Macros with Nikon 6T (C & C)

[lac111 #415210]

I think technically these may be close-ups rather than macros. I was able to get a Nikon 6T off Ebay a couple of weeks ago and have been playing with it. The IQ is excellent, the thin DOF is difficult to work with especially with anything in motion, but I always love a challenge. I was shooting bees and this Hoverfly, I think that's what it is, came along so I took some shots. All taken with D80, Tokina 100mm macro plus Nikon 6T, SB 600. I'm not sure if EXIF will be intact, so ISO 160, f/10, 1/200 sec.

I'm all about learning and improving, so don't shy away from "honest" critique. Thanks.





--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[Marti58]

i love it Lora ........i for one know how hard u have to work with such tin DOF ....the exposure is great in both shots ..........ur going to have fun with this combo thats forsure.

weldone !!

cheers Marti
--

• living in harmony with nature and other beings...will create an better world for all * marti58 -2006

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[Snapshott]

Picts are very nice but I do have a question. If you aren't shoot @ 1:1 or better why use the Nikon 6T? Seems to me the close up lens just makes focusing that much more difficult.

Of course if you just want to play with 6T I understand that too.
--
Snapshott

 

[LeungPhotos]

I was wondering the same... but either way, they are pretty good shots. I'd like to see a shot of you shooting the bee's front side.

1. 1 seems like it needs more dof... but shooting at f/10, it should be OK... maybe the 6T effect? not sure...

Picts are very nice but I do have a question. If you aren't shoot @
1:1 or better why use the Nikon 6T? Seems to me the close up lens
just makes focusing that much more difficult.

Of course if you just want to play with 6T I understand that too.
--
Snapshott

--



http://photography.leung.us

 

[troscoe]

I have the 3T, and yes, the very shallow DOF is certainly a challenge. You've done well with these. Especially #1.

--
Roscoe

 

[Supr X]

These are nice, Lora. They exhibit more depth than some lily closeups i took this morning . . . i wonder if your combined lighting is creating more 'depth'?
At any rate, nice captures on your part.
--
David



. . . shoot like there's no film in the thing!

 

[lac111 #415210]

thanks, but I think there's room for improvement. There are a few things I'm not crazy about, and I wanted to have some objective feedback. You know you don't have much time to react with these kind of shots.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

Picts are very nice but I do have a question. If you aren't shoot @
1:1 or better why use the Nikon 6T? Seems to me the close up lens
just makes focusing that much more difficult.

Of course if you just want to play with 6T I understand that too.

I appreciate you taking time to comment. I bought the 6T to use with a couple of lenses, mainly my 70-300mmVR, but these happened to be with my macro lens. I don't know if you've done much bee shooting, but with a 100mm and a min focus distance of nearly 12 inches, a bee doesn't take up much of the frame. This is a way to reduce the min focus distance, and tubes would be another, which I've never tried. It's a pretty good solution with static subjects, but I'm not so sure about moving objects. This guy was smaller than a bee.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

I was wondering the same... but either way, they are pretty good
shots. I'd like to see a shot of you shooting the bee's front side.

1. 1 seems like it needs more dof... but shooting at f/10, it should be

OK... maybe the 6T effect? not sure...

Thanks for taking time to comment Leung. Like I said to snapshott, a bee doesn't take up much of the frame with 100mm macro given the min focus distance of nearly a foot, so it's one way to get in closer. This guy was smaller than a bee, making the situation worse. I agree with you on DOF on #1, only I think the background is too busy anyway, so I wouldn't want to bring that into more focus. I have to experiment more, but it seems you have to stop down even more with the 6T than you would in normal macro use.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

I have the 3T, and yes, the very shallow DOF is certainly a
challenge. You've done well with these. Especially #1.

Thanks Roscoe. The 6T is quite a bit more magnification than the 3T, so it's even more difficult. There's room for improvement with these and I've gotten some valuable feedback to add to my own opinion.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

These are nice, Lora. They exhibit more depth than some lily
closeups i took this morning . . . i wonder if your combined lighting
is creating more 'depth'?
At any rate, nice captures on your part.

Thanks David. The flash plus natural light may be a factor I don't know. It will take lots of trial and error to figure this out, but I appreciate hearing from others.

I know you've done some insect work, so you know that most of the time you don't have that much time to react, especially with the winged ones that can take off in a flash. There's always an element of luck in the equation. ; )
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[Gary602z]

Both are great shots! I think if you cropped some off the bottom off of the first shot and some off the top of the second shot it would improve them. The excess foliage draws my eye away from the main subject.

Gary

--
Photos at http://www.pbase.com/gary_602z
All who wander are not lost!

 

[Layne22]

Lora, you're talent doesn't seem limited to just hummingbirds. These are "approaching" excellent. I read the other comments and yours, so you know the issues. This is great to have a person who wants honest critique rather than the "praise-o-rama" that is starting to take over this forum. There are still some like you who want and some who are willing and capable of providing honest feedback around here. That's when the forum is at it's best IMO, more like it use to be. Keep up the good work.
--
LayneC

 

[LitoD80]

These are impressive, and if that insect was smaller than a bee, you were passed 1:1 I would think. I like the light on the first one more, but the darker background of the second one does a better job at isolating the little guy.

