David - Sydney said:

I do wonder how diffraction in practice seems to be less of an issue for higher mp sensors than the maths would indicate.

I like f16 for having deliberate diffraction spikes for light point sources at night for instance... especially with odd numbered aperture blades.
For underwater macro work with powerful strobes, f16-f18 is common for a single shot as nailing DoF focus when moving around is really hard.
For macro on land whether on a rail or stepped in-camera then f11 seems to be a common option which should still show diffraction theoretically but in practice is more than acceptable once stacked.

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It's because in real life we're not photographing test charts in controlled environments and viewing things at 200% on huge monitors. We're shooting dynamic subjects and viewing them on smaller screens where supposed IQ loss isn't noticeable, especially since such photos won't have a 1:1 we can compare f8 to f14 with.

My example would be photographing aircraft in flight, specifically prop driven aircraft. To achieve prop blur you have to use a slow shutter speed, which requires at least one of 2 things: a smaller aperture and an ND filter. I've been using Manual with Auto ISO (capped at 1600 to avoid excessive noise), shutter speed 1/250 or 1/200, aperture fixed at f6.3 to avoid diffraction (on Sony APS-C f6.3 is f9.45), and a variable ND filter to cut light. I use a variable ND because light changes as aircraft pass in front of the sun. However, this is a PITA. Because I'm over-tasking myself by concentrating on tracking the planes, maintaining focus, and rotating the ND filter, quite often I end up with images that are way too underexposed and I get images with way too much noise to be keepers, or ones that are unrecoverably overexposed.. Surely my technique needs improvement, but I don't know if I ever will. What I think will work much better would be to use Shutter Priority (that's Tv to you Canon people), a fixed ND filter (probably ND8 for 3 stops), and just let the camera decide what aperture to use. It's entirely possible, likely probable, that the aperture would drop past the point where diffraction robs sharpness. Even if/when it does I'll probably get cleaner shots because I can keep my attention on tracking and focusing on the aircraft, much more important tasks than fiddling with an ND filter. I've yet to test this, and I'm anxious to, but summer in Tucson isn't the best time to hang about outside at the airport or AFB for hours on end.

Anyway, I've seen plenty of macro shots taken at equivalent F stops way beyond the point of diffraction by OM M4/3 users, like f11 to f16 (equivalent to f22-f32) and am constantly amazed at the detail that can be achieved, and whether the photos are technically diffraction limited is completely a moot point.

Nice I’d sell my current copy for one with faster AF and maybe some kind of weather sealing.

100mm long. I had hoped for a small 35mm lens for street photography. A pancake lens, for example. It is nice when the camera and lens aren't so conspicuous. It looks like we will have to be patient for a while longer.

It's as ugly as a stump fence.
Looks like an inmate carved it out of soap.

neuroanatomist said:

If you happen to have an EF 1.4x TC, you can mount that behind the TS-E 17mm f/4 and have a very nice TS-E 24mm f/5.6. Even if you don't have an EF 1.4x TC, buying one along with the TS-E 17 is cheaper than buying both of the TS-E lenses.

I have both the TS-E 17 and 24 II, but when I want to travel lighter I will bring the 1.4x TC instead of the TS-E 24.

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Efficient and practical indeed !
Thanks for the idea

I haven't changed my previous practice. I use back button focus with AF-ON for full screen with full tracking, and * for centre point focus, with metering. A half press of the shutter is set to pre-continuous shooting and a full press for actuation of shutter. That way, I don't need an extra button and there no shifting of my finger from one button to another to switch between pre- and normal shooting. BBF used to be "mandatory" for DSLRs but is going out of fashion with mirrorless with its AI AF. However, when there are tricky focus problems like a dragonfly in flight against a background, you have more control using two button back focusing.

I did the same. And the Pre-Shooting works also as DOF button if you halfpress the shutter button.
Attention: if the Pre-Shooting is enabled focus bracketing is disabled!

ISv said:

Originally from Bulgaria, now on the other side of the world.
You should have also Apatura iris there. Here is other one Apatura metis (Freyer's Purple Emperor) from my trip back to Bulgaria.

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Beautiful !
My lesser purple emperor photo was taken not far from where I live ... but he didn't give me a chance ... just this shot, then I went to that place for about 14 days and nothing, as I wrote... I'll try my luck this season.

The problem with them is that they often sit high in the treetops and are not visible.

