Ant video

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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microman
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Ant video

Post by microman »

Not exactly a picture but might be interesting anyway :P
Trying to video an ant among leaves was very hard.
Either they hide/run away or they attack !

Still collection parts for my videorig but i was suprised that the
Nikon 4x Plan Achromat Infinity worked with a 4cm tube lens with Raynox dcr 150 on top with APC sensor. Should be an awful way out of spec but it seems to work pretty good for video. Planning on having a helicoid to change mag somewhat.

I will try an iris later for more dof as diffraction might not be as noticable in video as in picture.

Shot with Fuji X-T20 (APC). 4K 30fps upsampled to 60fps.
I mesured mayby 17mm on sensor with the 4cm tube and 55mm working distance. Might be off, didnt save the numbers.

This objective.

http://www.seoenterprises.com/shop/prod ... 257&page=1

Video.

https://youtu.be/8Z9FezvwVoM


Image

zzffnn
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Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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Post by zzffnn »

Ants near me may be bigger, but I find them easier to film, especially in the field, using 1x-2x on sensor magnification and objective NA of 0.05 or less. Or use macro lens with long working distance. 100mm or so working distance should allow ants to relax down better, and behave more naturally in front of lens.

A portable 4-way rail may help in the field.

Or instead of a DSLR, strap a good smartphone camera over macro binoculars, such as Pentax Papilio II (6.5x21 or 8.5x21).

Or maybe invite some ants to a dinner party (petri dish with food), and film them under a vertical macroscope rig (Nikon MM-11 or similar inspection/toolmaker scope).
Selling my Canon FD 200mm F/2.8 lens

microman
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Post by microman »

zzffnn wrote:Ants near me may be bigger, but I find them easier to film, especially in the field, using 1x-2x on sensor magnification and objective NA of 0.05 or less. Or use macro lens with long working distance. 100mm or so working distance should allow ants to relax down better, and behave more naturally in front of lens.

A portable 4-way rail may help in the field.

Or instead of a DSLR, strap a good smartphone camera over macro binoculars, such as Pentax Papilio II (6.5x21 or 8.5x21).

Or maybe invite some ants to a dinner party (petri dish with food), and film them under a vertical macroscope rig (Nikon MM-11 or similar inspection/toolmaker scope).
Thanks, had snow only like a week ago so still early and only some insects has awakend. Not been doing any macro in the field since like 12 years ago with a cheap comapact camera so i need to learn how to approach the insects and how to stage the camera. Some kind of small lightweight tripod/rail setup. Want to keep it compact.


What i know i want is more dof. Hopefully an iris can help with that since i get plenty of light at lowest ISO and probably can survive some diffraction. Mayby i will get a macro lens later but i felt this could be fun to try since i already got some microscope gear.

BugEZ
Posts: 850
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:15 pm
Location: Loves Park Illinois

Post by BugEZ »

I have not tried such close ups . Pretty cool!

My ant videos have been ~ .25X or so. I use my compact LUMIX DCM-TZ40 which allows 120 fps (frames per second) at HD resolution. The high frame rate allows a slow motion replay and helps me see what the very zippy critters are doing. I recently filmed a line of ants on the sidewalk and discovered they were carrying water back to the nest.

https://youtu.be/w55mPKX3u44
Aloha

microman
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Post by microman »

BugEZ wrote:I have not tried such close ups . Pretty cool!

My ant videos have been ~ .25X or so. I use my compact LUMIX DCM-TZ40 which allows 120 fps (frames per second) at HD resolution. The high frame rate allows a slow motion replay and helps me see what the very zippy critters are doing. I recently filmed a line of ants on the sidewalk and discovered they were carrying water back to the nest.

https://youtu.be/w55mPKX3u44
Nice video, thats why i like taking video to see what they are up too. Pictures are fun but video can be very interesting :)

Panasonic makes very nice cameras for video. I almost bought the GX80/85 but it lacked microphone shutter trigger support to use in my studiorig. (it was on sale so thats why i looked at that model).
If i ever get a dedicated video camera its going to be panasonic for sure. The small sensor is perfect for macro and micro.

microman
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Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Post by microman »

I added an extension for ~3.3X magnification and an iris . Iris works ok. It has a "limited functionality" as microscope objectives already are the close to diffraction so it has a very small range. But by stepping down a tiny bit i get smoother out of focus rather than a hazy wall.

Here is a dying? larva. I coult not see any damage, mayby a spider bit it as i saw one close by. Boring video but good subject to test the setup.

About half way trough i pan and show more of the larva so be patient ;D

3.3x with the Nikon 4X CFI objective and Fuji X-T20 camera @ 4K res.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW6GsU3 ... e=youtu.be

MarkSturtevant
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Post by MarkSturtevant »

Very interesting. I think your dof is reasonable, considering the mag you are getting. I can see how this method would be useful for capturing still images too. Just pick out some frames from the video.
The caterpillar may have been paralyzed by a parasitic wasp, but then it was dropped before it was sequestered into its nest.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

microman
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Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Post by microman »

MarkSturtevant wrote:Very interesting. I think your dof is reasonable, considering the mag you are getting. I can see how this method would be useful for capturing still images too. Just pick out some frames from the video.
The caterpillar may have been paralyzed by a parasitic wasp, but then it was dropped before it was sequestered into its nest.
Yeah will have to see how well it does and if i will continue to use it or get a macro lens like the LAOWA 60mm f/2.8 2:1. I like trying unconventional methods and see how it turns out :)

I have updated the setup now with an Raynox DCR-250 and tuned the tubelens with the built in helicoid. To my eye this gave better results than the way out of focus DCR-150 setup i used in the larva video.

Also added an 1.4X TC. I had to do it for my studio setup becouse too much dust and dirt gets on the sensor. With 1.4X TC and Raynoxc DCR-250 i get 3.66x i think. I have to mesure again to be certain. Winter is back so no bugs for atleast a week or more. Snowmixed rain and cold temps..

Will update when i have some new video.

microman
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:16 pm

Post by microman »

Snow melted this morning but still 0C. Found a small spider sitting outside the door. It seemed to be hibernating or something.

4K 60fps. Nikon CFI 4X @ 3.66X

https://youtu.be/dCAC7ADg92w

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