Tag Archives: macro

Macro Playground

Last weekend, I had planned to continue working on converting some old VHS tapes to digital media, sucking them into Doc Oc. However, a couple of tapes later, I found that both my VCRs had become crusty from lack of use. One even had gained a taste for tape eating.

As punishment to them both, I dissected them. 🙂

Two days of dissection left me with two VCRs with the mechanical parts separated from their planars, and loads of things to photograph with my Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens. I won’t bore you with all the details on every discovery on the parts — there was nothing earth-shattering — but I definitely had a ball photographing this treasure trove of small electronic parts and gears.

Although I photographed many different types of small parts, my favorite images were those where I was capturing the different colors on resistors, some kinds of capacitors and glass diodes. I also dissected a DVD drive from one of the units, and got to play with the laser’s lens, which was a gorgeous color of blue.

My least favorite items? Well, surface mount stuff wasn’t as amazing as I was expecting. It was cool to capture things that small, but there wasn’t much beauty to them — little black boxes with printing atop. Give me regular ol’ circuit board components. They’re colorful, big enough to make for good lighting, and they create some neat images, especially in moderate density clusters.

Take a look at the clusters of photos below, and let me know what you think.

Morning Meeting with Mr. Frost

Jack Frost, that is!

With Fridays now being part of my regular weekend routine, I’m finding time to look at the world through some fresh eyes. Darla gets up for work around 6am, and that leaves me a little time to slowly wake up, eat some breakfast, and await the sunrise.

This morning it was about 19 degrees, with frost all the surfaces. And not the crazy thick stuff, just a layer, with all the intricacies of the frost fingers visible. Way cool!

I took the camera, trike, new lens and new flash (watch for some retroblogging about some of that) out on the deck, and shot frost on my favorite glass table. This MP-E 65mm is just flat amazing! Most of what I shot was at 3x life size, with the 580EX flash handheld at various angles. Seeing that frost so close was a great way to energize me, wake up my brain, and get me moving this morning.

I still think I have a long way to go with shooting frost and other frozen objects, but if this morning’s any indicator, I think I’m on my way. The bad part is that there’s not too many more frosty days in store for us this season — spring is almost here, and then I switch to flowers and birds again!

And speaking of birds… I think this is the year that I can catch the killer hummingbird shot I’ve been stalking for years. With the 580EX, I think I’ll have the light to do it, and I’ve already been able to prove out slaving my crusty 420EX off it (the 420EX won’t work connected to the camera, but wireless off the 580EX, it seems to work fine — go figure), so I should have two angles of light. One longish PC cable, and I think I’ll be able to sit in the house with the 100-400mm lens, and never disturb the little guys.

Watch this space! 🙂

New Gear: Canon MP-E 65mm 1x-5x Macro Lens

My new lens finally arrived today. After PayPal snafus and FedEx snafus, it finally got in my hands.

And it’s a jewel.

First off, the thing looks pristine. I’m always leery of buying things on eBay, but I got such a great deal on the lens, lens sack and lens hood, it was hard for me to avoid. Frankly, if it’s had three uses prior to me putting it on my 40D, I’d be surprised.

I decided to do something quick and dirty, so I took a $5 gold coin, and decided to photograph it. Below is the size of it as compared to a quarter — it’s about dime-sized.

I’ve played with macro lenses before, but nothing like this beast. Everything I’ve read says that this is an incredibly rewarding lens, and can do wonderful things if you have the patience to practice with it. However, in my quick attempt at throwing everything together, here’s what I got.

The image below was taken at 2x life size, and shows a bunch of detail that would be hard to see with any lens I’ve had in my camera bag.

And now for the good stuff. The one below is at 5x life size, and all I can say is “Wow!”

Stay tuned for more playing with this really outstanding lens!

Waiting Anxiously

Last week, I bought a new (to me) lens from eBay — a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro lens — and it was supposed to be sent FedEx yesterday. I expect touchdown in the middle of the week.

This is a lens that will take my macro photography to a higher level. With it, I can blow tiny things up to five times their real size in the frame. Imagine filling a frame with something the size of a grain of rice. Or a bug’s eye. Or a dew droplet. You get the idea.

I can’t wait for this little dude to show up!