear-selections for that purpose.

The close focus of my 400mm telephoto is 4.5m, so both my 300mm options {50-300mm and 300mm prime} are effectively longer and more compact than my 400mm, for this type of purpose....both having a 2.5m mfd.

My only tube seems to have limited use for mfd with these lenses, so i am trying to decide whether the Nisi close-up lens maybe a worthwhile purchase....as i do have both an external {and in-camera} tc option available to help increase image size, if needed....along with my Nikkor 35-70mm ais, which has a nice close-focus feature {not macro}.

My external monitor does let me visually manual focus at 1080/120 and 180fps, as my G9 is internally converting the video to 1080/60 {or 1080/30} before it passes through the external monitor....which is a big help for my old eyes with focus magnification/peaking.

That would be a nice feature to have for my old eyes as well!

I don't know if your Olympus set-up is able to give the 150-400mm manual-focus ring a mechanical 'feel' to its rotation....via an internal setting?

I don't think so, I'll have to check.  I like the sensitivity for small insects pretty much where it is.  It is too slow for tracking birds manually, however, at least I think so right now.

I personally find manually focusing long telephotos with my Tilta Follow-Focus gadget, to be preferable to using my lenses focus rings when on a tripod, as the side-orientation of the focusing action seems to help with disengaging my old brain from telling my focusing hand to stop trying to follow the subject with that hand too.... as those functions need to be left to my other hand {which is on the pan-bar}.

I would need some additional experience with the Tamron 150-500 before I get interested in a follow focus rig.  I am pretty comfortable with the Olympus focus ring due to its very light resistance right now.

So, i am almost all set-up and ready to go.

cheers.

Markr041 wrote:

1. I do not see that we learn a lot from very slow motion for butterflies or bees. Their action is pretty clear. Half speed seems revealing enough, and that permits shooting at 60 fps and 4K, with high resolution that brings out the very interesting details of these insects.

Thanks for this comment, Mark.  I definitely need to give additional consideration to the optimum frame rater for each subject.  So far, I'm finding the smaller the subject, the more likely a fast frame rate is useful, then as the subject size is increased, and the speed of their movements slows, a slower frame rate is better.  I will have to try the slower frame rates and get some additional experience vs subject speed.

2. Perhaps your views are sometimes a bit too close up, with the full butterfly sometimes cut off.

Definitely!  Now that I know what is possible, I can be more careful with the framing.

3. With a crop camera that crops even more at 60 fps, like the Canon R7, one can use a small telephoto with no extenders. In this case, a 18-150 zoom, be 3 feet away and get plenty of closeups of butterflies and bees. The camera has fast AF, needed for catching the fast appearance of these critters.

Understood.  I am going to experiment some more with my A1 and Tamron 150-500 as well.

Here is an example at 4K 60p slowed to 30p with a short telephoto zoom:

In many cases I could have come closer but I chose not to for aesthetics.

That's a good example of framing a little wider.  Thanks for that.

Markr041 wrote:

JThe subject distance was 3-5 feet from the front of the lens, roughly. The most difficult task is to focus accurately before the insect moves on to another spot. I've been practicing nearly every day for the last few weeks, so I am getting better at it.

I am amazed at how much magnification I can get from this lens/camera combination. I tried using an external 7" monitor instead of the viewfinder to get a better view of the focus but there is no HDMI out signal at this frame rate, so I will continue with the evf.

I may try the Sony A1 with a Tamron 150-500 zoom but I don't think the close focus limit is anywhere near the small sensor Olympus setup. The codecs and resolution might be better, not sure yet. If not, the Olympus setup is certainly good enough for grand kid entertainment quality nature videos. And it is very portable.

Late model camera/video gear is really good for us amateurs with some time available to learn how to use it! I'm getting there. Thanks for taking a look.

This was very nice. I have three comments, not so much for you but for anyone pursuing this interesting subject:

1. I do not see that we learn a lot from very slow motion for butterflies or bees. Their action is pretty clear. Half speed seems revealing enough, and that permits shooting at 60 fps and 4K, with high resolution that brings out the very interesting details of these insects.

That's a conundrum that i have faced with my experimenting over the last few weeks Mark.

I think the extra-high framerates {only available in 1080p, with my gear} can be very well suited to 'in flight' insects, but there is no doubt that 4k quality with the option of a more 'standard' slow motion, will cover most other insect stuff that i have tried, so far.

2. Perhaps your views are sometimes a bit too close up, with the full butterfly sometimes cut off.

3. With a crop camera that crops even more at 60 fps, like the Canon R7, one can use a small telephoto with no extenders. In this case, a 18-150 zoom, be 3 feet away and get plenty of closeups of butterflies and bees. The camera has fast AF, needed for catching the fast appearance of these critters.

Here is an example at 4K 60p slowed to 30p with a short telephoto zoom:

In many cases I could have come closer but I chose not to for aesthetics.

That's an excellent selection of subjects in your video Mark, and the 4k quality is clear to see.

I think {as with birds}, that finding suitable locations will be a critical factor for lens choice with certain insects, but early days for me.

sludge21017 wrote:

I had concerns too. It was strange looking.

I didn't watch the full video when I made my comment. Now that I've seen the whole thing, it's clear there are several butterflies in the video - at least three different species.