Dragonflies and Damselflies

Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
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Nov 7, 2013
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Nice shot. Most of your shots this year have been in excellent focus.
Thanks, @AlanF.
I suppose three reasons:
  1. I get more and more used to my 5D4 over the 5D3, although ergonomics are quite similar.
    Better AF and more MP for cropping.
  2. I stop shooting like in film times and make more shots per subject.
    Therefore, more work selecting in post, but more chances to get focus on spot. *
  3. I automatically pay more attention to the focal plane.
* If I remember right, with this emerald I took only 3 shots. Then it was gone.
I don't know if it is a good idea to lend/rent an R5 to compare the AF systems.
Could become very expensive, I know ;)
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Thanks, @AlanF.
I suppose three reasons:
  1. I get more and more used to my 5D4 over the 5D3, although ergonomics are quite similar.
    Better AF and more MP for cropping.
  2. I stop shooting like in film times and make more shots per subject.
    Therefore, more work selecting in post, but more chances to get focus on spot. *
  3. I automatically pay more attention to the focal plane.
* If I remember right, with this emerald I took only 3 shots. Then it was gone.
I don't know if it is a good idea to lend/rent an R5 to compare the AF systems.
Could become very expensive, I know ;)
You do as well on the 5DIV for these shots for AF. I use point focus on the R5 and R7 as I did on the 5DSR and 5DIV to have more control over the focus. Point 3 is the key, positioning yourself for the focal plane. It really does show in your recent shots which are excellent.
 
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Jul 29, 2012
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A sitting downy emerald. I think it's the third time only I've caught one sitting.

Excellent.
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Very well done, Maximilian.
 
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koenkooi

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Feb 25, 2015
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This dragonfly crash landed on our roofterrace last night, missing half of its wings. The first picture is a regular one, taking with an M6II + EF-S60mm, the other 2 pictures are stacks of 32 pictures taken with the builtin stacking feature, denoised with DxO PL and stacked with Helicon Focus.
The middle picture was taken at ISO4000, DxO DeepPrime did a really good job on that.
20220823 1930 26 Nederland Amersfoort - Canon EOS M6 Mark II - EF-S60mm f-2.8 Macro USM at 60...jpeg20220823 1942 18 Nederland Amersfoort - Canon EOS M6 Mark II - EF-S60mm f-2.8 Macro USM at 60...jpeg20220823 1949 39 Nederland Amersfoort - Canon EOS M6 Mark II - EF-S60mm f-2.8 Macro USM at 60...jpeg
 
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Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
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This dragonfly crash landed ...
Amazing details. Nicely done!
Pity for the dragonfly (seems to be a southern or migrant hawker).
But a good chance for you and I fully agree with @Click:
Amazing details. It's not all about 45+X MP on the sensor.
It's about the human and the technique behind it...
Great to see, what you can do with a M6II (y)
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Pity for the dragonfly (seems to be a southern or migrant hawker).
But a good chance for you and I fully agree with @Click:
Amazing details. It's not all about 45+X MP on the sensor.
It's about the human and the technique behind it...
Great to see, what you can do with a M6II (y)
The M6II has essentially the same 32 Mpx APS-C sensor as the R7, which has the pixel density of an 88 Mpx FF sensor. It gives higher resolution than a 45 Mpx R5. I use the R7 rather than the R5 when I want to optimise detail.
 
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Maximilian

The dark side - I've been there
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Nov 7, 2013
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The M6II has essentially the same 32 Mpx APS-C sensor as the R7, which has the pixel density of an 88 Mpx FF sensor. It gives higher resolution than a 45 Mpx R5. I use the R7 rather than the R5 when I want to optimise detail.
I know. But thanks for pointing that out.
But guessing that not too much cropping was needed here, it is about absolute sensor area used vs. pixels used.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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I know. But thanks for pointing that out.
But guessing that not too much cropping was needed here, it is about absolute sensor area used vs. pixels used.
According to the EXIF data, Koen was at the mfd of the EF-S 60mm, about 21-23cm, so an FF sensor would not be able to cover a greater area of it by getting closer.
 
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koenkooi

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Feb 25, 2015
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According to the EXIF data, Koen was at the mfd of the EF-S 60mm, about 21-23cm, so an FF sensor would not be able to cover a greater area of it by getting closer.
Yes, the close up shots were indeed at MFD. I had put the M6II there last week in case something interesting showed up, so I wouldn't need to run down three flights of stairs to get a camera :)

This worked out better than expected, MFD on a crop sensor beats most other things for macro "reach". The other options would've been R5+RF100L, but the size of that lens and the larger working distance would make getting a low angle very difficult. Using the MP-E wouldn't have worked with the built-in focus stacking, since it's fixed focus.

An R7 might've made it a bit easier, the higher FPS and presumably better AF would've made the focus stacks slightly better. It certainly would've made the video better with IBIS and oversampling. A short clip from the same session:
 
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