Posts in Category: macro
Little Green Metalic Bee in Heaven!
I think this flower is just Spider Wort. I found it growing at Galveston State Park yesterday morning. I had my screw-on macro lens attached to the 16-50mm zoom on the Sony NEX 3NL and was taking some Wildflower shots in general before I noticed the tiny Metalic Bee working the blue flowers.
Camera as above. ISO 200 @ 1/250th @ f8. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
Going-on Easter Cactus
We have a Christmas Cactus that blooms faithfully every Christmas season. It has a second bloom, generally close enough to Easter to call it our Easter Cactus as well. 🙂 For some reason it has started it’s second bloom early this year. There are a few buds, and even one open flower already.
As it happens, I just got a set of “macro attachment lenses” for my Sony 16-50mm zoom lens. The 16-50 focuses relatively close, but it is certainly no macro. Screw-on macro attachment lenses are cheap…$16 for set of 4 from Vivitar in their own little protective pouch…and I thought it was worth trying them out. They actually work amazingly well! This was taken with the +10 diopter attachment lens at 50mm equivalent from about 2 inches away. And, it was taken hand held at ISO 3200. Not too shabby! At macro distances the Sony was able to auto focus with the attachment lens in place, even in this low light. This little set of attachments, or at least the lens I end up using most, are definitely going to become part of my regular field kit!
Sony NEX 3NL with 16-50mm zoom. ISO 3200 @ 1/60th @ f5.6. Processed in Handy Photo on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
The Pearl
I love macros, and I sometimes remember to take them 🙂 There is a definite discipline about looking closely enough to even see the possibilities. I find it takes and effort to shift my focus to macro, and, once there, an equal effort to shift out again, so my macros come in bunches. (I am not speaking of the camera focus here, but my internal vision’s focus.) This was a macro morning, with fresh ice on the trees.
One of my tests of any walk-around-camera, for me, has to be how well it does macro. The Sony NEX 3NL with the 16-50mm zoom can be tricked into being quite a satisfying macro machine. You just have to use macro mode, and Clear Image Zoom. That gives you something above 1 to 1 macro, and the results are pretty good. This pearl of ice was actually quite a bit smaller than you are seeing it, if you are looking at the image on anything bigger than a phone. 🙂
Sony NEX 3NL. 16-50mm zoom. Macro mode. 75mm equivalent plus 2x Clear Image Zoom. ISO 200 @ 1/160th @ f6.3. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Icy Needles
We had just enough freezing rain yesterday to say so. Actually it rained on top of our snow for several hours, and just a short drive north of us there was significant ice build-up, but Kennebunk, or at least Brown Street, missed the worst of it. Rather than a solid sheath of ice, we had a granular coating, probably retaining the structure of the snow chystals, and clear frozen drops at the ends of things, like these pine needles. Icy needles. 🙂
Sony NEX 3NL with 16-50mm zoom. Macro mode at 75x equivalent. 2x Clear Image zoom. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Close Encounter
I arrived in Orlando several hours before my colleague on our way to Titusville and the Space Coast Birding Festival, so I picked up the rental car and drove the 20 minutes to Gatorland and it’s world famous rookery. It is justifiably famous. A boardwalk along the edges of a swampy pond gives easy access, in season, to hundreds of nesting pairs of the big waders: Wood Stork, Great and Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Black-Crowned Night Heron, White Ibis, Spoonbill were all present and accounted for yesterday. I suspect they also get Tricolored, Little Blue, and Green Heron in the true breeding season. Only the Great Egrets were showing any signs of nesting this early.
Gatorland is, of course, a great place for bird photography. It is the kind of place where even those with phone and small Point & Shoot cameras can get impressive shots. The birds are close, and since they live pretty much on a diet of hot dog chunks the tourists are encouraged to throw at the alligators, they are beyond tame…the Wood Storks in particular are right up on the boardwalk soliciting, often at arms length, walking among the tourists as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Close encounters are so common that it is, in fact, a bit disturbing. I mean, these birds are not trained and they may not captive, but the are certainly not wild either. I lost a good deal of my respect for Wood Storks yesterday. 🙁
Still I managed to shoot almost 800 frames in two hours at Gatorland. Culled of close duplicates and whittled down to the keepers, that still amounts to over a hundred bird images…from super intimate, macro-esque portraits, to environmental and even a few flight shots.
