Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: gottabee on February 19, 2007, 09:39:07 pm
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I am looking for a good digital camera with a sufficient macro lens for detailed bee pics. You guys have some awsome close detail pics out there! Is there a relatively inexpensive digital point and shoot with a good macro lens right out of the box? Thanks.
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I've been using an Olympus C-7000 Zoom (discontinued). It has 7.1 Mpixel, 5x optical zoom and 2 modes of Macro. It also has plenty of manual controls to dial-in custom settings. They are cheap now and you can easily buy a full kit in good shape on ebay for about $150. (I just sold mine there.) There are also factory refurbs for about $200 with warranty. My only complaint was slow shutter response.
I just upgraded to Nikon D200 (Digital SLR).
Olympus C-7000 specs: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?id=1136 (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?id=1136)
Full review: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/c7000z-review/ (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/c7000z-review/)
Sample pictures from C-7000: http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=6324.0 (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=6324.0)
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I gave my father a Kodak Easy Share C875 8mp for christmas and I got to tell you it takes some very nice up close pic.
My brother aslo bought one and he loves it also cost 163.99
both came from here http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=KDC875
you might look into the z710 http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=KDZ710 for right at $200
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I got a cannon its pretty good
kirk-o
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I think I got a good tip for you. First, I would recommend a digital SLR as opposed to a “soap boxâ€. I have a Nikon D50 and I love it, not counting the fact that you can find it used for a great price right now because everyone is looking to get into the D80 (6 Mega Pixels in that kind of camera is REALLY GOOD). The next thing you do is get “extension tubes†for your camera instead of buying and expansive macro lens. The down side to not spending $600 -$1000 for a true close up lens is that you don’t get as much “depth of fields†but it is still pretty good. I am so amazed by those extension tubes; I take pictures of things I can’t see with my eyes. If all goes well you will be able to count the hair on your bees. Have fun!
P.S. I can't attach a picture or a link to my post because I am a "newbee" on this site. I do have shots to show you if you want, I will just need your email.
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Belx I have a D200 dslr with 3 lens and a macro lens. The multiplier lens that you are talking about realy slows the shutter speed down on a camera it is well worth the money to buy a nice macro lens. A dslr is only as good as the len and the shutter speed.
If they are on a budget a point and shoot is the best option for the money. But every one has his or her on needs and wonts.
Keith
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Nikon DSLRs and beekeepers, cool. 8-)
Do either of you (lively bees or Belzabeya) have any close-up photos of bees you've posted? I'm sure some of us would love to see them.
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This pic taken on an Olympus Camedia 5mp w/o its macro option being used. The camera has two macro options though.(http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/22/bees1momsdayetc164fc5.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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I do think that cost is an issue for a lot of people, but to a point. You have to pay a little money to get something good. The D200 with a macro lens takes you over $2000 easy. My setup with the D50 and the extension tubes would be about $600-$700 if you buy it new. I have taken some pictures of bees showing details that I have never seen before. The slow shutter speed does not seem to have a big impact. The depth of field is bothering me a little bit, but is acceptable considering the cost. I do not think that buying a point and shoot is a good investment because you can't upgrade the lens. I would love to share some pictures but I can't post any because I am new on this forum and it won't let me (I think it has something do to with spams).
Anyways, I would love to see a picture of bees taken with the macro lens I can't afford, and see how my extension tubes compare. Livelybee, can you share some pictures? If someone give me an email to send my pictures to, maybe he/she can post them for me....
(my icon was taken with my extensin tubes)
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Hey There!
Here are a few shots that Belzabeya took last weekend...
i150.photobucket.com/albums/s86/Drone_05/frontcloseup.jpg
i150.photobucket.com/albums/s86/Drone_05/sippingbee.jpg
i150.photobucket.com/albums/s86/Drone_05/babybee.jpg
She's sure that she took all these shots, but I think I may have pulled the trigger one one of them (well, maybe not).
I hope you can see these - it's my first time using photobucket and I tend to be a bit of a spaz with new stuff.
-John
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I wasn't able to post a URL (since I'm a new bee) so you will have to copy the above links into your browser.
-John
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I will post some pic when I get the chance. I will also post some from the cannon point and shoot that we have also. I use verizon dial up so it takes me a while to get them loaded Comcast has never ran the line to my house so that I can get high speed cable.
