What's the trouble with Drosera scorpoides?

Just bought that first macro lens? Post here to get helpful feedback and answers to any questions you might have.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

MacroB
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:26 pm

What's the trouble with Drosera scorpoides?

Post by MacroB »

Hello there,

I'm having trouble getting sharp pics of Drosera. First pic is shot at 199 slices, 0.01 mm and 4x mag. Thinking it was perhaps an overload of info I then shot at 24 slices and 0.1 mm.

Image
Image

Pics shot on EOS 40 D and MP-E 65 mm using Live View and StackShot focus rail. Third pic is another occasion using 0.01 mm, 10 slices and 13x mag.

Image

Could it be that those tiny sticky fingers need the freeze of a flash? Am considering buying MT-24EX.

Would be grateful for your advice.

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23562
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

Bob, at this point I have a lot more questions than answers!

Can you post a crop or two showing actual pixels of troublesome non-sharp areas?

Also please let us know what camera and settings you are using (especially shutter speed and Live View), and which software and what methods/settings.

That info will give us a better chance of figuring out what's going wrong and what to do about it.

The third picture, is that an example of the sharpness you want or the non-sharpness you don't want? Is it full frame or a crop, and if it's a crop, is it reduced from actual pixels and if so what percentage is it? What optics did you use to get the 13X?

Finally, is this problem specific to these live sundews? Does it also happen when you shoot some obviously static subject like a dead fly, using the same camera setup?

--Rik

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

Just a guess: The plant may not be as static as it appears, leaf curling when insect prey lands on the leaf being its party trick. There may be more subtle movements at other tiimes.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

MacroB
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:26 pm

What's the trouble with Drosera scorpoides?

Post by MacroB »

Hello Rik, all pics taken with EOS 50D + MP-E 65 mm. 13x mag was achieved with bellows for 3rd Full Frame pic.
Image
Image
First CROP f9.5 3 sec 198 slices at 0.01mm HeliconFocus MB, R3, S4. Live View DOF preview after Manual setting, AV > M. All Stackshot Auto Distance, settings Tsettle 3 sec, Toff3 sec, and Speed 3.5 mm/sec.

Second CROP f9.5 2 sec 24 slices at 0.1mm H/Focus MB,R3,S4. Live View preview DOF after setting manual AV > M. Stackshot settings same.
3rd pic could also be improved. This only happens with Drosera,dead flies ok. Best Wishes.

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23562
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Post by rjlittlefield »

I think two things are going on here.

The big one is undoubtedly motion blur because dead fly is OK, Drosera is not. Flash would definitely take care of the sharpness issue here. However you may then end up catching the sticky fingers in slightly different places in adjacent frames, in which case you may have trouble with ghost images or "echoing". That problem is more severe with some stacking methods than others. HF Method B is a good choice; Method A would be more likely to give noticeable artifacts.

There is also some overall softness that is due to diffraction from stopping down. At 4x and f/9.5 on the lens, you're running around effective f/47, well past the point where diffraction becomes obvious on a 1.6 crop sensor. Open up to f/4 on the lens, and you'll be at a sharper effective f/20. At higher magnifications, you should also try f/2.8. That might or might not give more sharpness than f/4, depending on lens aberrations I can't predict.

For the settings you used, 0.01 mm was definitely overkill. At 4x and f/9.5, my favorite formula says 0.09 mm, very close to your 0.1 mm. Of course DOF drops in proportion to f-number, so if you do decide to open up to f/4, you should cut that to 0.04 mm or so.

Hope this helps!

--Rik

MacroB
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:26 pm

What's the trouble with Drosera scorpoides?

Post by MacroB »

Hello Harold,

Many thanks for your contribution. Just because it's a lowly plant, who can say what it feels or get's up to with those sticky fingers. Kirlian photography and all that.

Hello Rik,

Many, many thanks for your help. This tiny plant is what got me into macro, yet I find it easier to photograph Drosera - at least they do not jump around.

I will open up the lens and see how that works out and then I will consider a flash gun, sorting out the ghosting when it appears. That reminds me I have got a Pentax AF 500FTZ flash gun. Will see if that can be linked to camera to fire through Novoflex macro light and its fibre optics.

Once again thanks for your valued experience.

Bob

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic