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Jonathan Ashton
08-15-2014, 02:43 PM
Canon 1DX Canon 180mm macro & 2x TC ISO 640 1/640 sec f11
I took this image really just to see if it is possible to get sharp images with a 2x TC.
I would appreciate any comments, there is no way of course I would get the wings in focus from this angle and the fact that they are not in focus does not really contribute but I seek any comments positive or negative.

Diane Miller
08-16-2014, 11:17 AM
Very nice color and sharpness! The color of the plant works very well with the orange dragonfly. There is enough of the near wing in focus -- we all know the limits of DOF. Nice to experiment with the 2X. It's a keeper!

Steve Maxson
08-16-2014, 02:50 PM
Hi Jon. It looks plenty sharp to me! I hadn't thought to try a TC with this lens - I'll have to give it a go. :S3: Nice comp, exposure and background. You might consider removing the small portion of seed head that just pokes into the bottom of the frame. Very nicely done!

Jonathan Ashton
08-17-2014, 03:18 AM
Thanks very much Diane & Steve. When using the TC I try to ensure the shutter speed is relatively fast even if using a tripod, for the macro lens I went for about twice the shutter speed/focal length as a ratio, I am tending to do this with the 500mm lens too and so far I have not been too disappointed.

Diane Miller
08-17-2014, 09:38 AM
I've seen people (including Artie) say that as the focal length increases, the old inverse focal length rule isn't enough, and you need to increase that ratio even more as you go longer. Even with a tripod and IS, there are so many sources of tiny vibrations possible, and the longer you go, the tinier ones become more significant.

Murphy's Corollary #492: the sharper your lens and the better your focus, the more you're going to have to worry about tiny movement. (Does that make sense? Time for morning coffee now...)

stuart wanuck
09-09-2014, 12:09 PM
Nice and good bg

Jonathan Ashton
09-10-2014, 08:40 AM
Thanks for the feedback everyone, regarding shutter speed - yes I would agree the faster the better bearing limitations with light/ISO/quality. More and more now I am setting shutter speed and aperture in manual mode and setting ISO to AUto. There is a tweak in custom functions which needs to be activated in order to deliberately over/under expose. I have just realised - quite obvious really that when using Auto ISO flash settings is a whole new ball game, I suspect manual power settings are required.