Excellent set of images Nick, I'm particularly impressed by #2, the clarity is amazing.
Thanks.
Just a quick couple of questions about your gear, I assume you weren't using your video technique as you say that you were using the Sony Aii.
Correct. These are all single-image captures.
I'm also intrigued by the your use of teleconverters, could you please elaborate on this in terms of brand of TC and compatibility with the Sony body and Laowa lens?
[I hope I've got all the details right here.
]
The teleconverters are Kenko C-AF 2X TelePlus Pro 300. I use two of them. I bought the first one new, along with a 1.4X. I recently bought a second 2X second hand from Wex Photo Video for £60. (They said it had some dust inside the teleconverter but this wouldn't affect the photos. I took a chance on it and it seems to work ok.)
These particular teleconverters can be stacked - two 2X (which I'm now using) or one 1.4X and one 2X, which I used before that (and just one 2X before that. I've been going through a lot of options just recently).
Looking at the design of the Sony teleconverters, it looks like it may not be possible to stack them (it looks to be the same with the Canon teleconverters). But perhaps you wouldn't want to do that anyway.
The TelePlus Pro 300 teleconverters have electrical connections and they handle EXIF data correctly for my setup (changing it appropriately as the data passes from the lens to the camera).
I am using a Canon EF mount version of the Laowa 100 2X macro lens. This is I think the only version of the lens which is chipped. This means that it supplies EXIF data, and even more important it lets you search for subjects, compose and focus with the lens wide open. It only closes the aperture down when you take the photo. That means that the sensor gets much more light while focusing etc than with unchipped lenses which you have to close down manually before taking the shot. If you close it down before focusing etc, the EVF/rear screen will gain up, but it will be very laggy, which is increasingly problematic as the magnification goes up. Unless you are working with a static subject and the camera very well supported, focusing etc first and then closing down the aperture is probably increasingly problematic as the magnification goes up.
The teleconverter nearest the camera is connected to the camera with a Sigma MC-11 EF to E mount adapter.
When using these same stacked teleconverters with the Laowa on a micro four thirds camera using a Commlite EF to MFT adapter the connection is unreliable. Sometimes the camera recognises the teleconverters and lens, sometimes not. It changes from moment to moment. With the A7ii connected via the MC-11 adapter the connection has been reliable so far.
The Laowa is 100mm focal length and goes from f/2.8 to f/22. If you add a 2X teleconverter it becomes 200mm focal length, and f/5.6 to f/45. If you add two 2X teleconverters (my current configuration) it becomes 400mm focal length and f/11 to f/90.
On my A7ii the f-numbers I see when setting the f-number are f/11 to f/90. (i.e. what you see is what you get). The EXIF data shows whatever the f-number is that I have set on the camera, and for my current setup shows the focal length as 400mm.
The Laowa goes from infinity focus to 2X magnification with a turn of around 120 degrees of the magnification/focus ring. The working distance at 2X magnification is around 72mm.
With one 2X teleconverter added, the Laowa goes from infinity focus to 4X magnification with a turn of around 120 degrees of the magnification/focus ring. The working distance at 4X magnification is around 72mm.
With two 2X teleconverters added, the Laowa goes from infinity focus to 8X magnification with a turn of around 120 degrees of the magnification/focus ring. The working distance at 8X magnification is around 72mm.
The effective f-number (the one you are actually using) is given by the approximation:
Effective f-number = Nominal f-number * ( 1 + magnification )
Where
Nominal f-number is the f-number you set on the camera/lens. So for example with the bare Laowa lens (no teleconverter) if you set the camera/lens f-number to f/11, at 2X magnification the f-number you are actually using is around f/ ( 11 * ( 1 + 2 ), which is around f/32.
This means that, for example, when using a 2X teleconverter the minimum effective f-number (maximum aperture) you can use is
at 1:2, f/ ( 5.6 * ( 1 + 0.5 ) = around f/8
at 1:1, f/ ( 5.6 * ( 1 + 1 ) = around f/11
at 2:1, f/ ( 5.6 * ( 1 + 2 ) = around f/16
at 4:1, f/ ( 5.6 * ( 1 + 4 ) = around f/28
It is similar for stacked teleconverters except that instead of starting with f/5.6 you start with the maximum aperture of the stacked setup.
For example, if using two 2X teleconverters, the minimum effective f-number at 8X magnification is f/ ( 11 * ( 1+8) = around f/100.
As the effective f-number gets larger (as the aperture gets smaller) the amount of softening and loss of detail from diffraction increases. This means that images produced using this approach are going to be soft and lacking in fine detail, increasingly so as the magnification increases. Clever processing can't retrieve detail that has been lost. The best you can do is use post processing to make the best you can of the reduced detail. I use a workflow involving three quite expensive software products and I have a powerful PC with a powerful graphics card which all three of those software products can make use of. On less powerful PCs processing times can be rather lengthy.
Even with the best processing that I am able to do, I can't produce images that look good much larger than the 1300 pixel high images I produce. It does depend somewhat on the subject and on how much I crop, but if you do use very small apertures don't expect to be able to zoom in on your images to see lots more, finer detail.
Having discovered that I can't attach the Raynox 250 when I'm using my Meike twin macro lights I'm now somewhat reluctantly thinking of ditching my excellent Sony 90mm macro lens and going for a higher magnification Laowa lens.
If you haven't tried it already, you might want to try an approach I used with my Yongnuo twin flash using step rings. Here is an illustration of what it would look like for a Meike twin flash. There are three step up rings: 67 to 72, 72 to 77 and 77 to 82. The 77-82 fits nicely on to the ribbing inside the circular Meike frame, and can be stuck there. I used glue dots for that. This arrangement lifts the Raynox 250 clear of the front of the Meike frame.
(Dusty!!) Raynox 250 on Meike twin flash frame using step rings by
gardenersassistant, on Flickr