MikeOxon

[MikeOxon]

Another warm afternoon, today, though sunshine was in fairly short supply, locally.

I drove to the Lambourn Downs, near Wantage, and parked on a minor road at SU325833, from where a bridleway leads up to Crog Hill. For this trip, I decided to take my 'lightweight' FZ200 camera, as my back was complaining after a couple of trips with the full Nikon gear!

Bridleway to Crog Hill -16th May 2014

At the top of the track, just beyond the narrow strip of woodland seen in the above photo, is a good place for Duke of Burgundy, and I was not disappointed. I am still learning how to use the FZ200 and don't feel that I have optimised the settings yet. I have an old set of 55mm Hoya close-up lenses, originally bought back in the days when I used a Pentax Spotmatic, and have fitted these to the FZ200 lens, by using a 52-55 adapter ring.. Many of these shots were taken with the +1 dioptre lens in place.

The first DoB I saw was a rather faded female but I soon found several males in excellent condition and ready to pose on Cowslips.

Crog Hill, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640s@f/5 ISO200

Crog Hill, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/500@f/4 ISO125

In the same area, there were several Dingy Skippers, Brimstones, Orange Tips, and rather faded Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock. As I walked back to the road, I also saw several Small Blues.

I decided to continue walking along the road to the BBOWT Seven Barrows reserve.

Seven Barrows BBOWT reserve - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1600@f/4 ISO160

Until recently, this reserve had a good colony of Marsh Fritillaries but these now seem to have disappeared, though I still keep a look-out for them.

Today, there were good numbers of Small Blues:

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/400@f/4 ISO125

A flash of orange led me to a very newly-emerged Small Copper

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1600@f/4 ISO125

Dingy Skippers and Brown Argus were also plentiful:

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640@f/4 ISO125

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640@f/4 ISO125

I had a heart-stopping moment when a much brighter fulvous 'butterfly' appeared but it was not the hoped-for Marsh Fritillary but a very fresh Burnet Companion moth.

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/320@f/4 ISO125

As I was leaving the reserve, I spotted a very pretty moth skulking in the undergrowth, which I think is a Red Twin-spot Carpet, though I'm ready to be corrected.

Seven Barrows, Berks - 16th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/160@f/4 ISO125

Mike

[CJB]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your info!

I drove past Hayley Wood, so have located that and will visit the Gloucs website.

Thank you for getting back to me and I hope you have managed to make the most of the weather! I am yet to get stuck in but from very early on have had Brimstones, S Whites, GV Whites, Small Copper (with blue spots), S Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Orange tip, Red Admiral (noticeably scarce) all in my garden, which is spoiling.

I am yet to make a trip to find the other local specialities but will try to do so tomorrow.

Flutter on!

CJB

[Wurzel]

Looks like you had a cracking day Cheers for the extra shot of the hybrids it's interesting which characteristics they pick up

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Since retiring, I tend to stay at home and enjoy the garden at weekends.

Today, I spent some time exploring settings on the Lumix FZ200 and trying to get more familiar with this camera.

handsome male blackbird
standing on the head of Pan!

I decided that the 'minimal' settings I had adopted previously ('Natural' from the Photo Style menu and then set all of Contrast, Sharpening, Saturation, and Noise Reduction to '-2'.) resulted in very 'flat' images that needed a lot of post-processing in Photoshop. A series of trials led to me increasing the Contrast to '0' and the Saturation to'-1', leaving Sharpening and Noise Reduction at -2. This gave me acceptable results out of the camera and left me to judge the appropriate degree of sharpening and/or noise reduction for each individual image.

I am gradually getting a feel for the very different depth of field, when compared with a DSLR, though it is also important to realise that it is not infinite but still needs consideration, especially at the longer zoom settings. Similarly the image stabilisation is good but cannot perform miracles, so camera shake has also to be considered at longer zoom settings - I find it advisable to use a monopod much of the time, ,just as I do with a DSLR.

