Playing around with my macro lens and some extension tubes. Can anyone

ID this Bug? It was about 10mm long.

Compsus auricephalus - Golden-headed Weevil

I think, looks pretty similar to this

This is a monster magnification....... the larger view is awesome. I have never tried extension tubes..... although have often seen the results.

This is a lovely capture....... bringing to life an insect rarely seen with the naked eye...... as ugly as it is, you have given it a majestic quality.

The quality and colour are outstanding.......... well done.

Regards

Thanks for the encouraging words Grayham. I've had the extension tubes for about 2 months and yesterday I finally got around to trying them out. The magnification makes focusing difficult, to put it mildly. I took a quite a few images at different f-stops and found f/20 is about right. I can still get a reasonable DOF and it's just starting to get noticeably soft due to diffraction. I took a few at f/32 and they were really soft, and at f/11 they were really sharp but it was almost impossible to get what I wanted in focus.

Now I understand the need for focusing rails at high magnification. I tried using my tripod with this setup. Forget about it. I couldn't make fine enough adjustments to the positioning and distance from the subject with out the bug moving on. Luckily using my hot shoe flash I could get enough light to shoot hand held even at those small apertures and the reduction in light that the extension tubes caused.

I'll probably be posting more high magnification image in the weeks to come.

Check out the following image of a tight head shot of this beetle.

Thanks for the further info on this image........... Perseverence wins the day.

Regards

I have never seen this agly creature, so this one and the nextone shows how "golden" color can be real ugly...;-))

That said, it is a very good macro, details,  light and timing, as well as DOF. Thanks for your interesting explanation. 

as they say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". While I can't say I find this bug beautiful, I don't find it ugly either. The word alien comes to mind when I see insects at these magnifications. The technical challenge aside, I like macros for exactly that aspect. Seeing the strange and unknown that is around us all the time, even though we normally wouldn't even know. For example, with the naked eye this bug seemed to be an even color. In the following image you can see that it's actually covered in small white scales.

Thanks for commenting.

Sigg

I love this photo, Siegfried. I agree with you on why macro photography is interesting -- you get to see and appreciate these little creatures that you normally don't notice and would otherwise deem alien-like. To think, these are everywhere. And I never really sat and looked at them. I'm really surprised at how these lenses pick up on so much detail. They have little silia-like hairs on their bodies, and weird eyes; what's up with their feet? Anyway, great photo. Thanks! 

Excellent macro, I have a Canon f2.8 Macro and find only handholding to be my best bet when the little creatures are moving about. I don't think I've ever got as excellent focus as this one!! Well done!

thanks for the encouraging comments.