Fungi

[Michael Lloyd]

I think that these may be strange beings from the planet... err... Zorthon... yeah... that's the place... Zorthon.

Either that or fungi on the top of a fence post :p

1x. I have a 4x shot that has more detail but the composition is a little off. Handheld at 4x is not particularly easy to do and a tripod was out of the question for this particular location.

EOS1DsMKII (manual)
MP65E with ring flash center and hydrogen fusion enhancement light shining from the right. Handheld. Manual Focus.

ISO 800
f14@1/100s

[Ed Vatza]

I understand what you had to work with here. I do wish for more dof so the fungus on the left was in focus as well but at the same time I also wish for a "better" smoother background for the fungi.

[Michael Lloyd]

Good points but not really doable. I shot this at f14. Why it wasn't f16 I don't know. It's only 1/3 stop though. I probably bumped the dial. I suppose that the BG could be "fixed" in CS...

In my experience with the MP65E there isn't much more DOF to get than what is presented here. DOF for this lens is measured in mm. To give an idea of the scale in this image the tallest fungi in the image is about 3/64" thick at the stem and around 3/16" to 1/4" tall. In "real life" they are mere dots on the top of a 6" diameter fence post. At 1:1 and greater macro they are giants :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Michael. I also use the MP E 65mm and know what you mean with the limited dof. As this lens is so unusual and in a class of its own, I think few people really understand the lens. Only once you have worked with the lens can the wonders and also the difficulties of the lens become clear. I wonder if some selective sharpening on the middle fungus will help. I like the idea behind the shot.:)

[Michael Lloyd]

Vida- I think that selective sharpening might help the image. I also think that everyone should own an MP E 65mm lens. It's my favorite macro lens to use.