DV Info Net - Macro Video

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- - Macro Video (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/under-water-over-land/516562-macro-video.html)

So I had some lenses I bought for my wife almost 20 years ago for her Minolta, and bought an adapter from Fotodiox just to see how they were on the VG-10 a couple years ago. I've played with them on the FS-100 a bit but thought I'd spend the 15 bucks to try some macro rings and just see what happened. Well, I'm addicted to the macro thing now. I haven't had this much fun with a camera in a while. Especially in transitional areas like where a backyard turns into woods, it's like something out of Alice in Wonderland. Things are so out of proportion and the perspective is bizarre sometimes.

This is just the first attempt at crawling around in the backyard having fun.

and to think I could have spent that money on a twelve pack! :-)

Very nice to watch. Gives me insprition to try similar things.

That was great thanks Woody,
I look forward to seeing some more. Might have to look at some extension tubes myself.
Regards,
Bryce

Glad you liked it. I'm sure there will be much more. I'm really enjoying the perspective of macro. The only hard part is finding things to film because you can't really see it till you put the camera on it but that's half the fun.

Hi Woody,

I have been getting a bit of a buzz from macro work too. I have been using either an EX3 (1/2” sensor) or a Panasonic TM 900 (1/4” sensor) so I was interested to see your results from the FS100. Under good conditions I prefer the EX3 but before Christmas I was working with a foundress paper wasp (Polistes humilis) that had built a nest under our verandah roof where lighting was limited. Here the TM 900 outclassed the EX3 because there was not enough light to stop down my 70-180 mm Micro-Nikkor sufficiently to make the best use of this lens.

Not only does the foundress wasp build the nest and lay the eggs but she butchers caterpillars to distribute to her young, brings in liquid refreshments, builds more chambers, chases away other wasps but on warm days she fans the colony for minutes at a time. I spent many hours with her but unfortunately we had a very dry summer and the supply of food dried up and she and her colony died. Below are a couple of TM 900 frame grabs one shows her juggling a drop of fluid before distributing it to her larvae.

I noticed a wasp in your sequence, it seemed to be working on the lip of its burrow, do you know what it was doing? http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/images/a...attach/png.gif

Beautiful frame grabs Alastair!!!

I know what you mean about lighting. I have been using a reflector to get better lighting but you can have to much on light backgrounds and cause a ghosting bright spot in the center of the lens as well and in that case I'm using a child's automobile window screen as a shade to just cut some light on bright backgrounds. It's cheap and works well, not to mention folds just like my reflector and fits in my pocket.

I'm not sure what the wasp was doing, looked like entrance maintenance to me but I don't know much about wasp's. Well other than to give them the right of way when they want it. :-)

Hi Woody,

Glad you liked my frame grabs, thanks
.
I spent a few minutes on the Internet and wonder if your wasp could be a Cicada killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus), they dig burrows with nesting chambers and stock them with cicadas that become food for their larvae. Apparently they are a species that only sting when strongly provoked. There should be a story in there.
Good luck.

Alastair, Thank you so much for that bit of research. It actually is an important piece of info for me. We have Brood II hatching right now, which is the 17 year Cicada's. I am in North Carolina and they are supposed to get thick around here.

I have been thinking of doing a short on them and adding in some footage and info on the wasp's would really fill things out, so you have been extremely helpful in that department and now I pretty much have to put some effort into it and a side project.

So after these rains stop I'll do some more work on the wasp's and hopefully not get stung in the process. I haven't seen much in the way of Brood II yet but I will be on them when I do.

Thanks again!