Dragonfly.

[Simo]

I went for a walk in Risley Moss again today. I had hoped to take some nice shots from the bird watchers hut BUT the rangers have stopped feeding the birds until October, so the new fledglings learn how to hunt for themselves. D'oh! :P

Anyway... just as I was giving up having tsaken no shots myself and Sue sat down on a bench for a chat. Immediately two alrge dragon flyis, blue in colour starting whizzing around us.

THey were far too quick moving to capture with my camera...

But, on closer inspection of the surrounding flowers, etc there were smaller yellow dragon flies dotted around.

I took a few shots (below) using my 300mm Sigma lens.

The shots are nothing special... which is quite frustrating! THe shots always look great through the view finder, but when back at home, the detail is missing. I had to manually focus these shots, as there was too much surrounding flora... and the wee buggars moved fairly quick :P

What I really want is to be able to take shots like this but capture much more detail.

What's the answer? Can I expect better shots from my cheapish 300mm lens? Is it my technique thats losing the detail? I dont use a tripod... which I guess isnt a wise move on long zoom.

Comments appreciated... and suggestions for a sharper lens if thats the conclusion :A:

http://www.sax-p.net/350d/img_2491_r.jpg

http://www.sax-p.net/350d/img_2501_r.jpg

http://www.sax-p.net/350d/img_2503_r.jpg

[Jimbo]

Middle one looks pretty damn detailed to me!

If i could be bothered to spend alot of money ona camera, i'd really enjoy taking shots like that.

[Jungle_Jim]

Simo has your 300mm lens got a macro function, i have got a 28mm-135mm f3.8-5.6 sigma lens with macro function. as an all round lens its brilliant giving you a bit of wide angle and abit of telephoto. the best bit is the macro function allowing you to focus with 5 cm of the subject where as if the lens doesnt have this function you will find that the focal lenght will limit you to standing about 1/2 a meter away.

have a look on warehouseexpress.com think they have some sigma lens with macro function for about £98

[Simo]

Yes, my lens is the DG Macro... but I didnt take any of these shots in macro zoom mode.

The minimum focus point using macro with this lens is approx 1m, meaning that you cant actually get much better shots than using my 18-55 up close. (size is pretty much the same due to nearer focal point).

I definmately NEED a 1:1 macro lens as thats really the type of photography im interested in... I think :P

[Ibiza_Rik]

i like the first one there, nice shots!

[Imfromwales]

Class pics there Simo well done!

[Frevo]

Macro shots have very little DOF (depth of field). That means that there's only a very small part that's sharp. The most important bit to get shart are the eyes, so focus on that.
A good example is the first pic. You can see that a part of the wing is sharp.. but that's the only part. If the shart part was on the eyes it would have been a better pic.

An other thing is shutter speed and focus. To get such a small creature sharp at 300mm you need IS or a pretty high shutter speed. To get more DOF you also need a bit lower aperture (say F11). The combination of high shutter speed and low aperture needs a lot of light though, so take pics like these in full sunlight, use a tripod or use a flash.

A real macro lens makes this so much easier. If you get one, get the Tamron AF SP 90/2,8 DI Macro 1:1!! One of the best ones available and als one of the cheapest. And it's 90mm so you can keep a bit more distance than with the Canon 60mm macro (that isn't even 1:1 btw).

It's 388 euro's at the shop where I buy my stuff, so that's... about 250 pounds? Click! (http://www.fotokonijnenberg.nl/product_details.php?id_product=9709)

[Frevo]

..and for a review of said lens...

Go here (superb site btw!) (http://photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/tamron_90_28/index.htm)

[DevilDamo]

Omg... incredible pics!!!

[Dan]

Awesome pics Si, btw loving the new avatar!

[Connor_scotland]

wow qaulity pics mate