Most photographs of insects on this page have been taken on Fuji films: initially, in the years 1989-1996 with a Nicon F-301 camera, then, in 1996-2003, with Nicon F90x, equipped with Micro-Nikkor 105/2.8D and 200/4 ED, assisted with rings and teleconverter 2x (Soligor 7).
In the Canadian Rocky Mountains in 2005 I used Fuji FinePix S2 Pro.
Nowadays, I take macro photographs with Nikon D300 camera and an old Nicon 105, as well as an extremely light Tamron SP AF 90 mm f/2,8 Di Macro 1:1. In my opinion these are the best macro photographic lenses. They are multi-purpose, with wonderful contrast and focus. This is especially true for Tamron (look at the photograph of a swallowtail, taken with the lens and a blow-up of a fragment of a wing from the same photo).
Or at the chrysalis of the tropical beetle named Chelorrhina polyphemus confluens.
I make close-ups with Canon’s sensational lens: MP-E 65/2.8 1-5x, thanks to which it is possible to obtain an image of a 3 x 4 mm object on the whole APS (Canon 400D) matrix.
I recommend the website of the eminent Swedish photographer Krister Hall, who uses this magnificent device. The aperture for the lens – although 16 is available – should not be larger than 8-10 as the loss of resolution will occur. But with 8 photographs are incredibly sharp. To see the focus and resolution that is made possible with the device – look at the eggs of a drinker moth. To capture less active objects, such as butterflies early in the morning, caterpillars, chrysalises, etc. I use only natural light. If it is necessary to use additional exposure for over 1 s, this is what I do: I measure the light at the A setting and, for example, I get 3 s. I set up 4 s manually, cover the lens with a piece of black paper and – shoot. After 1 second, when everything ceases to vibrate, I remove the paper from before the lens. I don’t cover the lens only when the exposure time exceeds 10 seconds.
I use a flash only if the object is mobile or if the lighting conditions are bad (weather). But then I only use additional lighting. For the lens of Canon MP-E 65/2.8 I heartily recommend the flash bearing the symbol MT-24EX, which – though very expensive – is designed for operation with this specific lens and which gives absolutely shadowless light. For Nikon D3, D200, D300, D700, D90 I recommend a set of 2 cordless flashes SB-R1, which consists of two single flashes SB-R200, fixed on a special handle, directly on the lens. The flash embedded in the camera body is, when opened, covered with a special plastic curtain which lets through infrared radiation. A series of pilot flashes (i-TTL) controls and triggers both R200 flashes. The exposure – even with very small distances – is perfect.
Look at the photograph of a Notodontidae species taken in the open air on an ivy bush. This sets gives absolutely shadowless light and is very convenient for work in the field, when no cables are in your way. Using a digital camera has another benefit when taking photographs indoors. In the evening you can use bulb light (an ordinary desktop lamp), making use of automatic whiteness correction. This perfectly expands the possibilities of using cheap systems for lighting in macrophotopgraphy. I also recommend saving photographs in the RAW format and their conversion to Adobe DNG format. Handling photographs in the RAW format provides greater flexibility in any corrections, and if a photograph is overexposed or underexposed, the format is the only possibility of saving them (even for photographs overexposed 3x, which cannot be saved if in the JPG or TIFF format).
The latest version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 enables a variety of modifications of jpg or tiff photographs in the identical interface as for raw files. This tool provides a great opportunity for saving and repairing old jpg files, where you made a mistake in whiteness correction and the contrast of the photograph is too high (old matrices). Up till now it could not be saved. For me this is the most brilliant novelty provided by the CS3 version. Similarly, Adobe Bridge is more user-friendly, and if Photoshop needs to be reinstalled, it automatically archives all its settings.