After taking various flowers and birds on the garden feeders, I noticed a Holly Blue spiralling around the garden.Eventually it paused on a leaf in the late afternoon sun and I managed a few shots before it resumed its patrol. A little later 'it' settled again, very close to the original location but, when I looked at the photos, I realised that the 2nd set were of a female whereas the first were of a male!

HB male, garden - 18th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640s@f/4 ISO160

HB female, garden - 18th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/500s@f/5 ISO125

I wonder how often we think we have seen one butterfly (or other creature) when, in fact, there were several. I have read stories of people feeding a 'pet' hedgehog in their garden, only for it to be demonstrated that they have been feeding about a dozen hedgehogs

Mike

[Pauline]

I have just read your last post with interest Mike and it has spurred me on to look once again at my camera settings. It is so helpful to be given details such as those and that shot of the Blackbird is lovely. I know how hard it is to take good shots of black creatures but the detail in the plumage is very apparent, whilst the background nicely blurred tho' providing context for the bird.

[Jack Harrison]

FZ200.

ISO 100 is probably optimum but ISO 200 (at least on my FZ150) gives undetectable loss of resolution.
And of course with ISO 200 you can use faster shutter speeds and thus reduce camera shake.

Some professional snooker players have used alcohol to reduce "cue shake". Worth a try Mike?

Jack

[MikeOxon]

Thank you for the comments, Pauline and Jack. I was very pleased with the Blackbird, too. It was sat in shade and the camera set the exposure perfectly.

I've set the ISO to 125 but the camera seems to alter it to 160 sometimes. For the second (female) butterfly shot, I set shutter priority at 1/500s as light levels were falling and I was using a long zoom setting, hand-held.Other shots were on Program.

Feel free to send me a case of the local malt any time, Jack, and I shall be happy to conduct a series of 'shake' experiments

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Another splendid day for the diary, spent at the Strawberry Banks reserve of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, on Monday 19th May.

It is a delightful reserve set in a steep-sided valley among woodland. The banks are thought to have once been used to grow strawberries, hence the name, and there are plenty of strawberry flowers still to be seen. I approached from the village of Oakridge Lynch, over a series of stiles and then down a pleasant sloping path through woodland, where the ground was covered in white Ransomes (Allium ursinum) flowers.

Approach to Strawberry Banks
from Oakridge Lynch

As you emerge from the trees, there is a view across the whole reserve.

Strawberry Banks Reserve
Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

It was a warm, sunny afternoon and I saw my first Marsh Fritillary part-way down the path into the valley. Alongside the path, I also saw several Lesser Butterfly Orchid (Platanthera bifolia) plants; this is the scarcer of the two British butterfly orchid species. There were also many Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) scattered across the site.

Lesser Butterfly Orchid - 19th May 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/125s@f/11 ISO400

Marsh Fritillaries were present across all of the reserve and, at one point, I watched a group of four chasing each other in 'follow my leader' style. Others were very willing to pose on the many flowers, including this female with her swollen abdomen:

Strawberry Banks - 19th May 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/350s@f/9.5 ISO400

For this trip, I had decided to take my full Nikon kit, as I do not yet feel completely 'at home' with the FZ200. I was pleased that I had, when I came across a three-some of Marsh Fritillaries all attempting to mate low amongst long grasses. With the Nikon, I had the 'instinctive feel' that I needed, in order to select the optimum aperture, and other settings, in this difficult situation, with rapidly-changing light levels and many intervening leaves.

The following 'X-rated' sequence shows the three-some, with the third member desperately trying to inveigle himself into the other pair. (as with all my photos, click on the image for an enlarged view)

It was a scene of constant movement until, eventually, the intruder left and left the pair to complete their mating in peace.

