Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

[Stan]

Spotted this hawker resting on one of the plants by the reedbed boardwalk at Arundel WWT yesterday. Started shooting with my 300 f4 and 1.4x but as he seemed quite settled thought I would take a few shots with my Canon 100 f2.8 L IS macro to see how they compared and I was quite surprised, having expected the macro to provide the better bokah but the more diffused background came from the long combo. Macro image is full frame and the other a minor crop

Both shots were at f8, ISO 800

420mm


100mm


Dee did the same using her Canon 60 f2.8 macro and the backgrounds on both her shots, 420mm and 60mm were very similar. So is the cheaper macro better than the more expensive one

Stan

[Birdy]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

I think I prefer the first one Stan. Also looks to have deeper colours, although that might be processing.
Interesting experiment so thanks for posting.

[Stan]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

Cheers Andrew

Also looks to have deeper colours, although that might be processing

slightly different processing, I think

Stan

[tesarver]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

For me the 1st but that is because the focus on the eye seems sharper in that image.

Tom

[Stan]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

Cheers Tom

For me the 1st but that is because the focus on the eye seems sharper in that image

that may be down to the processing as the first has a bit more contrast

Stan

[Tigger]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

again another vote for the 1st - excellent detail Stan

[David Morison]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

I prefer the first mainly because the background is more OOF, a factor of the difference in focal length. I've always gone for a long focal length non-macro lens for the larger insects such as this but I appreciate that for greater detail, especially on smaller subjects, a purpose designed macro lens will always be the best option.

David

[Stan]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

I've always gone for a long focal length non-macro lens for the larger insects such as this but I appreciate that for greater detail

this was more of an experiment David - for anything other than flies and bees and the like I prefer to use my 300 and converter. I know what you mean about the longer focal lengths but given that a macro lens has such a narrow depth of field, I would have expected a similar oof background. In fact Dee conducted the same experiment using her EF-S 60 macro and both her backgrounds were similarly out of focus

Stan

[paul linton]

Re: Migrant Hawker - 420mm v 100mm

First has much more contrast colour and detail the second looks very flat and void of any contrast colour or detail?

Paul