Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, Ive got 2 35mm SLR's, 2 Standard 50mm lenses, a 50mm MACRO (Lifesize) with an Extension Tube, a 28mm MACRO, a 35mm MACRO and a 70-210 1:4 MACRO. What else do you think would be worth my while as far as nature (mostly Herp) photography goes. Maybe a Teleconverter or filters or something. Thanks guys.
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-Doug Daly

"Aren't you two a little old to be drinking illegally?"

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe Obsoleta lindheimerii)

www.petitiononline.com/hhogs05/petition.html

Wow, sounds like you've been doing some shopping.

Get rid of the extra 50, they are just dead weight. Do some test shooting and figure out which one is sharper (or look at a site like photodo.com).

I might lean towards one of the following (in order of preference) -

1. a good solid tripod. If you don't have one of these, I would move it to the top of the list. A flimsy tripod is almost worse than none. Heavy is good. I really like Bogen tripods.

2. a flash and off camera cable. Having the ability to add a little fill flash and vary the position of the light is very valuable for macro photography.

3. a long telephoto. I might be inclined to look for a good 300 or 400 mm lens. Some of them even have limited macro ability (1:4 or 1:6 is usually it). Sometimes these can get you shots of flighty herps (lizards or frogs) that you couldn't get otherwise.

4. a good macro in the 90 to 105 mm range. There are some excellent lenses out there and this is a great herp lens. Get one that goes 1:1.

5. a good telephoto 1:1 macro can be nice as well. Here I would look for a 180mm or 200mm macro. Pricey, but worth it.
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Chris Harrison

Yeah ive got 2 flashes(one for each camera) and an old tripod around here somewhere, also got a cable release for one of my cameras. I agree with you with the flash cable, ill look into that. As far as lenses go i cant really budget them in right now. I think i can manage with what ive got now for a little while. Thanks for your help!
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-Doug Daly

"Aren't you two a little old to be drinking illegally?"

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe Obsoleta lindheimerii)

www.petitiononline.com/hhogs05/petition.html

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is a flash bracket. If you are interested in photographing wild critters out in the field, one of these brackets is really useful. It allows you to get the flash off camera and right up close to the subject in a way that prevents harsh shadows. Plus, you have two hands freee to operate the camera which is a big plus if you have a heavy lens attached. Also, using flash allows using a quick shutter speed (like 1/250th second or more) which makes a tripod less necessary. Many macro subjects won't stay put long enough to allow you to set up at tripod anyway. This fruit fly an example. No way could I have gotten this shot without a bracket.

Otherwise, I agree with the list Chris posted. The only thing I don't have is number 3, but plan to pick one up as soon as I figure out which one would fit my needs best.

Cheers,

WK