Got to play with the IS macro today

Got the chance to use my newly acquired IS macro lens today. Ran across this super cool Gray Tree Frog native to the woods of Arkansas. He lost a lot of his pretty coloring when I disturbed him where it was almost a ghost gray/white which really caught my eye. Shot handheld with the 5D2 and IS 100mm macro at camera setting AV 16, TV 1/8, and ISO 1600. Second one at AV 11, TV 1/15, and ISO 1600. Just thought some folks might enjoy as there are a lot of wildlife/nature photograhers that visit this site. The images as seen here got very little cropping but I would like to get even closer to things so I guess I need to invest in an extension tube.


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I

Great shots of a very interesting subject----was this the Canon 100 IS Macro?


Bob

Yes Canon 100mm IS Macro

Wow. Great pics. I really like #2.

The frog looks really sad in picture number 1. When I would move the lens in to get the shot it would pull in its legs and assume the tucked position.

Awesome shots! You are going to LOVE this lens! It is one of my favorites!!


Denise

Wonderful shots! :D #2 is on top of my list too.. :D

I would have thought that at f/16 and f/11 more of the image would have been in focus. I mean I was about 3 inches away from the frog so I guess that was the reason for it. I know the closer you get to your subject the shallower the depth of field gets but having a full frame vs crop sensor has an effect on it as well doesn't it?. It would have been next to impossible to handhold either one of these shots at f/22. I've got a lot to learn more about macro photography as this is my first lens of this type.

Great shots!! [:)]

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Originally Posted by freelanceshots

I would have thought that at f/16 and f/11 more of the image would have been in focus. I mean I was about 3 inches away from the frog so I guess that was the reason for it.

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Yes, close-focus dramatically reduces the DoF. The MFD of that lens (where you get 1:1 magnification) is 12", but that's measured from the sensor, meaning the MFD is ~3" from the end of the lens hood. At f/16 and 12" distance (from sensor) the DoF on your 5DII is about 0.25". Not very much in focus at all!

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Originally Posted by freelanceshots

having a full frame vs crop sensor has an effect on it as well doesn't it?

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Yes, it does - but possibly not the effect you think. On a crop sensor, the DoF is actually shallower than on FF for the same subject distance. So, if you'd taken the shot with the lens on a 7D at 12" (from sensor), the DoF would be 0.15" - even less than with the 5DII. The common wisdom that a FF gives you a shallower DoF applies to the case where you keep the framing the same, so with a crop sensor you are further from your subject, meaning deeper DoF. That would hold true in this example - with the 100mm macro on a crop body, you'd have had to back further away from the frog to get his whole body in the frame as you did above. So, moving 1.6x further away (19" subject distance) to get the same framing on a crop sensor, you'd have a DoF of 0.45" at f/16 - deeper, but still pretty darn shallow!

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Originally Posted by freelanceshots

It would have been next to impossible to handhold either one of these shot at f/22.

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That's the reason IS is not such a big help at macro distances (and because of the close focus, the effectiveness of the H-IS system is reduced to about 2 stops at 1:1). Many people who shoot macro without a tripod and/or of subjects that move (bugs, frogs, garden flowers in a breeze) use a flash to maintain some DoF while keeping shutter speeds in the handholding range.