Showcase Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro

[=BY=SERG]

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[RichardC]

Today's warmer weather has bought an abundance of new and interesting insects to my garden.

Well actually, just more flies, but a dragonfly went past yesterday.

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[banj911]

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A focus stacking experiment of sorts. 60mm with 16mm extension tube and in camera focus stacking. Two flashes with 4sec delay enabled to allow for refresh. I plan to get some raynox lenses to increase the magnification at some stage, tending more toward extreme macro style.

 

[Avondale87]

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[=BY=SERG]

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[RichardC]

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[banj911]

Another stacking effort, this time 50 images merged in Affinity. My MacBook is ancient so these are all jpegs merged, the raw files probably would have caused a meltdown

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[banj911]

And one a bit closer, 30 frames stacked this time. This and the previous shot taken with the 60mm and 16mm extension tube.

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[RichardC]

A little vine weevil with traces of spider's web.

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[Sleepy Capybara]

^ I like the orange background glow!

 

[RichardC]

Same weevil on the source of the orange background before he got on the leaf

Lighting for both was with the FL50R diverted down a foil lined pringles tube with white perspex sheet as a diffuser.

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[Sleepy Capybara]

I have the similar setup with FL-600R but I need to work more on diffuser part. I noticed there are still some harsh highlights especially on the eyes of insects. I haven't been getting soft glow the way I imagined.

Lighting for both was with the FL50R diverted down a foil lined pringles tube with white perspex sheet as a diffuser.

 

[RichardC]

I have the similar setup with FL-600R but I need to work more on diffuser part. I noticed there are still some harsh highlights especially on the eyes of insects. I haven't been getting soft glow the way I imagined.

I'm using some 2mm thick, white acrylic which I got off ebay. It's a compromise. I've got a range of about 6 inches max at f8 ISO 250 - it doesn't let much light through. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-White-Perspex-Acrylic-Sheet-2mm-3mm-5mm-6mm-8mm-10mm-20mm-Panels/312421288282?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=611093166314&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

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I've got the same problem with the STF-8. The olympus diffusers are fine for photographing matte subjects, but there's an ugly twin highlight on anything shiny. I've partly overcome this by mounting both heads on a twin flash bracket/mini ball heads and using a foam sheet as a diffuser, held onto the lens hood with a hair bobble. The good thing about the STF-8 though is the modelling and ease of flipping the lighting ratios from one side to the other if the insect decides to face the other way.

 

[Sleepy Capybara]

I need to find something similar. Thanks for the idea. I once thought about STF-8 before getting Fl-600R but then I decided it to be too much for my skill level. Also somewhat surprisingly that unit hardly comes up for sale on any forum (I have never seen one being sold here). I do like the trick where you can "shift" the light balance, very useful indeed. My only worry with that unit would be if it makes the whole contraption too front heavy?

I'm using some 2mm thick, white acrylic which I got off ebay. It's a compromise. I've got a range of about 6 inches max at f8 ISO 250 - it doesn't let much light through. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-White-Perspex-Acrylic-Sheet-2mm-3mm-5mm-6mm-8mm-10mm-20mm-Panels/312421288282?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=611093166314&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I've got the same problem with the STF-8. The olympus diffusers are fine for photographing matte subjects, but there's an ugly twin highlight on anything shiny. I've partly overcome this by mounting both heads on a twin flash bracket/mini ball heads and using a foam sheet as a diffuser, held onto the lens hood with a hair bobble. The good thing about the STF-8 though is the modelling and ease of flipping the lighting ratios from one side to the other if the insect decides to face the other way.

 

[RichardC]

I need to find something similar. Thanks for the idea. I once thought about STF-8 before getting Fl-600R but then I decided it to be too much for my skill level. Also somewhat surprisingly that unit hardly comes up for sale on any forum (I have never seen one being sold here). I do like the trick where you can "shift" the light balance, very useful indeed. My only worry with that unit would be if it makes the whole contraption too front heavy?

Not front heavy, the flash heads themselves are roughly the same size as the little one which came with the camera, but with power cables coming out of the top. They are very light.

It's a luxury for me, and the most expensive flash unit I've ever bought. I would prefer a higher guide number and more effective diffusers. It's good for fill in though. I wouldn't sell it.

Mounting the heads on arms adds weight, however, I rest the flash arms on my left hand while holding the plant/leaf/grass between my fingers (I think I got this idea from Micael Widell on YouTube) - makes focusing in the wind much easier.

 

[RichardC]

Common green shield bug on a laurel bush in my garden. Red background is a fuschia. Main flash is the STF-8 with an FL-50R in dumb slave mode on the floor to light the bush behind.

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[archaeopteryx]

I'm using some 2mm thick, white acrylic which I got off ebay. It's a compromise. I've got a range of about 6 inches max at f8 ISO 250 - it doesn't let much light through.

Hmm, I think the seller might be using Pespex as a generic term as Perspex rates their Light panels at 60-80% transmission and Edge at 91%. If you're getting more than a stop of loss in the diffuser there should be some improvement from an acrylic more intended for the diffusion, such 2067, 2447, or P95.

 

[RichardC]

Hmm, I think the seller might be using Pespex as a generic term as Perspex rates their Light panels at 60-80% transmission and Edge at 91%. If you're getting more than a stop of loss in the diffuser there should be some improvement from an acrylic more intended for the diffusion, such 2067, 2447, or P95.

I think you are probably right. My Kenro lightbox has a 5mm thick perspex panel and it is nowhere near as dense as the 2mm acrylic I have.

 

[=BY=SERG]

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[Bidkev]

The simplest diffuser for the pringle tubes is simply a circle of serviette or similar tissue paper inside the tube. That and the original lid is ample diffuser and cuts down on weight. Another diffuser I've tried inside is bubble wrap cut to size which doesn't lead to much light loss but still disperses/diffuses the flash.

997 by Kevin Dickinson, on Flickr