This is a Great Egret, and this is what I mean by a macro-esque portrait 🙂 It was taken at about 6 feet at 1200mm equivalent field of view with the Canon SX50HS. ISO 500 @ 1/1000th @ f6.5. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Like I say, I have a hundred images so without doubt you will be seeing more of the Gatorland take!
First Impressions: Sony NEX 3NL-B with 16-50mm Zoom
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programing for a brief first impressions report on the Sony NEX 3NL-B with the SEL1650 collapsible power zoom lens (16-50mm, 24-75 equivalent field of view). This camera has arguably already been replaced by the newly introduced Alpha 5000, which follows Sony’s new naming scheme, and fits, according to the press info, between the NEX 3N and the 5T. No more NEX. It might not be close-out time on this model quite yet, as the A5000 is not available, but Amazon had a one-day, Lightening Deal, on the 3NL-B last week which, along with its other attributes, made it irresistible (at least to me 🙂
Late afternoon light in the forest. HDR processed in Snapseed
What is to like:
1) image quality. There is only one reason to move from today’s amazing Point & Shoot digital compacts…and that would be to get an increase in overall image quality. Careful comparison shots of the same scenes and subjects with the NEX and my current walk-around-camera, the Samsung Smart Camera WB800F, shows that the Sony has what you would expect from a larger sensor camera: extended dynamic range, better high ISO performance (by far), and finer detail. However the P&S does remarkably well, all things considered. At normal screen resolutions it is very close. Still, overall, I prefer the NEX shots.
Natural light portrait @ ISO 3200
2) compactness. Honestly, the increase in image quality, for my current purposes (web publication and the occasional print) would not be worth it if the NEX were not very nearly as compact as my P&S. In fact, the body of the NEX and the WB800F are almost exactly the same size. Only the 16-50mm zoom on the NEX makes the package slightly larger and a few ounces heavier. Still, the NEX definitely qualifies as a walk-around-camera. It fits in the same bag as the WB800F, and will go in any pocket big enough to hold the P&S. That is an amazing accomplishment for a camera with a full APS sized sensor!
3) the 16-50mm power zoom. Most entry level compact mirror-less cameras with interchangeable lenses come with a fairly narrow kit zoom…maxing out at the wide end at 27-30mm equivalent field of view. I shop for cameras with at least 24mm equivalent for landscape and interior work. The NEX 16-50mm is one of the few kit zooms to fulfill that requirement. Plus it is both collapsible and power. With the camera off, it pancakes into a very short extension on the camera body, which makes the camera pocketable. And, for those of moving from P&S, it works with the familiar power zoom lever around the shutter release. There is a second power zoom lever on the barrel of the lens itself, and, in most shooting settings, a zoom ring as well. A wealth of zooming options…though I find myself using the shutter release lever most of the time. Lastly, with the built in image corrections in the Bionz processor, the 16-50mm zoom is a very sharp and pleasant lens through its whole range: impressive landscapes and group shots, to flattering portraits and close-ups. 75mm equivalent is not very long, but since I carry the Canon SX50HS for reach, that is not a problem in my walk-around-camera.
4) build quality. My Samsung is an exceptionally solid and well made piece of equipment for a P&S. The NEX is even more so. 🙂
Flash shot
5) Overall operation. The NEX 3NL-B was clearly designed to be used in Intelligent Auto or Superior Auto most of the time. (Superior Auto uses the same scene selections as Intelligent Auto, with the addition of modes that require multiple shots…HDR and Hand-held Twilight for instance.) All well and good. I have come to rely on Scene Selection Auto in its various implementations in different makes of camera more and more. What the NEX adds to the mix is Creative Options. In either Auto mode, a touch of the lower button on the control wheel opens the Creative Options menu, where you can pretty much instantly adjust Background Defocus (what you would normally do with Program Shift), Brightness (which you would normally do with Exposure Compensation), Color (White Balance control), and Vividness (selective Saturation)…as well as a range of special effect filters under Picture Effects (these include single color, high contrast black and white, toy camera, Pop (super saturation), Poster, etc.) With these options instantly available for any scene the Auto selects, there is not much reason to use Program at all. In fact, it is a whole new metaphor for image capture…similar to the shift from PhotoShop to Lightroom (or even Snapseed) for processing. With Superior Auto and Creative Options you can accomplish many (most) of the fine adjustments we real photographers like to make in our image capture (when we think we are smarter than the camera automation), but in a more intuitive…less…well, maybe less photographic, or at least less traditional way. This is, in may ways, the natural step-up for folks coming from P&Ss and camera phones: real photography without having to know much about photography. Brilliant really. And of course the NEX does provide Program, Aperture and Shutter Preferred, full manual, and manual Scene Selection for times when you need (or at least think you need) them.