Belz you are correct when you say the body and the lens will cost around 2k I paided $4500 for the body and the 4 lens that I bought. we looked for months before we decided on the D200. We still use are point and shoot also when we are use out and about and dont wont to case 15lbs of camera and gear with us.
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Well, the point I was making is that your setup is expensive, VERY expansive. I looked up the price for your D200 (body only) and it looks like you get it for $1300. Not including the expansive macro lens. I think that my setup will make an advanced amateur pretty good macro shots of bees for not that much money ($600-$700). Can't wait to see your pictures. Did you see my pictures? (see above posting from Drone). Love them bees!!!!
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I'm also a Nikon D200 shooter, but then again I shoot professionally---so of course I'm gonna say "get the best glass/camera you can afford". But at the same time, I've had fun with extension tubes too.
Like with beekeeping, you can spend as little or as much as you want---it's all relative to what you want to do.
Sadly, I rarely take my gear to the beeyard--cobbler's kids wear no shoes kind of thing--and I love seeing everybody's awesome pictures.
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I am no pro I would not even say that I am a advanced amateur I am 100% rookie. I can take some of the worst pic you have ever seen with a camera. my wife takes most of the photos but the bee stuff kinda freaks her out when they start buzz'n around :) I kow that i ruined some shots with a multiplier that came out blurry b/c the shutter speed was to slow so after that I just save up and buy the len that I wont.
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I've been happy with my olympus sp-510uz. Pictures and be a little grainy indoors in low light on auto without minor adjustments, but it can take some fantastic pictures with a little tinkering and I've been very impressed with it's 2 macro settings.
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I was wondering if anyone was able to look at the links I posted earlier in this thread.
They were taken using extension tubes. If you look at them, and have a way to zoom in (i use Photoshop), the detail is pretty unbelievable.
Plus, they are the most beautiful bees you will ever see. But then, what else would you expect from a proud parent? :-D
-John
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Hey Drone,
That babybee shot is awsome!
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Konasdad,
You took that shot with what?? Olympus what model?
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For the last 2 days I have tried to get photos uploaded to my web site but all it says is
0 uploads were successful.
I dont know if it is my slow internet or what. It is a coppermine photo album I have the pic size set to allow photos from me upto 10,000k and 4000 x 4000 pix and they still seem to fail. the only other thing I can do is drive over to my brothers house this week end and use his high speed internet and see if I can get them to upload
I said in a post before we also had a cannon point and shoot well I was wrong it is a olympus c-3000 3.3 mp you can see photos that were aken by this camera on my web site
www.fireandfleet.com/gallery
I will do my best to try and find out why i cant get the pic uploaded to my site.
I love hardware I just hate the software needed to make it work :-X
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I was wondering if anyone was able to look at the links I posted earlier in this thread.
They were taken using extension tubes. If you look at them, and have a way to zoom in (i use Photoshop), the detail is pretty unbelievable.
Plus, they are the most beautiful bees you will ever see. But then, what else would you expect from a proud parent? :-D
-John
I saw them just fine - they look great! Very nice. Here is the babybee picture for anyone who couldn't see them:
(http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s86/Drone_05/babybee.jpg)
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The Sigma 70-300 1:4-5.6 w/1:2 macro lens I use is around $200. 1:2 isn't awesome but with an extention tube you could get some good macros. Then, when you're done shootin' bees, you have a good lens for birding and such. I love it :D
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I ran across this photo on Flickr and just had to share it. It was also taken with the Olympus C7000 Zoom (pocket camera):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdyboo/150128502/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdyboo/150128502/)
I can't take any credit for it, but I'm sure most of the readers here will enjoy the view - look at those eyes!
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2-Wheeler,
Wow! That is a great shot of that green eyed (bee?) with a C-7000. I am amazed with all the capabilities of these cameras and the detail that can be captured with moderately priced models. I am surprised that so many people have been willing to share their photos and recommendations.
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I really think that this picture was taken with a macro lens....the site does not say. Nice details, only a macro lens (or extension tubes) can do that , I don't care what the camera is.
