Jewel Beetle

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Jewel Beetle

Post by mjkzz »

This jewel beetle is metalic and is very, very shiny.

Front
Image
Back
Image

See how shiny it is!!!
Image

Sony A7III in electronic shutter and full frame mode
MJKZZ Ultra Rail
2 LEDs continuous lights
Unknown lens hot glued on a helicoid
Magnification is about 1.25x
Step size 0.1mm (100um)
ISO 100, Shutter Speed = 1/10s
71 JPEG images
Zerene Stacking Software

Larger Image

Saul
Posts: 1781
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:59 am
Location: Naperville, IL USA
Contact:

Post by Saul »

Very nice. Is this cross-polarization ?
Or your new magic globe ?

grgh
Posts: 372
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:55 am
Location: Lancashire. UK

Post by grgh »

Still like this mystery lens.
all your shots of both weevil and beetle very nice, composition, background all suite me just fine.
Only wish some body would give me a lens that would turn out like yours has.

George
used to do astronomy.
and photography.
Zeiss Universal Phase contrast.
Zeiss PMII
B&L stereo zoom.

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Post by mjkzz »

Thanks Saul and George.

No, no cross polarization, just that lighting globe. I think the globe is used for some large light, like a friend said, usually found at some garden gate. Mine is made of plastic, probably acrylic, it has 150mm diameter, one opening of 100mm and another of 40mm, I am asking them to make it 120 and 60 so it will be easier to mount subject and works with larger lens better. Not sure if the 60mm opening will affect the lighting, will see. I found it in a buildling full of LED dealers.

George, yeah, that mysterious lens is still unknown, when it came, it has so much dusts that I can not even see through it, it is so small, yet it covers full frame easily. I do not have MP-E 65, but I think it beats my EF-100mm macro (old version).

Lou Jost
Posts: 5948
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Post by Lou Jost »

This is exceptionally beautifully lit for such a shiny thing!

MarkSturtevant
Posts: 1946
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
Contact:

Post by MarkSturtevant »

At large hardware stores and lamp stores, you can get white acrylic lamp shades in the shape of a globe or hemisphere. They are thin, cheap, and come in a range of sizes and thicknesses. The ones with more flexible plastic can be cut reasonably well with a hacksaw.
I have tried using one as a diffuser on my rig, which I hand carry in the field. It worked well but I had difficulty holding the diffuser stable on the lens while carrying. That won't be an issue in the studio.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Post by mjkzz »

Thanks Lou, here are two pics of it:

Image

Image

@MarkSturtevant: yes, I think you can get them at lighting fixture store, not sure about hardware store in US, maybe Home Depot kind where they also sell lighting fixtures.

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Post by Beatsy »

Great images, as always.

Ref: the globe - hemispherical diffuser domes for speedlites are readily available and work very well. I cut them up a bit and arrange the parts around larger glossy subjects (one's that won't fit in a ping pong ball "globe"). If you want to keep a hint of gloss (to show that a subject is really glossy without losing the overall diffuse effect) just let a tiny bit of direct light leak in around the opening that the objective is looking through.

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Post by mjkzz »

Thanks Beatsy, I gotta try ping-pong some times.

mawyatt
Posts: 2497
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:54 pm
Location: Clearwater, Florida

Post by mawyatt »

Nice image.

Beats, are these the Godox AD-S17 for the Witstro AD200 & AD360 strobes?

Best,
Research is like a treasure hunt, you don't know where to look or what you'll find!
~Mike

Beatsy
Posts: 2105
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:10 am
Location: Malvern, UK

Post by Beatsy »

mawyatt wrote:Nice image.

Beats, are these the Godox AD-S17 for the Witstro AD200 & AD360 strobes?
Thanks.

Yes, that's the ones I got. I removed the metalwork and whacked a holesaw through the middle to make an opening for the lens to look through. Keep that hole as small as possible so you retain plenty of diffuser directly "facing" the subject. Too big and most light will come from oblique angles instead - especially at shorter working distances. Then, if necessary, cut away what's needed to fit it on your rig. I had to cut a wedge out of the bottom to avoid the adjustable specimen platform on my horizontal rig. I hold the diffuser in place by attaching it to the end of a Noga stand arm (drilled hole in the back edge pushed onto the end of the arm).

It's worth doing a white balance calibration shot on first use with each type of light you use. These particular filters warm the light (lower the kelvin WB setting). Not too much though, maybe 200K-400K less, depending on the colour temperature of the lights used.

cmagno
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:27 pm
Location: Porto, Portugal

Post by cmagno »

mjkzz wrote:Mine is made of plastic, probably acrylic, it has 150mm diameter, one opening of 100mm and another of 40mm, I am asking them to make it 120 and 60 so it will be easier to mount subject and works with larger lens better. Not sure if the 60mm opening will affect the lighting, will see.
From the dimensions presented by Peter, we may be more likely to be talking about something like this: eBay item number 122147622140.

Peter,
What solution do you use to fix the globe?

Regards,
Carlos Magno

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Post by mjkzz »

Carlos, if that item on eBay is plastic, then it could work if you cut the top off a bit. What I am concerned is that the large opening (where it is connected to a speedlite) seems to be too small, you will get stray lights entering lens, causing hazy images, even with lens hood (self made one with black paper). But from the weight (303 grams), it might be made of glass, in that case, it is hard to cut them if cuttable.

My final version has about 13.5cm opening in the back and about 5cm in the front (where camera is at). It works well for lenses with working distance less than 10CM but greater than 1cm and is thin so it can be partially inside the globe.

For lenses with longer working distance, I think I need larger globe, otherwise, the lens will be outside the globe and reflection of the globe can cause haze.

Hope this helps.

Smokedaddy
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:16 am
Location: Bigfork, Montana
Contact:

Post by Smokedaddy »

Very nice, love the colors.

Online
mjkzz
Posts: 1683
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:38 pm
Location: California/Shenzhen
Contact:

Post by mjkzz »

thanks, JW

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic