8

Well Explained, Great Presentation.

This has the ring of truth about it

Hi Allan. I realise that this video is a bit old now but you may still be interested.....I'm about to purchase the NM-180S which has an adjustment dial that you will love. Instead of needing to superglue a piece of wire for incremental turns, it has a dial with a micro scale already fitted for very precise adjustments. Great review though. It confirms my decision to buy this rail.

Stunning review. Thank you.

As ever an enjoyable hour or so of learning what needs to be done to store insect subjects for immediate and future studio sessions. But also another good banker of a video to come back to when some of the details have slipped from the memory banks. Thank you.

for over a year ive been fixing my stacks in photoshop, spending hours on overlapping hairs and plant stems, just discovered slabbing from this video, going to save me loads of time. thanks so much!

Missed but watching now.

Late comment. So nice to see Australia pride of place on the globe.

Hi Alan! I missed the livestream as well, but I'm in Rockford, IL and would gladly drive a few hours to the "Picnic" BTW, Banner Marsh just SW of peoria is a great spot for Photography and worth a short drive to check it out. There are multiple entrances as well.

Yes, Picnic near Berwick - its only about an hour or so from me . I will email you with possible good spots :)

I was not able to make the stream live but watched afterwards. Thanks for the nice comments on my contest photo. As some suggested, it was indeed ferrofluid and paint in a Petri dish. Also, I live in the very North East corner of Illinois and the idea of a meet up sounds really cool.

Exaggeration for effect so we will not do the same. Just comedy is fine.

the interesting comment from you that sticks is "An abstract is not knowing the subject to suspend the belief of abstract.

Haha with that support trolley it looks just like a railway gun XD

I love how alien insects are at high magnification o.o

excellant stream Bud so informative sorry i missed it live - hopefully catch the next one

Both are great lenses perhaps for slightly different uses ..🦘

Caralpa

using a strobe flash just double the shutter speed will make the background black. A technique used by portrait photographers. the flash will catch the subject lit correctly but will turn the background black. if you use a grey background it will turn black, if you use a slower shutter speed the background will turn white. done correctly, the subject will still be exposed correctly.

Great show. Thanks for

This video is so nice and clear that I got excited to try this set up. After attaching everything into place on my Z8 all I'm getting is a big blur --- from any distance! No matter how close or how far or at whatever aperture. So dissappointed. Lens seems ok. What am I missing here?

Awesome video. Very informative. Thank you!

I'm wondering if we aren't using bellows with a NIKOR enlarger lens if the BR-3 adapter is absolutely necessary? Wouldn't any other reverse lens adapter de ok?

There are a number of aerial application videos on KZbin. Search for recent ones to see applications with newer electronics for more precise placement of the product that is being sprayed. A new innovation are fairly large drones that are equipped for spray applications. Most models are made by DJI and have remarkable technology. They aren't as much fun to photograph as the Winged aircraft but still fun to watch Finally, when photographing, be sure to check the wind direction so you stay out of the drift of the spray. Next week, I'll be going to the big airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It's a treat for those who like to photograph airplanes.

I’m selling my cheap closeup filters right away. I’m going to buy quality brand rocks at the nursery for paper weights. I just don’t trust the no name brand ones in the garden… Thanks for a great contribution. I’m going to try the NiSi 77

The fact that the Canon MP-E 65 isn’t being made anymore does NOT rule it out for comparison to this lens

Something everyone should keep in mind -- you must stop down and you must shoot faster shutter. Macro magnifies motion blur and it also narrows the depth of field. The DOF becomes so paper thin that the slightest wind can send something completely out of focus, no room for error. The reason the farther-away photos look sharper is because the DOF is increased with distance which allows some room for error. Tripod helps, but you still need a fast shutter if there's even a gentle breeze. I try to shoot the 200mm at F/16 despite the "Diffraction Limit" (usually F8 or F11) and 1/1000s if hand held, or 1/400s on a tripod. Think about the reciprocal rule for shutter speed, then consider the fact the reciprocal rule applies to non-macro things. Since Macro magnifies motion blur, we must compensate with an even faster shutter.

I am surprised you did not mention the working distance. If you did and I missed it, I apologize. I bought this lens new over 20 years ago and it's still going strong. The reason I never replaced it is because Nikon never offered another with a working distance close to this one. The 200mm F4 has a focal distance of 20" and 10" of distance from the front of the lens. For those new to macro, a greater working distance allows you to work and not block your own light which is often a challenge when working only a couple inches away. Also less chance of disturbing the insect.

Thank you so much Allan and Budd! Amazing tools. Greet you from the Czech Republic😍

Great video! Ok Allan I want to buy the 200 one… ….and in case my wife will chase me with axe for buying another lens …. I will blame you 😅😊

THIS!!!! More please!

Alan, may I request clarification please? From another couple of videos by you I have ordered a Raynox DCR150 as this appeared to be the tube lens of choice (by you) to use your mitutoyo 5x/10x infinity corrected microscope lens. Is the Raynox you mention in this video the same 'tube' lens or have I bought the wrong thing? I am a little worried as doing this all on a shoe-string budget.

This was awesome. I’d love to see more!

Lovely

I thought the ability to add the lens inside was to be able to photograph film negatives and use the aperture cable to focus cameras clearly on the negative.

You guys cant imagine how useful is this to me

By far the best macro photo talk

Did you manage to sort the oversized knob out?

All the Tony Kuyper stuff and support instructions from Sean Bagshore are well put together software and easy to use. I sometimes use the linear profiles, luminosity masks etc, well recommended.

It got better.

Bud's audio is slightly out of sync.

Hello Allan , and Budd.👋👋

Hey Allan! What type of alcohol are you using to keep the insects and how long can you have them with no damage? Thanks a lot

Been using wemacro for years, any questions that I had to ask william he answered fast, and treat me the same way as you, and i wasnt doing a review. Wemacro is SOLID.

Apologies if you have covered this but I cannot find any examples of determining the difference between focus shifting on the rail or keeping the camera still shifting the focus with the focus ring. Are there pros and cons for both? Some say do not use a rail as it changes the focal distance but only use the focus ring while others go the other way. I would imagine you have discussed and tested this? So basically it is about the best method for accurate focus stacking. Or does it really matter?

Hi Allan! Does focus shift shooting work on this lens?

The pattern noise you call creeping snot balls reminds me of the artifact in astrophotography called “walking noise”. In astronomy the trick is to “dither”, randomly reposition the pointing of the telescope to move the image a few pixels one way or another between each photo. This way the random noise cancels out. If we don’t dither, the fixed pattern noise of the sensor creates weird streaks as the target moves slowly in the sky due to small cumulative pointing errors. Interesting how things in deep space astrophotography parallel some of the technical challenges of macro. In case you can’t tell, I’m a newbie in macro.🎉😊❤

the explanation value here i was looking for weeks. thanks for helping me to solve the rings vs lens on lens solution :) :)

If I ever saw a slime mold walking in a forest, I’d scream and run the other way! ;)🎉