Sharpness and colour are great! DoF more than I would have imagine with that combo and ƒ 10, so you've managed that focus really well.

If you have the time an inclination, I'd live to see a crop of the sharper areas at 100%... It looks like you managed to get the eyes inside the DoF.

--
Lito
D80 + Mac

 

[lac111 #415210]

Both are great shots! I think if you cropped some off the bottom off
of the first shot and some off the top of the second shot it would
improve them. The excess foliage draws my eye away from the main
subject.

Thanks Gary for your input. I tend to not like things as tightly cropped as some of the images I see on these forums, just a matter of taste, but maybe I didn't do enough on these.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

Lora, you're talent doesn't seem limited to just hummingbirds. These
are "approaching" excellent. I read the other comments and yours, so
you know the issues. This is great to have a person who wants honest
critique rather than the "praise-o-rama" that is starting to take
over this forum. There are still some like you who want and some who
are willing and capable of providing honest feedback around here.
That's when the forum is at it's best IMO, more like it use to be.
Keep up the good work.

Layne, you're too kind. I know what you mean, I recently left a forum that has been completely taken over by the praise virus. I know that's what many people seem to want or need, but that's not my thing. This Nikon forum has been moving in that direction for many months, but it's still got enough of the "old ways" to make it one of the best forums around IMO. Thank you.
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[lac111 #415210]

These are impressive, and if that insect was smaller than a bee, you
were passed 1:1 I would think. I like the light on the first one
more, but the darker background of the second one does a better job
at isolating the little guy.

Sharpness and colour are great! DoF more than I would have imagine
with that combo and ƒ 10, so you've managed that focus really well.

If you have the time an inclination, I'd live to see a crop of the
sharper areas at 100%... It looks like you managed to get the eyes
inside the DoF.

Thank you Lito. I am impressed too with the 6T, the IQ degradation seems to be very minimal. I'm not that technical in certain ways, but I am pretty sure this is past 1:1. I agree with you on the backgrounds and in general both are too busy for me, especially on the first. That's what you get with Rosemary, unless you can capture something at the tip of a branch. I want to experiment with stopping down more, every millimeter of extra DOF would be helpful. On the first, it seems the left wing is one of the sharpest areas, is that what you want to see?
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[Hide Takahashi]

Before I got a Nikon,I had played with close-up filters with other camera and I know from my experience that coping with a shallow DOF is the hardest part.

I think you handled the DOF issue pretty well and #1 is an excellent shot. It also seems like you had a good lighting. With the 6T,how did your camera's AF( or the lens AF)behave? Did it hunt for focus? Was the AF slow?

Hide

--



http://www.pbase.com/coffee/madera_canyon

http://www.pbase.com/coffee/humming_birds_by_d50

 

[lac111 #415210]

Before I got a Nikon,I had played with close-up filters with other
camera and I know from my experience that coping with a shallow DOF
is the hardest part.
I think you handled the DOF issue pretty well and #1 is an excellent
shot. It also seems like you had a good lighting. With the 6T,how did
your camera's AF( or the lens AF)behave? Did it hunt for focus? Was
the AF slow?

Hide I was about to go to bed early (for a change) but I want to answer you first. Thanks, actually I have worked with a similar 2 element filter made by Sony for my Sony H5. I need to stop down more and see if I can eek out some more DOF, because this was rough with something that's alive and moving. I actually snagged a 5T the other day in another auction which has about half the magnification. That might be a better fit with my 70-300mmVR, because it will give me more working room than the 6T and using a longer focal length is an advantage. I've wanted to try both of these discontinued filters for a while, and there's no risk since they are so desireable and easy to sell.

I had no real AF problems, only problem was my ability to discern focus. The very slightest movement (more sensitive than macro lens alone) and you are way off. I don't know why people like you and I choose some of the harder types of photography like shooting hummingbirds and macro, liking challenges can be a b*tch. ; )
--
Lora



Honest C & C is not only welcome but encouraged.

 

[Hide Takahashi]

Before I got a Nikon,I had played with close-up filters with other
camera and I know from my experience that coping with a shallow DOF
is the hardest part.
I think you handled the DOF issue pretty well and #1 is an excellent
shot. It also seems like you had a good lighting. With the 6T,how did
your camera's AF( or the lens AF)behave? Did it hunt for focus? Was
the AF slow?

Hide I was about to go to bed early (for a change) but I want to
answer you first.

Thank you, Lora. I hope you had a good sleep.

The very slightest movement (more sensitive than macro lens
alone) and you are way off.

That's exactly the same experience I had with close-up filters.

I don't know why people like you and I
choose some of the harder types of photography like shooting
hummingbirds and macro, liking challenges can be a b*tch. ; )

...I sometimes wonder the same....people like you and I know that patience will pay off and especially for hummingbird photography. And we want something that is hard to get. And we know that rewards are more than satisfactory.
And it's addictive!

Hide

--



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