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For photos I care about, I usually use my Nikon D70 coupled with the 35mm F2.0 lens. The point-and-shoot Canon SD600 is often for the quick and lazy shots- except when it comes to macros. The built-in macro lens on this tiny P&S camera is wonderful. Take for instance these carpenter ants, apparently feasting on some nectar oozing from another bug eating the Japanese maple tree (symbiotic or not, I'm gonna kill those aphid thingies so my tree stays healthy. Sorry Buddhists.) This was hand shot (f2.8, 5.8mm, 1/320s exposure) of moving subjects, I don't remember the last time I cleaned the lens, and it still turned out crisp. That tiny lens never ceases to amaze me.
For photos I care about, I usually use my Nikon D70 coupled with the 35mm F2.0 lens. The point-and-shoot Canon SD600 is often for the quick and lazy shots- except when it comes to macros. The built-in macro lens on this tiny P&S camera is wonderful. Take for instance these carpenter ants, apparently feasting on some nectar oozing from another bug eating the Japanese maple tree (symbiotic or not, I'm gonna kill those aphid thingies so my tree stays healthy. Sorry Buddhists.) This was hand shot (f2.8, 5.8mm, 1/320s exposure) of moving subjects, I don't remember the last time I cleaned the lens, and it still turned out crisp. That tiny lens never ceases to amaze me.
I reckon you could have done better with the lighting :-) - perhaps something from underneath?
Glad to see you kept the EXIF and IPTC info in your jpg. Not sure whether you can select a specific focus point, but I would have, along with taking the aperture down a stop or two. Can you take the same or a similar scene again, but with your dSLR and macro lens?
Posted by James McPherson on March 30, 2008 at 05:11 AM PDT #
You sure they are going for nectar, or aphids? Some of the little creatures there don't quite look like ants. Sweet shot, though.
Posted by Watt on March 31, 2008 at 10:32 AM PDT #