Strawberry Banks - 19th May 2014
Nikon D300s with Tamron 90mm macro lens - 1/60s@f/16 ISO400

Other species seen included Dingy Skipper, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Small Blue, Common Blue, Small Heath, Peacock, and Small Copper. On several occasions, I though I saw a Duke of Burgundy sallying forth but each one I managed to investigate more closely, turned out to be a small Marsh Fritillary.

At the end of a long, hot afternoon, the Nikon kit felt very heavy indeed, especially when climbing over the stiles, and I am feeling quite stiff, today. I am sure that the FZ200 could have done a good job most of the time but the Nikon/macro lens combination had the edge when following the movements of the mating pair amongst the grasses, so the 'pain' was worth it on this occasion

Mike

[Goldie M]

Mike I love your Photo's of the Marsh Fritilaries, I'm still getting used to my camera, I hope when I do My photo's turn out like yours but I doubt that very much, I've still alot to learn about Photography Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thank you for commenting, Goldie. Some of those photos involved me acting like a contortionist - probably why I'm feeling rather the worse for wear, today

For that last shot, I wanted both butterflies' eyes in focus, so I set an aperture of f/16 (beyond that, diffraction starts to reduce image sharpness noticeably). That meant a slow shutter speed, so the camera was sat firmly on the ground and I manage to move a few grasses from the foreground, without disturbing the butterflies - which were rather intent on what they're doing.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Very interesting series of Marshie shots - I hope to see a similar action on my next visit to my Marshie site WRT the 'Butterfly Orchid' does it have a range of colours or is it always that creamy white colour? Mind you to my mind it looks more like an 'Albino 6 Spot Burnet Moth Orchid' than a butterfly

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

Thank you Wurzel - it was a case of being in the right place at the right time.

There are two 'butterfly orchids' in UK: greater and lesser. Both are the same greenish-white colour but have different scents and pollinators. There are photos of both on my website at http://home.btconnect.com/mike.flemming/orchids4.htm

Mike

[MikeOxon]

Today I made a short trip to Lough Down, above Streatley, Berks. This site is on the opposite side of the Goring Gap from the Hartslock Reserve, which I visited last week. The view from the Down shown below, looking East, includes Hartslock:

View across the Goring Gap from
Lough Down, Streatley

My aims were to see Adonis Blues and to get some practice in using my Lumix FZ200. Although generally bright and sunny, there was a thin veil of high cloud and a breeze that was keeping temperatures down. At first, the slopes of the Down looked like a 'butterfly free zone' but, soon, I saw a Common Blue cruising low across the grassy hillside.

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1300s@f/4 ISO100

The double fringe is very clear in this photo. When worn, the appearance of 'chequers' on the inner fringe can cause confusion with Adonis Blue.

I walked slowly along the path which runs low down across the South side of the Down, keeping my eyes peeled, and felt very fortunate to spot a female Adonis Blue, low amongst the vegetation:

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/250s@f/5.6 ISO100

She had beautiful chocolate brown wings with very blue edges to the red spots on the hind wing. This last feature is often said to distinguish Adonis Blue females from Chalkhill Blues but, in practice, I have found that, in many cases, the blue on the Adonis has faded to white (as in the Chalkhill).

It began to look like a 'girls day out', since the next butterfly I found was a very blue female Common Blue:

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640s@f/4 ISO100

I decided that any male Adonis Blue that were about would be seeking females, so decided to wait near the female I had already found. Patience was rewarded and a flash of electric blue suddenly appeared on the slope. For me, it is the most exciting moment in UK butterflying, to see this vivid colour.

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/800s@f/6.3 ISO125

He turned out to be very compliant and willing to pose for photographs. I took the opportunity to try a range of techniques with the FZ200, varying apertures and focal length settings. I find close-ups with the FZ200 are quite difficult, because the closest focus distance varies with the zoom setting. Thus, I am finding it difficult to develop a 'feel' for the optimum distance/focal length setting to use.

I also experimented with a +1 dioptre close-up lens. Back in my film days, I used to find these lenses quite difficult to use, because of the very limited distance range over which they can be used, and was very glad, years ago, when I could finally afford a proper macro lens. Nevertheless, they do provide a valuable increase in image magnification when used with the FZ200 and, once I had found the distance range over which the lens works, I found it successful.

Crops from some of the photos I took with the close-up lens showed a considerable amount of detail:

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1000s@f/5 ISO125

I was interested to see the raised very fine hairs above the tile-like scales on the wing. Perhaps these have a role in producing the iridescence when sunlight strikes the wing at an appropriate angle or perhaps they are to help protect the delicate scales from damage? The rows of 'tiles' on the wings can also be seen clearly in the following photo:

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/1300s@f/4 ISO125

Later, the same male posed for me on a flower, this time showing the underside of his wings. I took the opportunity to experiment with a range of apertures, as shown below (For all my photos, click on the image to enlarge):

Lumix FZ200, fl=108mm with +1 doptre close-up lens
varying aperture

These were all taken with the lens at its longest zoom (fl = 108mm) with the +1 dioptre close-up lens. Under these conditions, it is clear that the smallest aperture (f/8) provides the best overall sharpness, when the results are, in my opinion, very good indeed.

Lough Down, Berks - 21st May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/640s@f/8 ISO125

I am still far from feeling completely 'at home' with the FZ200. Some of the menus are tricky to navigate and, for example, I find the manual focus mode difficult to select and use. I also find that my clumsy thumb keeps pressing buttons on the back of the camera, when I only intend to hold the camera. This often leads to settings being changed
inadvertently. On one occasion, I found I had activated the 10sec delay timer and I frequently alter the exposure compensation setting unintentionally. I expect I shall get used to all this, eventually, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to avoid these errors, I shall be interested to hear from them.

Mike

[Goldie M]

Mike your photo's are stunning, I like your pair of March Frit's very much and the Adonis Male, I used to get mixed up with those and Common Blue but I know more now so not as thick as I used to be

I'm still trying to get to grips with this new len's I bought, it's great for bringing distant things closer and then you can choose Micro, but you've to stand a certain distance a way . This got me frustrated at first and I still tend to go too near the subject, having said that it was great when I was at GB filming the Duke of Burgandy, I wouldn't have got the mating couple of Dukes with any other lens, has they were quite 16ft are more a way, of course the computer helped to bring them in even more
I suppose there's nothing like practice to get used to some thing, but seriously, if my photo's turned out half has good as yours I wouldn't worry Goldie

[MikeOxon]

Thank you Goldie - you are very kind about my photos I think other people's photos always look sharper and clearer than one's own - perhaps because I compare my own pics with the real thing, as I remember it, and they are never that good!

The business of finding the closest focus distance is always difficult with zoom lenses, because it varies with the zoom setting on some cameras and lenses (very much so, in the case of the Lumix FZ200).

Mike

[MikeOxon]

We visited my Brother-in-law yesterday (24th May) and he showed me some Orange-Tip larvae on Garlic Mustard plants in his garden.

As it was heading towards dusk, I decided to try to take a few photos, using flash with my Lumix FZ200. In my experience, on-camera flash rarely gives decent results but I was pleasantly surprised by how well this came out. I chose an aperture of f/5.6, using full zoom with a +1 close-up lens.

OT larva, Andover - 24th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/200s@f/5.6 ISO125, with flash

His sharp-eyed Grand-daughter spotted an egg, as well, so I had a go at photographing this too.

OT egg, Andover - 24th May 2014
Lumix FZ200 - 1/200s@f/4.5 ISO125, with flash

Since the whole aim of buying the Lumix was to reduce the size and weight of my kit, I do not intend to start adding things like an external flash-gun but I may try making a diffuser, to reduce the glare in close-up shots.

