Looking for small subjects at Weston Big Wood

[GardenersHelper]

I went to a local wood twice, to compare using my FZ330 bridge camera (with two Raynox 150s stacked) with my G80 and 45-175 (with two Raynox 250s stacked), to see which handled small subjects best (in terms of usability/success for capturing images, and in terms of image quality). Here are some of the test images, the first two from the FZ330 and the others from the G80. They had my usual processing. There are 1300 pixel high versions in this album and this album at Flickr.

I was hoping to find very small subjects, like springtails and mites, but had to make do with somewhat larger subjects. Image quality looked (so far as I could tell from non like-for-like comparisons) like a draw to me. Usability/success for capturing images favoured the FZ330.

#1

1191 21 2017_06_07 P1300192_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#2

1191 30 2017_06_07 P1300323_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#3

1192 05 2017_06_09 P1400065_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#4

1192 06 2017_06_09 P1400079_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#5

1192 09 2017_06_09 P1400099_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6-2 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#6

1192 16 2017_06_09 P1400165_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#7

1192 36 2017_06_09 P1400414_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

#8

1192 31 2017_06_09 P1400386_DxO 0100RAW01cP SP7 LR6 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

 

[Andy Johnson]

Stunning Nick, and i particularly like the last two.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Stunning Nick, and i particularly like the last two.

Thanks Andrew.

 

[alfbranch]

Great work Nick and hard to pick a faveroute due to the unusual specimens on the show especially the first two and last two.

 

[davholla]

I think 3 is the best I think in summer when it is drier you see less springtails, saying that from November to Feb they and woodlice are the only things I can easily find so I don't look for them at this time of year.

 

[Graham]

Dont know how you do it Nick but whatever you use you always seem to get stunning shots. They are all winners in my book.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Great work Nick and hard to pick a faveroute due to the unusual specimens on the show especially the first two and last two.

Thanks Alf. The first two struck me as odd, being transparent, and with two of them being like that (and is #6 a bit that way too?) I wondered if it might be something environmental. There is a recycling centre very close by; don't know if that could be having any impact.

 

[GardenersHelper]

I think 3 is the best I think in summer when it is drier you see less springtails, saying that from November to Feb they and woodlice are the only things I can easily find so I don't look for them at this time of year.

Thanks David. I went out just after there had been plenty of rain ... but I still didn't see any. I did photograph some just a few days before though, and we have one species of springtails in our garden at the moment.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Dont know how you do it Nick but whatever you use you always seem to get stunning shots. They are all winners in my book.

Thanks Graham. A common factor here might be the illumination. I used the same flash and diffusion setup with both cameras. The post processing is another common factor. And minimum aperture with both cameras too so as to get lots of DoF.