Post your insects

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/...dcbbf449_z.jpg

yellow swallowtail butterfly, trying to catch it with its wings still was difficult

How can you arrest a wasp's flitting about? put a very small dab of honey on a vine stem

I've tried this a few times, Robert, but all I attracted was a few Dung Flies and common House Flies. Nothing of interest, however, I really ought to try it again.

Some interesting photos there.

http://i40.tinypic.com/bfeslk.jpg Bee

http://i42.tinypic.com/epgiev.jpg Butterfly

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/...0b2de14d_b.jpg


I was growing nasturtiums in my front planter to attract butterflies when these ravenous eaters appeared; i used a piece of cardboard as a backdrop to eliminate a "busy" background

http://i44.tinypic.com/9rna79.jpg


i've been told this is a banana spider, anyway its a big 'un, its web is over 5 ft wide

http://i40.tinypic.com/s332mq.jpg


i goofed on the tiny pics transfer process before, so hopefully the size is more appropriate now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/...30c9718f_b.jpg


this wasp sure likes these white weed flowers, macro hand held using 2 exten tubes w/Canon EF 70-300mm set at 120mm, this lens has IS which really helps in leu of a tripod; i prefer using my Canon 70-200 F4L USM, but when its breezy its hard to beat IS.

We have had a bit of discussion recently about taking macro photos without a true macro lens by using extension tubes; and this example by Robert proves it is possible.

Here is a shot which I took recently when I didn't have a macro lens with me.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2h6fz1t.jpg

Canon 70-200 lens plus 25 mm tube. 1/200, F14, ISO 800, Pop up flash; with my lightweight easy carry tripod. When using this tripod I really miss the quick release ball head tripod head which is on my Manfrotto.

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Originally Posted by elfbob

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Originally Posted by Geoff F

http://i42.tinypic.com/2h6fz1t.jpg

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Nice examples both of them. Nikon should be able to make us some decent extension tubes you would think. I am missing out on a lot of the fun right now;)

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Originally Posted by Letrow

Nice examples both of them. Nikon should be able to make us some decent extension tubes you would think. I am missing out on a lot of the fun right now;)

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Peter,

Why don't you pick up the Kenko tubes? There are no optics in them, so as long as the electronic connections work for AF and metering, who cares what brand they are? I have the Kenko tubes for my Canon, and they work just great.

- Bill

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Originally Posted by elfbob

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/...30c9718f_b.jpg


this wasp sure likes these white weed flowers, macro hand held using 2 exten tubes w/Canon EF 70-300mm set at 120mm, this lens has IS which really helps in leu of a tripod; i prefer using my Canon 70-200 F4L USM, but when its breezy its hard to beat IS.

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Last year I bought a set of 3 Meike extension tubes(31,21,13mm) from Adorama.com for $87, this set is metal & has the EOS connection, but i generally use M on my camera & manually focus; Adorama has another set made from plastic for occasional use that priced around $35; i have used these tubes with both my Canon 70-200mm F4L & Canon EF 70-300 IS USM with very good results as can be seen with my flower macro images in CiC; if you already have a sharp lens exten tubes will extend that lens utility to macro.

Had to take several before I got the Lady bug wing-span like this:
-mike

http://i40.tinypic.com/14t3tdl.jpg

Had to take several before I got the Lady bug wing-span like this

SEVERAL! I take hundreds and still fail to get this position. There is normally so little time between opening the wing cases and becoming a speck in the distance. :D

I'm not sure which country, Mike, but in the UK I would say it was probably a 24 spot Ladybird. In an average year I see 2 or 3 of them. Fairly small, 5 mm or less.

Massachusetts, USA. We have a garden to attract hummingbirds and find these guys on the honeysuckle eating aphids. My wife found it in one of the bird baths and was letting it dry out on her finger before putting it on the honeysuckle. Hate those aphids!
-mike

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Originally Posted by ktuli

Peter,

Why don't you pick up the Kenko tubes? There are no optics in them, so as long as the electronic connections work for AF and metering, who cares what brand they are? I have the Kenko tubes for my Canon, and they work just great.

- Bill

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If I can find them anywhere near to me I would like to try them out. I have to be sure though that they work with the electronics of my lenses first. It would be a shame to miss out on autofocus. And I did read in a few of the reviews that the Kenko tubes had some flexibility in them. With some of the heavy Nikkor lenses I have that might cause problems, so I am a bit hesitant.

I am not against other brands except Nikon, in fact I had some great Kiron lenses in the past, but I do know that some combinations with non-Nikkor equipment don't work as well as they should.

Nice thread & photography of insects...

http://www.singhstylestudio.com/inse...ects_00002.jpg
Another fly from my side...

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Originally Posted by Letrow

If I can find them anywhere near to me I would like to try them out. I have to be sure though that they work with the electronics of my lenses first. It would be a shame to miss out on autofocus. And I did read in a few of the reviews that the Kenko tubes had some flexibility in them. With some of the heavy Nikkor lenses I have that might cause problems, so I am a bit hesitant.

I am not against other brands except Nikon, in fact I had some great Kiron lenses in the past, but I do know that some combinations with non-Nikkor equipment don't work as well as they should.

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Extension tubes decrease the minimum focusing distance of a lens, by this mechanism they also produce a very limited dof; i personally find it very difficult to use AF with extension tubes, i've found that once you set the lens at a focal point & manually set a focus point you move the camera/lens toward or away from an object to achieve focus; varying the lens f/ to near its upper ranges can slightly increase the dof; extension tubes also diminish the available light hitting the camera's image sensor by 3 or more f/; since i like to shoot macro of flowers in muted lighting i've found that i can use my 50D's speedlight with either the canon 70-300mm or the Canon 70-200mm set at 90mm - 140mm with 2 extension tubes & not get any illumination shadowing from the lens end; for me trying to use anything other than M to balance the f/, iso, shutter speed, flash compensation setting is frustrating, but this amount of "hands on" has been learned from many failures & some successes; when i 1st started macro with extension tubes i hand cobbled a macro focusing platform since i didn't want to sink money into an unproven interest; if you are curious like me macro can become a passion & a basic inexpensive macro focusing platform can be had for under $75, then you can add a free macro stacked focus program to your arsenal like CombineZP for those times when your limited dof doesn't render an image with a flower, insect, etc in sharp focus from fore end to back end.

Not sure what this little guy is but he looked interesting :) The second pic isn't directly of an Insect but rather of one being eaten :)

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6053/...ed3cde31_b.jpg
_MG_0098 by Tobias Weber, on Flickr

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6091/...2a0fd62b_b.jpg
_MG_0019 by Tobias Weber, on Flickr

Hummer Moth on a butterfly bush

http://i43.tinypic.com/2gtok1i.jpg

-mike