People interested in macrophotography of insects and other arthropods may want to go to the "BugShot" event, taking place early this summer at a great location in Florida. Very big names in this field will be running the show (Thomas Shahan, Alex, WIld, John Abbott), and they will be providing various lessons in macrophotography. There will of course be several field trips to locations in the area.
I am going!! (This is my first time). Very excited.
Information about the event is here:
https://bugshot.net/bugshot-florida/#tour-information
BugShot 2020 is in Florida this year
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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MarkSturtevant
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BugShot 2020 is in Florida this year
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters
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svbreakaway
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Thanks for the heads-up.
I've been wanting to go to one of these for a while.
Their overseas workshops looked appealing but
beyond my budget. I'm signed up.
The itinerary looks good:
https://bugshot.net/bugshot-florida/#itinerary
A couple Youtube videos by one of the instructors, Thomas Shahan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMcCjEU68Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRn3at0H60
And wide angle macro w/ the Venus/LAOWA 15mm Macro Lens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcYXUMkhek
I have been thinking about getting one of these. I think I will now.
If anybody reading this attends the workshop, I can let you try it out
(Sony E mount and Canon FE with my Metabones adapter).
Mike
I've been wanting to go to one of these for a while.
Their overseas workshops looked appealing but
beyond my budget. I'm signed up.
The itinerary looks good:
https://bugshot.net/bugshot-florida/#itinerary
A couple Youtube videos by one of the instructors, Thomas Shahan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMcCjEU68Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRn3at0H60
And wide angle macro w/ the Venus/LAOWA 15mm Macro Lens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcYXUMkhek
I have been thinking about getting one of these. I think I will now.
If anybody reading this attends the workshop, I can let you try it out
(Sony E mount and Canon FE with my Metabones adapter).
Mike
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MarkSturtevant
- Posts: 1947
- Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:52 pm
- Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
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I saw that video a while back. I did some perusing for alternative lenses and found this surprisingly accurate clone of that lens: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071J ... UTF8&psc=1 (!) Opinions online are that it apparently even uses the same glass as the Venus model. So I bought as an Xmas present to myself. Have not used it much outdoors in the winter, but it seems quite good and its hard to beat the price. It is not a tilt-shift lens like the Venus. That is the main difference.svbreakaway wrote:
And wide angle macro w/ the Venus/LAOWA 15mm Macro Lens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcYXUMkhek
I have been thinking about getting one of these. I think I will now.
If anybody reading this attends the workshop, I can let you try it out
(Sony E mount and Canon FE with my Metabones adapter).
Mike
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters
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rjlittlefield
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I always like listening to Thomas Shahan. I find his style very calming, and it's so pleasant to hear somebody talk about many ways to accomplish the same goal.
On watching the videos today, I thought that the Venus/Laowa 15mm 1:1 macro lens was something that I had never heard of. But in fact I had just forgotten it. In doing a Google search for site:photomacrography.net venus laowa 15mm and reading the results, I see that it's been reviewed here in the forums and I have some comments in the threads. Refs for two reviews are https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=172707 and https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=173661 .
The "Opteka 15mm f/4 LD UNC AL 1:1 Macro Manual Focus Full Frame Wide Angle Lens for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras" variant of that, found at the Amazon link, is new to me (as far as I can tell!). Reviews suggest that it's good glass but the Canon mount is pretty sloppy. I can't recall that I've ever before seen an individual 4-star review that started off by saying the reviewer had to file a screw head to mount the lens! One difference worth noting: there's no shift feature on the Opteka.
--Rik
On watching the videos today, I thought that the Venus/Laowa 15mm 1:1 macro lens was something that I had never heard of. But in fact I had just forgotten it. In doing a Google search for site:photomacrography.net venus laowa 15mm and reading the results, I see that it's been reviewed here in the forums and I have some comments in the threads. Refs for two reviews are https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=172707 and https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=173661 .
The "Opteka 15mm f/4 LD UNC AL 1:1 Macro Manual Focus Full Frame Wide Angle Lens for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras" variant of that, found at the Amazon link, is new to me (as far as I can tell!). Reviews suggest that it's good glass but the Canon mount is pretty sloppy. I can't recall that I've ever before seen an individual 4-star review that started off by saying the reviewer had to file a screw head to mount the lens! One difference worth noting: there's no shift feature on the Opteka.
--Rik
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svbreakaway
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Yes, a great price. Not sure how I feel about them apparently cloning Laowa's design.. justMarkSturtevant wrote:it seems quite good and its hard to beat the price
think back to those times when somebody took your work and presented it as their own.
And as pointed out in the reviews, there have reportedly been issues with mounts.
But the optics are possibly very close.
rjlittlefield wrote:I find his style very calming
...
Refs for two reviews are https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=172707 and https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... p?p=173661 .
One of the Laowa 15mm Macro youtube review videos referred to him as The Bug Whisperer :-).
