Peter's Photo Blog

Several months ago I posted my first review of the Canon 100mm 2.8 EF Macro lens. I noted that the lens can be extremely sharp under the best of conditions, but that focusing can be a real pain due to shallow depth of field and camera shake at extreme closeup distances.

This time around, I was shooting with a flash on pretty much all of these images, and that really helps to eliminate some of the shake. Also, I was shooting at F20 on several of these shots, which increases the depth of the focal plane significantly. I'm still very happy with the lens, but it does still have it's challenges. The main difference this time was using a flash - I highly recommend it. Next time I will use my monopod as well. Also, I used purely manual focus this time - locking the focus in place and rocking the camera slightly back and forth until I got the correct focus.

None of these images have been processeed in any way other than to crop them. Images will of course look better after levels are applied and the image is sharpened a bit.

I'm going to post my photos up on Alamy here: if you would like to purchase any of these images for stock use.

wolf spider? in my parent's garage. Stock image available here.

1/200s, F20, ISO400 - I shot this at nighttime with the flash as the major light source. I noticed that using a flash at night eliminates the need for a tripod for the most part.

Ants feeding aphids on an ivy plant. Stock image available here.

1/200s, F20, ISO400 - another night time shot - notice that there isn't any camera shake in this image either

a spider in the yard. Stock image available here.

1/200s, F13, ISO400 - notice I shot at F13 to allow for some ambient light to bring out the green in the background. depth of field is slightly reduced.

wasp's nest. Stock image available here.

1/200s, F11, ISO400 - shot at F11 so my flash wouldn't have to work so hard and because the surface of the wasp's nest is rather flat

Ants protecting their eggs. Stock image available here.

1/200s, F16, ISO400 - The ants were sitting on a curved log - notice how the focus falls off significantly throughout the frame as you go up. On the closeup, you can see that the 2 ants right next to each other have a big difference in sharpness.