Creative Option: Color warmed the image nicely.
6) control. I am having to learn how to control this camera. It is not like the traditional wheel, knob, and button interface of the Canon SX50HS, nor like the innovative hybrid Touch Screen interface of the Samsung. Basically you have three buttons and a wheel for everything, with a few specialized functions mapped to the four edges of the wheel. The more I use it, the more I like it…but, again, it is a very non-traditional approach. It works and it has its own consistent logic. I will learn.
7) flip up flash. First results from the flip up flash inside, and group shots, have been very promising.
8) flip up LCD. Last but not least. I like low angle, down on the ground, shots and I really appreciate an articulated LCD to facilitate such. The NEX articulation is simple, and somewhat limited, but it does the job.
What is not to like.
1) no wifi 🙁 I have come to rely on the excellent implementation of wifi, and the excellent image transfer app, that is part of the Samsung Smart Camera experience. Samsung is the one camera company that really has wifi connectedness down! This model of the NEX has no wifi at all. The new A5000 will have it, and the current 5L and 6n have it…though I have not used the transfer app so I can’t attest to the strength of Sony’s implementation. There is a work-around. After some research I bought an EZ-Share wifi SD card and downloaded the free app for my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014. I have to say, EZ-Share also has the whole wifi connectedness thing down. The card works well, the wifi is fast, and the apps are the only wifi SD card apps that I have found that allow you to easily pick and choose which images to download. With the EZ-Share SD card in place, the NEX has just as just as good wifi connectedness as the Samsung Smart Camera 🙂
Pseudo macro using 2x Clear Image Zoom
2) sweep panorama. Coming from the excellent sweep panorama implemention of the Samsung Smart Camera and my Galaxy S4 smartphone, the panorama on the NEX is totally awkward! You have to set the direction manually (and the setting is buried in the menu system) and the leaf shutter (see below) means that you are taking a number of descrete shots which the camera has to assemble rather than painting the image to memory one line at a time as the Samsung does. And, so far, in limited testing, the results are simply not as good. I will work with it. Maybe I will get better.
3) shockingly high ISO settings in Auto. The increased image quality of the larger sensor comes at a price…it simply takes more light to achieve the same exposure…or, if you can’t get more light (and generally you can’t), it requires a higher ISO setting. The NEX consistently sets ISO to twice what the P&S does in the same situation…and the difference increases as the light level falls. Of course, the noise performance of the sensor is enough better so that ISO 1600 on the NEX actually looks, so far, better than ISO 200 on the Samsung Smart Camera, but still, if you are watching what the camera is doing with ISO, it will certainly give you pause. The proof is in the images though…and I am learning to trust the NEX.
4) the noisy leaf shutter. Evidently electronic shutters do not work well on larger CMOS sensors, so the NEX has a electromechanical leaf shutter. It is loud! I generally turn down the sounds on my P&Ss so they run almost silent. Not going to work with the NEX 🙁
Snowy Scene: Superior Auto, HDR processing in Snapseed
5) macro. The 16-50mm zoom is in no way a macro lens. It gets down close enough to just about fill the frame with a credit card at 50mm (75mm equivalent). Again, there is somewhat of a work-around. Sony has built in something they call Clear Image Zoom technology. They make great claims for their special processing and the quality of images using up to 2x digital zoom and CIZ. Using CIZ at 2x on the 16-50mm zoom allows you to fill the frame with 1/4 of the credit card, and working from a comfortable distance…that is not super-macro, but it is decent walk-around-camera macro. Results so far have been promising. 🙂
6) control. In general, as I say above, I like the way the camera works…however there are a few settings that I forsee wanting access to on a semi-regular basis that are buried way too deeply in the menu system.