@zajicekpavel said:

yes, otherwise with that Nymphalis xanthomelas you gave me a good task ... it is something like a mythical unicorn in our country and in Germany : D Where are you from?

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Originally from Bulgaria, now on the other side of the world.
You should have also Apatura iris there. Here is other one Apatura metis (Freyer's Purple Emperor) from my trip back to Bulgaria.

House Wren (R5MkII and 200-800 @ 800) + some insect of sorts



This particular Canon body + lens combination is just about perfect for shooting these and similar birds...and even, as in this image, is pretty good for viewing the next meal of these birds.

neuroanatomist said:

That little Oly had one.

Given the small size and weight, personally I don’t find it problematic to use a rear LCD with a longer focal length P&S.

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actually not much difference between the LCD and the view finder (maybe 4x linear). maybe the thing we dont need is the LCD...

sanj said:

Yeah, but.. Cameras without a viewfinder are so cumbersome to use with a long lens.

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That little Oly had one.


Given the small size and weight, personally I don’t find it problematic to use a rear LCD with a longer focal length P&S.

SirIssacNewton said:

Got Finches! taken with my Canon R8 and R10 with the RF 600mm f11 and RF 100-400

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Very nice series, Sir!

Dragon said:

Spent the afternoon playing with an old rig. This was the first setup I had that would deliver decent shots of hummingbirds in the bush. The camera is a Panasonic FZ80 with a 1.7x front mounted TC. The camera was designed for such a TC and has a setting that compensates the image stabilizer that works quite well. The key is the TC. It is a Nikon TC-E17ED. Some engineer at Nikon went completely nuts and made a truly pro piece of glass to strap on a Coolpix 8800 (8 MP camera). Production ended in 2006 and the TC cost more than the cameras it was meant to attach to. I added an adapter ring to get it to fit the Panny and it adds essentially no degradation to the image but extends the range of the zoom to a bit over 2000mm (equivalent), so you could think of this as an early take on a Nikon P950 (The Panny does have Raw files, so the P900 doesn't count). I was curious as to what the combination of this old rig with modern software could produce and the result is pretty good with the caveat that the keeper rate is very low, thanks to the abysmally slow CDAF on the camera. This kind of experiment truly makes me appreciate the R7 + 200-800.

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Beautiful shots, Dragon.

Got Finches! taken with my Canon R8 and R10 with the RF 600mm f11 and RF 100-400

riker said:

As for Nikon or any brand being more unreliable, I don't know. I have a friend who live of photography and shoots Nikon every day, never complained. I know a nature photographer, who shoots in jungle and desert and whatever all year long, he used to use Nikon, now uses Sony.

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STAY AWAY FROM THOSE HERETICS!!!

Stunning. Well done, Alan!

neuroanatomist said:

400mm equivalent and a bigger sensor, don’t hold your breath. P&S cameras can have supertelephoto equivalent focal lengths because of the smaller sensors.


Everyone has different needs and preferences. Like you, I prefer wider for a walkaround lens/camera. I really like the 16-50mm (equivalent) range of my PowerShot V1 (enough so that I pre-ordered the RF 20-50/4 to use with my R8). Still, I understand that some people want/need a P&S with more range. Before my DSLR days began, I used an Olympus C-765 UZ, 4 MP with a 38-380mm (FF equivalent, 6x crop factor). One of the places it went with me was on a trip to Africa that included a safari in Tanzania and a visit with mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

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Yeah, but.. Cameras without a viewfinder are so cumbersome to use with a long lens.

Click said:

I really like the first photo. Beautiful shot!

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The first two should be seen as a pair, showing the acrobatic ability of the dragonfly. Here they are as an animated gif (it took me ages to align the heads!)

I really like the first photo. Beautiful shot!

The Norfolk Hawkers (a.k.a. Green-eyed Hawkers) were previously rare and seen only in Norfolk in the UK, and considered endangered. I have posted some shots of ones I saw in Suffolk. But, this morning I saw the first one locally in Cambridgeshire. The second shot is amusing, it kept its head perfectly horizontal and swivelled its body through 90 degrees to bank before rotating its head.

Mirnavi said:

Hello with R6 mk2

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Great result, I only use the 100-400 with 1.4 but I have the R7.

With the 2 on FF, great. You don't have the same problem with light on FF as I do on Aps-C.

Maximilian said:

Just beautiful

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Thank you

danfaz said:

Definitely!

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The walk to the top is fun. 2,000 ft in 2 miles with considerable altitude involved. Haven't done that for quite a few years.