90mm macro with 1.4 TC meets Bee Flies

[philzucker]

I finally got some good weather last weekend (very cold and wet spring so far here in Germany) and so was able to use my 90mm macro with 1.4 TC for some bee fly shots in sunny conditions. AF-C and IS worked great on my OM-1, and keeper rate was very high, even for pictures of flying bee flies. That 90 mm sure is nice to use.

Here some of the results, both of flying and feasting (on cowslips, BTW) bee flies. Note that they usually keep their wings moving while nourishing themselves, even if they grab the plants with their legs.

Enjoy!

Phil

 

[Tom Caldwell]

Thanks for the examples Phil - so many lenses and so many opportunities to use ....

 

[nzmacro]

Very nicely taken with great colours going on.

 

[kai0815]

brilliant shots, Phil!
Can you tell us a bit about your setup? Are theses shots all handheld?
As far as I know (very litttle though) these flys are pretty quick, so I guess aquiring focus wasn't easy.
What aperture did you use? Did you use autofocus? If so, what do you think about the autofocus speed of the 90mm macro?
--
Kai.

 

[philzucker]

Thanks for the examples Phil - so many lenses and so many opportunities to use ....

Indeed! Thanks for looking and commenting, Tom!

 

[philzucker]

Very nicely taken with great colours going on.

Thanks very much!
Phil

 

[philzucker]

brilliant shots, Phil!
Can you tell us a bit about your setup? Are theses shots all handheld?
As far as I know (very litttle though) these flys are pretty quick, so I guess aquiring focus wasn't easy.
What aperture did you use? Did you use autofocus? If so, what do you think about the autofocus speed of the 90mm macro?
--
Kai.

Thanks very much, Kai!

To answer your questions:
1. Yes, all shot hand held.
2. AFAIK the bee flies belong to the hover flies, so actually they are sometimes prone to stay in the air for a moment - their very rapidly beating wings allow for that, sort of like hummingbirds. But all the same it's a challenge to get them flying, because they usually hover only a short time in one place.
3. Sorry that the EXIF got somehow lost. Data is: #1, #3, #4, #5 - 1/2000s at f5.0 (fully open, considering the attached TC); #2 1/500s at f7.1. Their wings are constantly beating if they're not sitting on the ground, so it's really luck to have the wings almost sharp like in #1 and #4.
4. Autofocus speed is great for a macro IMO; I used AF-C to keep up with the bees, and the keeper rate was astonishingly high IMO.

Phil

 

[DDoram]

I finally got some good weather last weekend (very cold and wet spring so far here in Germany) and so was able to use my 90mm macro with 1.4 TC for some bee fly shots in sunny conditions. AF-C and IS worked great on my OM-1, and keeper rate was very high, even for pictures of flying bee flies. That 90 mm sure is nice to use.

Here some of the results, both of flying and feasting (on cowslips, BTW) bee flies. Note that they usually keep their wings moving while nourishing themselves, even if they grab the plants with their legs.

View attachment 1231

View attachment 1232

View attachment 1233

View attachment 1234

View attachment 1235

Enjoy!

Phil

Nice captures Phil
Dale

 

[kai0815]

Thanks very much, Kai!

To answer your questions:
1. Yes, all shot hand held.
2. AFAIK the bee flies belong to the hover flies, so actually they are sometimes prone to stay in the air for a moment - their very rapidly beating wings allow for that, sort of like hummingbirds. But all the same it's a challenge to get them flying, because they usually hover only a short time in one place.
3. Sorry that the EXIF got somehow lost. Data is: #1, #3, #4, #5 - 1/2000s at f5.0 (fully open, considering the attached TC); #2 1/500s at f7.1. Their wings are constantly beating if they're not sitting on the ground, so it's really luck to have the wings almost sharp like in #1 and #4.
4. Autofocus speed is great for a macro IMO; I used AF-C to keep up with the bees, and the keeper rate was astonishingly high IMO.

Phil

thanks for the Details!
The autofocus performance seem quite impressive! I've seen these flies in my garden. They are very skiddish such that I felt it must be very tricky to get focus on them.
Nice Shots! Do you have a rough guess on the working distance?

 

[philzucker]

thanks for the Details!
The autofocus performance seem quite impressive! I've seen these flies in my garden. They are very skiddish such that I felt it must be very tricky to get focus on them.
Nice Shots! Do you have a rough guess on the working distance?

Not really... "Pretty close" is as accurate as I can get!
And thank you for your kind comment!

Phil