I can see how he might put skittish critters at ease.
There are some very good discussion and samples in those threads. Thanks.
Mike
PS I live 10 minutes from the workshop location (weird, huh?) and plan to commute each day.
If anybody reading this wants to stay in my spare bedroom and save $130, you're welcome.
I see there is 1 "No housing" spot available on https://bugshot.net/product/bugshot-florida/ as I write this.
Last edited by svbreakaway on Sat Jan 25, 2020 2:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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MarkSturtevant
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What I suspect of the Opteka wide field macro is that some of the issues reported online were based on early copies, and those are not necessarily true now. At least one of the reported issues is still an issue, but it is not a major one.
1. Mine is on a Canon mount, and I would not call it sloppy. It has a tiny bit of wiggle, but I have extension tubes that wiggle a lot more. Certainly not weather sealed, but I have not seen a light leak problem. I did not have a screw in the wrong position.
2. Some have reported that either the aperture ring or focus ring was very stiff. Can't remember which. For me, those are a bit 'firm', but I dont' find them to be a problem.
3. I think someone had mentioned that the scale on the barrel does not accurately mark the focus distance. I have not checked this on my copy, so I don't know what to say about it. I don't look at scales.
4. It was reported that the deeply scalloped lens hood does not screw on far enough so that the deep parts of the scallops don't quite line perfectly with the corners in the field of view, possibly resulting in vignetting. This is the case with my copy as well, so it looks like that issue has not been corrected. I would like to use the hood, so my scheme, after some research, is to take a few millimeters off of the lens hood threads so it can screw in just a bit more and align the scallops to the corners. I plan on looking at this carefully before I commit to this alteration, and if I do anything it will be done in small increments. But if I somehow make it worse I don't think it a great loss since I feel I can't use the hood as it is.
So not an equal to the Venus. But for the price it feels like a very solid, hefty chunk of precisely machined metal and glass. Wide angle macro is, to me right now, a very specialized niche and so I did not feel I should spend a lot on one. I hope to do a mini-review of the Opteka lens here once I can get out in the sunshine with it. That will feel pretty good!
1. Mine is on a Canon mount, and I would not call it sloppy. It has a tiny bit of wiggle, but I have extension tubes that wiggle a lot more. Certainly not weather sealed, but I have not seen a light leak problem. I did not have a screw in the wrong position.
2. Some have reported that either the aperture ring or focus ring was very stiff. Can't remember which. For me, those are a bit 'firm', but I dont' find them to be a problem.
3. I think someone had mentioned that the scale on the barrel does not accurately mark the focus distance. I have not checked this on my copy, so I don't know what to say about it. I don't look at scales.
4. It was reported that the deeply scalloped lens hood does not screw on far enough so that the deep parts of the scallops don't quite line perfectly with the corners in the field of view, possibly resulting in vignetting. This is the case with my copy as well, so it looks like that issue has not been corrected. I would like to use the hood, so my scheme, after some research, is to take a few millimeters off of the lens hood threads so it can screw in just a bit more and align the scallops to the corners. I plan on looking at this carefully before I commit to this alteration, and if I do anything it will be done in small increments. But if I somehow make it worse I don't think it a great loss since I feel I can't use the hood as it is.
So not an equal to the Venus. But for the price it feels like a very solid, hefty chunk of precisely machined metal and glass. Wide angle macro is, to me right now, a very specialized niche and so I did not feel I should spend a lot on one. I hope to do a mini-review of the Opteka lens here once I can get out in the sunshine with it. That will feel pretty good!
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters
Dept. of Still Waters
Just signed up for the workshop (Mike, might be interested). I have the Laowa WA close up. Images are sharp but the bokeh is horrible - very ugly, in fact. Still, it has some speciality use, I guess.
MarkSturtevant wrote:I saw that video a while back. I did some perusing for alternative lenses and found this surprisingly accurate clone of that lens: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071J ... UTF8&psc=1 (!) Opinions online are that it apparently even uses the same glass as the Venus model. So I bought as an Xmas present to myself. Have not used it much outdoors in the winter, but it seems quite good and its hard to beat the price. It is not a tilt-shift lens like the Venus. That is the main difference.svbreakaway wrote:
And wide angle macro w/ the Venus/LAOWA 15mm Macro Lens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZcYXUMkhek
I have been thinking about getting one of these. I think I will now.
If anybody reading this attends the workshop, I can let you try it out
(Sony E mount and Canon FE with my Metabones adapter).
Mike
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svbreakaway
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- Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:55 am
- Location: Central FL
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Great. I look forward to meeting you and Mark and anybody else from here attending.dhmiller wrote:Just signed up for the workshop (Mike, might be interested).
I can suggest to anyone attending (and has the time) attractions, restaurants
and services in Lake Placid (a 10 minute drive from the workshop).
Mike