Dragonflies and Damselflies

[AlanF]

Great Shots Alan and Erik!

Thanks Andy!

 

[Erik X]

Thanks Andy, Wiebe and Alan
Yet another picture of a Northern Emerald

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Gywj78]F36A4589_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[Nat_WA]

Perfect head-on shot Erik! Lovely colours of the facet eyes, against the different hue of soft green background
W.

 

[Click]

Very nice , Erik.

 

[AlanF]

Thanks Andy, Wiebe and Alan
Yet another picture of a Northern Emerald

As good as it gets!

 

[Berowne]

Indeed head-on, Erik!

 

[Erik X]

Before I got my first DSLR, I tried to shoot dragonflies with an A95 compact camera. I found out quickly that in-flight photo was more or less impossible but suddenly this Brown Hawker landed on my left arm and sat there while it was eating its lunch. A95 was obviously not built for one-hand manouvering but finally I managed to get one picture.. At that time I was happy with a picture like this

 

[Click]

Nice one, Erik.

 

[Erik X]

A Brown Hawker hiding in the vegetation.. 5D3 has slightly lower noise than A95

F36A3036_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

 

[Click]

The background is a little bit busy, but it's still a very nice shot.

 

[AlanF]

The foreground is just so sharp!

 

[Erik X]

An unidentified flying object.. hard to see any colors in such light conditions

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2ca6DsR]F36A4429_DxO_2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[Erik X]

A couple of Dragonsflies busy producing more dragonflies
Slightly failed focus stack, the background shifts from sharp to blurred and sharp again..

[url=https://flic.kr/p/29JkLU5]F36A5881 ZS DMAP retouched_DxO_PL_800 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[Click]

Another very nice shot. Well done, Erik.

 

[Erik X]

Thanks Click!

 

[AlanF]

It was warm enough yesterday for dragonflies. Here are two shots of a common darter, one taken with the 5DSR + 400mm DO II + 1.4xTC at about 3.3m away, the mfd (bottom), and the same data further along the fence taken with the Sony RX10 IV at about 1m (top). I wish I had taken the 100-400mm II with me rather than the prime.

 

[Click]

Very nice pictures, Alan.

 

[Erik X]

I wish I had taken the 100-400mm II with me rather than the prime.

I am just curious about the reason, could it possibly be the 900mm (600mm from front element) minimum focus distance of the 100-400 II? It is quite useful..

Here is a Ruddy Darter chewing on an unidentified prey..
Sigma 150/2.8 apo macro with 2x teleconverter, it has unusually long minimum focus distance for being a dedicated macro lens; 390/180mm. Most insects dislikes camera lenses being closer than that anyway.. I just wish the stabilization was in the same class as the 100-400II
By the way, it is possible to reduce min focus distance and increase magnification on both EF100-400 and Sigma 150 by adding extension tubes. But then the stabilization will no longer compensate 100% so it does not work well when handheld.. I did some tests on the 100-400 with 1.4x but gave up pretty soon

Thanks for all feedback, Click, Alan, Berowne, Wiebe and Bluediablo!

F36A3724_DxO_r2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

 

[AlanF]

Erik
Yes, the 1m mfd. But, at least there is better dof with the 3.3m of the prime and the shorter focal length of the bridge camera. The image quality of the 5DSR + 400mm II + 1.4xtc combo is so high that 3x further away it matches the Sony RX10 IV.

 

[Erik X]

Yes, the 1m mfd.

Adding extension tubes to EF400 seems to cut mfd a bit but it is still far above 1m