About lens for macrophotography
Firstly
Apart from the fact that they are corrected to reproduce objects which are close to each other – which provides large magnification – they are designed to ensure minimum distortion. The point is that if you, for example, take a photograph of a small stamp, you should avoid obtaining an image similar to a barrel or a pillow. However, the problem is not so significant when taking photographs of insects or plants. Therefore, when taking photographs of small natural objects, it is all right to use Nikkor 50/l.8D, which is cheap but which produces extraordinary focus and contrast – it has an intermediate 36 mm ring (e.g. Kenko) – and achieve such magnification: 50/1.8+Kenko36.
Secondly
Such lenses contain elements of lenses with changeable geometry of setting at close and distant range (so called CRC), for which you pay a lot.
And macro lenses are rarely used when set at the infinity. For many years I have successfully used Nikkor 50/1.8D with rings for taking photographs of small objects.
Thirdly
If the lens is turned with the BR2A ring, you will be perfectly able to photograph an ant.
Fourthly
The widely acclaimed Nikkor AF-S VR Micro 105 mm F2.8G IF-ED (or here) is now available. The problem is that in my view this system is a misunderstanding. The vibration reduction does not work for macro distances (?). Due to a new type of autofocus type AF-S and the VR function, the lens is thicker and much heavier than its predecessor. Also, it produces high distortion. I don’t recommend it for natural photography, where such features as autofocus (which is unnecessary in macrophotography) or vibration reduction (which does not work) or a large weight are not its benefits. If it has to be a Nicon, it is a better idea to buy – still available – Mikro Nikkor 105/2.8D.
Fifthly, etc.
Although the macro optical resolution of 40-80 lp/mm is – that’s true – excellent (though there are systems which allow for over 100 lp/mm in the field centre, such as some manufactured by Zeiss – to put it a bit simply), the differences in the quality of lenses (those which give 40 lp/mm and 100 lp/mm) can be seen on measurement equipment and not in photographs. In a 30×45 cm printout, seen from the distance of 1 m, such a difference will be indiscernible. Well, OK, if you take such a photo and look at it through a magnifying glass, of course you will see it. But it’s absurd. Let’s don’t go crazy about Zeiss or Leica by paying PLN 6000 or even twice as much for a standard macrolens, when the Nikkor 50/1.8D I’m talking about costs only a little over PLN 400 and gives a resolution of 80 lp/mm for f=8!
But whatever you say, it is more convenient to use special lens for macrophotography, and this is especially true for the Nicon’s unique system of macro zoom (real macro!). 1:1) AF-D Zoom Micro-Nikkor 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6 ED. Here you pay not only for an absolutely sensational optical system, but for a focus range which is functional in macro and a stand support with a possibility of horizontal/vertical rotation of the camera body. This marvelous lens is presented also HERE!.
There’s one more – manual – system by Nicon. This one is sensational too. Nikon PC-Micro Nikkor 85mm f/2.8 D, i.e. with perspective control. The lens “bows”, giving incredible focus depth. The system is designed for working with a stand, for rather patient people.
But my favourite is – mentioned above – an incredibly light, relatively cheap, but brilliantly sharp Tamron 90/2.8. I recommend it with all my heart!
You are welcome to see my gallery!
The panel arrangement in the Gallery does not have anything to do with insect taxonomy. I only wanted to provide as much information as possible in a most accessible manner, while keeping it in a reasonable order. The site will be updated on a regular basis with new photographs and panels. I will be grateful for any comments on the Gallery arrangement and its content – both in terms of the photographs and text.
Along with single photographs, the Gallery contains the subpanel named Slideshow, where you can see shows prepared in Adobe Photoshop Album; they can be selected by pointing on a name in yellow. You are welcome to visit my Gallery! (for the time being, due to the system incompatibility, there’s only one presentation, but soon there’ll be more!)
And one more thing (as I’m often asked about it):
All the photographs that show species mentioned in the Polish Red Book of Animals (in Polish) that is ones which are protected by law (also in the other countries as well), have been taken in the field or – in some cases – at home, but then the insects were released to the natural environment where they had been found (e.g. Arctia villica).
In this case, I took butterfly eggs or larvae from the plants which were later mowed or from the area burned by the farmer.
Adam Grochowalski