Nikon 200 micro question (1 Viewer)

To any owner of this lens

How far from the subject can you be when taking a close up (not macro) of (say) a dragonfly. I am going on a workshop in the summer and I was advised to get a 300mm tele and extension tubes to give distance and not scare off the insect. So, how distant can I be and still get a close up?
What about if I use a 1.4TC?

I've used Nikon's 70-300mm VR lens for dragonfly, damselfly and butterfly shots. It has a minimum focus distance of about 1.5 meters, which works fairly well for most dragonflies and butterflies due to their large size. Getting much closer than that tends to scare dragonflies and butterflies off, but it can be done if you are patient. Extension tubes do help to get closer with smaller insects (bees, etc) - I never tried extension tubes with the Nikon, as you lose autofocus, particularly when using Nikon brand extension tubes which are manual focus only).

I now mostly use Canon and currently use a Canon 180mm macro lens for most close-up and insect shots. It is roughly equivalent to the Nikon 200mm (which I've tried) and both have a minimum focus distance of about .5 meters. For close-up and insect shots, I've tried various combinations of teleconverters and extension tubes with the Canon 180, 300 and 400mm lenses, but usually prefer the bare lenses as they focus faster and gives better detail. A teleconverter does not change the minimum focus distance, but it does increase the size of the image in the frame. By the way, you cannot use a Nikon brand teleconverter with a Nikon 200mm macro lens - they aren't compatible. You could conceivably use a Kenko TC with that lens, but I wouldn't recommend purchasing one for close-up work if you didn't already own one.

I also use 100mm (and shorter) macro lenses for some shots. If the subject allows a close approach, shorter lenses work well, especially when used with a flash. I've seen excellent macro galleries by photographers who use the 100mm macro exclusively - so that might be another option.

Hi Steve,

I use the sigma 150mm macro and just move slowly and get as close as possible. I can usually get to within to with 10-12 inches with a bit of patience for butterflies and insects but obvioulsy for everytime it happens there will be 10-20 where it won't but personally I think a bit of stealth goes a long way towards being more satisfied with a shot.

Believe workshop will cover shooting at hyper-focal Steve. Generally,(non-specifically), will entail 30mm to 60mm of extension for most 300mm focal lengths. Will give an approximate working distance of around 3 meters. Will fill APS frame and do nicely on full frame or 24mm x 36mm format. No loss in image quality occurs with use of ext. tubes, only exposure value is effected because of "inverse square law".... focal length is increased so less light strikes film or sensor plane. Use of a telecoverter on the otherhand not only has impact on EV but also results in primes ability to resolve. Image quality is degraded by TC's, important to use highest quality. Shooting at hyper-focal means your focus is preset or focused at specific depth. Instead of adjusting element groupings with helicoid to focus, you'll simply vary distance between camera/lens and subject by moving in/out. Takes a little practice but produces outstanding results. It opens up opps for someone that might not have resoures on hand to aquire a longer focal length macro lens.

Apologies for not getting back on this thread, always a pet hate of mine when the OP doesn't bother replying.

I lost track of this one.

Bill
The way you describe this is pretty much how the guy running the workshop said he operates, i.e moving in / out with a set focus.

The jury is still out on whether to et the Nikkor 200mm Micro lens and use it as it is or go for a 300mm f4 and use with extension tubes?
Obviously a 300mm and ET will be a bit more of a handful but this can be used for other forms of wildlife photography.
The 200mm micro will perhaps be at a disadvantage with dragonflies but will be more suited to other forms of macro.
I was thinking of the 200 combined with Nikon Close-Up Speedlight Commander Kit R1C1 .

Quadaries... any opinions?

I tend to use a the Nikkor 105 mm Micro most of the time for dragonflies and damselflies (sometimes coupled with a 1.4x or even 1.7x convertor, both of which give good results). I do also use the Nikkor 200mm micro, or longer lens, when I feel that I do need a bit more reach/magnification, but to be honest rarely find that this is necessary - except for flight shots, when a 300 mm lens can be very useful (preferably used without convertors or extension tubes to maintain speed).

The main time when I think that extension tubes on a longer lens are very useful, is if you want to try for extreme close ups, such as filling the frame with the dragonflies head. In this case you don't often get the chance to move in close enough to get the magnification you want with a 105 mm lens without spooking the subject (it can be possible though).
If the subject is in a position where it can't be approached, then longer lens, often without extension tubes, can be useful.

Of course, if you are using a full frame camera then the longer focal length lens are likely to be useful (I am still using a D2X, with its 1.5x crop factor).

I can probably dig out some example shots for you in a few days time if you like.

Hi Roy

Thanks for the reply, I use a D300s currently but may move up to FF in the near future.
I was going to go just for the 200 micro but then thought maybe the 300 with extension tube would suit better, then I realised I need both of course

Do you use flash? I have been using Vivitar 285's through a radio trigger but was thinking of the Nikon Close-Up Speedlight Commander Kit R1C1

Yes a few sample pics would be good if iyts not too much trouble

Nikons flash automation is held in very high regard. Might give some high speed options not there with other gear Steve. Biggest reason to use a 300mm for this sort of work, is a buffer between shooter and subject. That 200mm could be deadly. With a stealthy approach, 100mm just fine.

Still shoot a fair amount of film, have my own lab to process. Like the fact that one lens gives two field of view depending on format... APS vs 36mm x 24mm full frame. Going beyond the realm of 1:1 magnification, can consider reversed lens approach for truly micro work. Not sure what mag. ratio nikon 200mm micro gives, getting in the 1:3 mag. ratio neighborhood can be done very well and very cheaply with a couple 50mm lens.

Been playing around with reversed lens set approach on 6cm square medium format TLR for about a half a year. This coming butterfly season will make it or break it. Completely manual, requires flash and is a huge amount of fun. All focusing is done with bellows fully extended and using slide rail at hyperfocal. Best thing is full power flash sync at
1/500th sec. regardless of apeture.