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Digital cameras store data with every picture. This is called the Exif data http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/glossary/exif.php (http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/glossary/exif.php). Sure it can be faked or hacked, but it seems unlikely. She has far too many excellent pictures to need to spend time playing games with Exif data. Flickr allows that data to be seen by clicking on the "more-properties" link. Here is what it said for her picture:
Camera: Olympus C70Z,C7000Z
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 7.9 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 3/10 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Image Description: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
X-Resolution: 72 dpi
Y-Resolution: 72 dpi
Software: Version 1.0
Date and Time: 2005:09:20 15:58:24
YCbCr Positioning: Co-Sited
Exposure Program: Normal
Date and Time (Original): 2005:09:20 15:58:24
Date and Time (Digitized): 2005:09:20 15:58:24
Compressed Bits per Pixel: 2 bits
Maximum Lens Aperture: 30/10
Metering Mode: Pattern
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Exposure Mode: Manual
Digital Zoom Ratio: 0/100
Compression: JPEG
Special Mode: Unknown Mode ( 369168657 ) Sequence Number: 3540227587 Unknown Panorama Direction
JPEG Quality: 1
Black and White Mode: 2
Digital Zoom: -1358849279/33620994
Focal Plane Diagonal: 16800352/335565315
Skip: 16384, 5120, 16384, 5120, 18944, 0
Picture Info Data: Ô|%Îvx p¡
Camera ID: ˆˆÛ
By-Line (Author): Picasa 2.0
Tag::IPTC::0x0275: <hellostamp> <gid>0-0-7fffffff-0</gid> <md5>0-0-0-0</md5> <origWidth>0</origWidth> <origHeight>0</origHeight> <origSize>0</origSize> </hellostamp>
Contact: <picasastamp/>
Image Width: 678 pixels
Image Height: 800 pixels
http://www.flickr.com/photo_exif.gne?id=150128502 (http://www.flickr.com/photo_exif.gne?id=150128502)
This camera (C7000Z) has a built in 5X optical lens. It can't be removed, so no extension-tubes are possible. The lens also does not have threads to mount anything on the front side, so no diopter (close-up) lens can be added either.
I never got anything this good myself, but I believe it is quite possible to get that close with some luck or a lot of practice. Keep in mind also that the image has been cropped quite a bit to 800x678. The images captured by this camera are 3072 X 2304 pixels, so the field of view would be much wider. I also think this is carpenter bee, which is much larger than the average honeybee.
Here is another shot of the same bee by the same lady listed as the same camera.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdyboo/151444596/in/set-72057594062616363/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdyboo/151444596/in/set-72057594062616363/)
She takes some great pictures!
After browsing more of her pictures, I see she has good results with a few other low-to-moderate priced cameras too, including these:
- Canon PowerShot A620
- Panasonic DMC-FZ30 (while not a pocket camera, it is a "point & shoot")
- Olympus C2100 Ultra Zoom (another point & shoot)
She really has a photographic talent. If I could take pictures like that, I'd quit my day job.
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it took 2 weeks but I got some up loaded the d200 pic were 25m I had to have them cut down inorder to get them up loaded.
(http://www.fireandfleet.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_wax-moth-web.jpg)
(http://www.fireandfleet.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_wing2.jpg)
(http://www.fireandfleet.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Pollen.jpg)
(http://www.fireandfleet.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Pollen2.jpg)
(http://www.fireandfleet.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_wing.jpg)
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Great shots lively, what lenses are you using? (no EXIF data)
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Wow, these photos make me want to get a camera :D
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yea the exif data got lost when the pic were cut from 25 meg down to 2 meg inorder for me to up load them.
The lens is a Nikkor 60mm 1:2.8 D
I set in the bee Field on a backet and took my time and got some good shot. I shake real bad and I use a tripod. I will load more pic it just takes forever on dial up.
Comcast has yet to run my line for cable
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Incredible photos, Belzabeya . :shock:
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Hi Gang:
You all know I love the photos, for sure they are my favorite part of the forum - but we all need to start using some compression JPEG preferrably - these 770K images are just killing people on dialup and even DSL connections
I'll find the post and link it in a sticky, but when saving images, choose JPG or JPEG and 50% commpression, that will turn these 775K images into 70K images with little to no loss. That allows everyone to load TEN IMAGES in the same bandwidth as one.
Great pics though, a very 3D quality on the comb shots - very nice, but the file sizes can be a whole lot smaller and the images remain the same size. The other option is thumbnails, which going through our IMAGESHACK PROGRAM is very easy to use THEN you can leave the originals in their full glory.