I'm quite pleased to have joined the trend towards photographing the earlier stages of butterfly life

Mike

[Jack Harrison]

Mike

may try making a diffuser, to reduce the glare in close-up shots

I once made one from a small plastic milk bottle. Worked a tread (but looked odd!)

jacjk

[Padfield]

I'm quite pleased to have joined the trend towards photographing the earlier stages of butterfly life

You'll never look back! I was a relatively late convertee but since I began taking the early stages seriously butterflies have never been the same. Every time I see an adult its whole life flashes before me, along with the trials, tribulations and dangers. Every butterfly you see is the one-in-a-hundred that made it - and every one has a remarkable story to tell.

Great pictures, too, Mike, as others have said!

Guy

[MikeOxon]

Thank you for your comments, Guy. It is very difficult for us, from our lofty position in the food chain, to comprehend how 'life' works lower down. We see such amazing sophistication and 'perfection' in tiny creatures that it seems incredible that most of them are eaten by something bigger and never get as far as fulfilling their reproductive 'purpose'.

Thank you Jack. I was already thinking along similar lines .

Mike

[MikeOxon]

To while away a wet Bank Holiday afternoon, yesterday, I decided to do some lens experiments.

I had started to do some simple optical calculations but soon realised that a complex lens, like that on my Lumix FZ200, is not amenable to such basic treatment, so I turned to experiments instead.

As mentioned in previous entries, I have been using an old Hoya set of close-up lenses with my FZ200. Then, when reading the specs. for Panasonic's own close-up adapter (DMW-LC55), I realised that it has a 'strength' of +2 dioptre (based on the farthest focus distance of 500mm) whereas, so far, I had only tried a +1 dioptre lens.

So, I set the Lumix to its closest focus distance of 1 m, with the lens set to maximum zoom. I then photographed a ruler, first with the unaided lens and then with +1 and +2 dioptre supplementaries, respectively.

The sensor in the FZ200 meaasures 6.17 mm x 4.55 mm, so the magnification of each image can be determined by dividing the width of the sensor by the distance shown on each ruler image. The results are 6.17/83.5 = 0.074X for the unaided lens and 0.152X and 0.224X for the +1 and +2 close-up lenses, respectively. I also measured the distance from the back of the camera to the subject in each case. These distances were 112 mm, using the unaided lens, and 63mm and 43mm for the +1 and +2 lenses, respectively.

Although these magnification figures look quite small, at first glance, it must be remembered that the FZ200 sensor is very much smaller than a 35mm frame and, therefore, needs less magnification to fill the image area

In their data sheet for the DMW-LC55, Panasonic quote a magnification of 'about 3 times'. This statement appears to refer to the increase in magnification over what can be achieved from the unaided lens.

Calculations.

A complex zoom lens, like that in the FZ200, often achieves close focus by altering its focal length. Although the lens may have a nominal focal length of 108 mm, when focussed at infinity, it may be much less than that, when set to its closest focus distance. From the measurements I have taken, it is possible to calculate the effective focal length of the lens, when set to its closest focus.

My calculations resulted in a focal length for the unaided lens of 71.85mm. Now I had the bit between my teeth, so went on to construct an Excel spreadsheet, which could calculate the focus distances and magnifications at a range of distance settings.

The first graph shows the calculated distance from the sensor to the subject (d), when the focus on the lens scale is set as shown on the horizontal (X) axis. The minimum distance that can be set at maximum zoom, in 'macro' mode, is about 1m (measured from the sensor).

With Panasonic's own (+2 dioptre) adapter attached, this graph shows that the distance range that can be achieved lies between 0.5m (with the main lens set to infinity) and 0.4m (with the main lens set to 1m).

The second graph shows the magnifications that are provided by the various lens combinations at different settings of the focus scale.

These graphs are not necessarily very accurate for a real lens, since the focal length may change as focus is adjusted.

If anyone has read this far and is interested in the spreadsheet, please PM me and I'll send a copy.

Mike