So, I know you are all asking, does my purchase and use of the Sony NEX 3NL-B destroy my position as a strong proponent of Point & Shoot photography? Is this the start of the slide toward real photography…2 camera bodies and a bag full of lenses and the I-know-better-than-auto attitude? I don’t think so. For one thing, the NEX 3NL-B is really, and quite intentionally, a Point and Shoot camera with a bigger sensor and the possibility of interchangeable lenes. Even it’s A5000 replacement carries that philosophy forward. Point and Shoot photography is more about attitude than it is about equipment: it is simply letting the camera do all the work it can…and concentrating on the creative aspects of photography…composition and framing. That is the P&S way.
And that is what I will continue to do, no matter what camera I am using. 🙂
After Christmas Cactus
Our Christmas Cactus is in full bloom now, and I have been tempted to a few more natural light shots. Some of the blossoms hang down in front of a mostly black speaker grill, so it is possible it isolate them against the fabric. With some tweaking in post-processing, I can get a solid black background. Natural light preserves the delicate shades of purple in the flower, but makes hand-holding the camera a challenge. The efficient IS on the Samsung helps.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F. ISO 400 @ 1/8th second @ f2.9. 28mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Early Christmas!
When I went out to photograph the freshly fallen snow the other day, I expected to find some icing as well. The strom had begun as freezing rain. There was, in fact, very litte. None at all under the snow on the car. No glistening branches among the snowy beach roses. And I had to look for it in the forest. In fact the only ice I found was on single pine needles, where drops of water had been caught by the freeze. The drops, in the right light, looked like micro-christmas tree orniments…as though each fond of evergreen was a whole Christmas Tree in and of itself.
I backed off and used the long end of the zoom to isolate the frozen drops against a deep background. Smart Auto was smart enough to switch to Macro Mode on its own 🙂 The result is several times life size on any thing bigger than a phone display.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Smart Auto. ISO 480 @ 1/90th @ f5.9. 480mm equivalent field of view. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014. Cropped slightly for composition and to eliminated out of focus elements on the right.
Head-on White-patched Skipper
I really enjoy the National Butterfly Center’s gardens! Really! Enjoy! In the fall of the year there is nowhere better to photograph and study free-flying butterflies. The location, within spitting distance of the Rio Grande River and the Mexican boarder, is ideal for tropical species that are seen nowhere else in the US, and you can easily find 50 species on an average day. And the carefully selected and well tended plantings mean there are many individuals of the most common species, and generally a few rare species. In fact every time I have visited, at least one rare butterfly was on the premises, and generally more than one. A Zebra Cross-streak was seen the day before I got there, and I posed a photo yesterday of the Great Purple Hairstreak…not as rare as the Zebra, but not a commonly seen bug.
This is a White-patched Skipper…one of the spread-winged Skippers. I don’t think it is particularly rare, but it is an attractive bug anyway. This is not a good ID shot, but I like it because to me it captures more of the character of the bug. 🙂
Canon SX50HS in Program with -1/3rd EV exposure compensation and iContrast. 1800mm equivalent field of view from about 5 feet. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014.
Orchid: quietly blooming. Happy Sunday!
This is an orchid that my daughter bought for my wife on her birthday the beginning of August. It has been quietly blooming on the entertainment center by our front windows ever since. Occasionally I look at it and think I should photograph it. It is a thing of beauty and I should celebrate it! Yesterday I took it out to the back deck and actually did it 🙂
I could not find and did not take the time to improvise a completely dark background, and I don’t have the sophisticated lighting required for a studio style shot anyway, so I made do with the shadowed trees around the deck and my Samsung Smart Camera in Macro mode. I did do some extra processing to isolate the flower in Snapseed. Besides my usual Ambiance and Structure adjustments, I used the Center Focus filters to blur and darken the background, then finished off with a dark frame just highlighted with a thin white edge.
All in all I think it works. It is certainly a beautiful flower. Nothing I could do could obscure that, and I am hoping my efforts do help to capture and share that beauty.
And for the Sunday Thought. I am reminded by this birthday flower that my wife too is a thing of beauty, quietly blooming, and that I do not take time often enough to celebrate her. Her beauty is more a matter of character and harder to capture and to share, but that does not mean I should not make the effort. So, Carol, this orchid and my efforts are for you this morning. An orchid quietly blooming. 🙂