Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro - Test Shoot

Didn't have a chance to take this new lens out for a test shoot until now. After the shoot, I'm actually very impressed with it.


I bought this lens mainly to serve as a lightweight, hand-held setup and that was how I tested it - hand-held with pop-up flash =) no fancy flash-gun or ring-flash, just a pop-up flash diffuser. It performed beautifully.


#1 - the boken is very nice and the sharpness is very good.

#2 - my usual "water-droplet test". stepped down slightly to F5, no flash. sharpness is good and bokeh very pleasing.

 

#3 - because its a small and light setup, it allows me to close-in and respond quickly to any subjects. this JS would have been a little hard to catch if i had to struggle with a mono-pod or tripod.

#4 - it renders colours beautifully. Not much PP done. just the basic tweaking in camera raw.

Beetle-Sutra

I got the name for this post from someone who commented on the same pic I posted in ClubSnap. Thanks for the inspiration :)


This one ranks as one of THE MOST interesting shots I've captured. 


The male beetle was clinging on to the leaf with only 1 leg... while having it on with his mate. 


Don't try this at home...


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K-5, Voigtlander 125, AF160FC

New Toy - AF160FC Ring-Flash

I received an offer I could not refuse for a Pentax AF160FC Ring-Flash... I was actually waiting for the Metz 15 MS-1 to be re-stocked but since this one became available, I changed my plans ;)


Results are not bad at all :)


Shot with K-5 + DFA 100mm WR

The only thing i gotta get used to is the reflection of the flash-tubes when photographing reflective surfaces :)  like this one - you could see the reflection of the flash tubes in almost every  water droplet :P

The modelling lights are real handy for night shoots as well. really love this. Solid piece of equipment.

New Toy - Sigma 50mm F2.8 Macro

The speedpost courier delivered this today =) 


Its an old MF sigma 50mm F2.8 macro. Its not a very rare lens ;) it becomes available on ebay once in awhile and since this copy looks set to close at what i felt to be a very reasonable price,i put in a bid for it and won =)


Its a truly mint copy. Almost no blemishes on the lens barrel and focusing ring - the rubber focusing ring looks almost brand new. All the markings were intact and it came with its original front and rear caps. 


I buy stuff from ebay occasionally and the conditions usually range from terrible to pretty good. This is only the 2nd time that I had been impressed with the quality of the item i bought.


I only have 1 thing more to say about this: WOW!

Horned Treehopper

Managed to catch this little guy while taking a night-walk through my usual macro spot.


Interesting fella... I was searching through the bushes with a torchlight when I caught a pair of blood-red eyes staring at me! 


Turned out to be a horned Treehopper. 


Pretty rare find! :)

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Outing to Admiralty Park

Met with some new friends to shoot macro this morning. Main subject was wolf spiders, which are quite easily found in the morning in their webs. 

Wolf spiders spin their webs in the grass, so its a potentially tiring and messy affair to take them... kneeling on the wet grass while waiting for the right moment. 

The dew drops on the web gives the shots a very unique feel =)

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Other subjects found at AP:

#4 Lynx Spider

#5 Jumping Spider

Winter @ Hokkaido

Some scenery shots taken in Hokkaido during my holiday.


Snow's fun and all, but metering was a real challenge... everything was WHITE... so pictures almost always came out under-exposed... fortunately, I shoot RAW.


Not sure what people feel about photo-shop. Is it "cheating"? Or is it "enhancing"?


I'll let the audience be the judge of that :)

Quick Shoot @ Sembawang

These are taken from near my place at Sembawang. 


Was feeling lazy so I just grabbed my camera, the TC and the DA35Ltd Macro for a quick, hand-held shoot - no tripod, no monopod, no flash-gun... just pop-up flash with diffuser.


Its not a setup i would likely use again... it reinforced my belief that the DA35Ltd is great for stuff that's not moving... like food... and flowers in a vase. 


#1 Ladybugs sharing a private moment

#2 Shield bug

#3 Assasin bug

Night Shoot @ Venus Drive

Night shoot at Venus Drive with a few friends after work.


Awesome spot... Lynx spiders greet you at the entrance and all the other inhabitants slowly peek out at you as you move further into the trail.

The most interesting subject of the night was a leaf-hopper nymph.

As we were leaving, we found a lichen huntsman spider guarding its eggs. Couldn't resist taking the last few shots before leaving : )

Introduction

After much procrastination and delay, i've finally got down to put together this blog to document my macro journey.


My equipment set-up consists of:


DSLR Body
- Pentax K-5


Macro Lenses
- Sigma 50mm F2.8 macro
- Pentax D-FA 100mm WR macro
- Vivitar Series 1 105mm F2.5 macro
- Voigtlander Lanthar 125mm F2.5 macro


Flash
- Metz 48 Flash


Teleconverters
- Vivitar 2x Macro Converter
- Kenko 1.5x SHQ Tele Converter