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Post by batspiderfish on Oct 4, 2011 18:58:36 GMT
I have more of a background in photography, but when I was playing around with a simple video camera I own and a 60 year old Russian lens, I discovered just how accessible macro video is. Enjoy!
This is my first video ever, but I will assuredly make more of them...
This is a North American Lasius umbratus colony I started in April, from a single queen and a retinue of about 100 Lasius alienus host workers. The colony has grown very quickly.
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Post by Jenny on Oct 4, 2011 19:09:28 GMT
A brilliant video Batspiderfish, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it Keep them coming in, as they are excellent quality Welcome to the forum by the way
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 4, 2011 19:35:07 GMT
Welcome to the Ant Hill Batspiderfish It is amazing how using an old lens can turn a good video into an outstanding one, as the ants are so close up with your macro set up one feels like you could reach out and touch them
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Post by Welsh Ant on Oct 10, 2011 10:19:02 GMT
A really nice video, hope you post more
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shane
Ant Photographer
Ant Species Image Gatherer
Posts: 1,738
Likes: 819
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Post by shane on Oct 10, 2011 14:14:30 GMT
Best micro video I've seen for a long time Batspiderfish Love the colour's of your colony
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Post by batspiderfish on Oct 21, 2011 18:35:42 GMT
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Post by bobdol on Oct 21, 2011 19:34:16 GMT
Wow, such great quality... The close ups are really superb! Is there anyway you could achieve this sort of view from some sort of magnifying glass? I would be interested in purchasing something like that for personal use as I cannot afford an expensive camera
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Post by batspiderfish on Oct 21, 2011 21:10:08 GMT
Wow, such great quality... The close ups are really superb! Is there anyway you could achieve this sort of view from some sort of magnifying glass? I would be interested in purchasing something like that for personal use as I cannot afford an expensive camera I actually use a technique called lens coupling, which involves taking any suitable lens and mounting it backwards onto the lens of the camera. You can essentially do this with a magnifying glass, but you will have better magnification and image quality if you use a real camera lens. This makes the working distance of your first lens much smaller and closer than it would ordinarily function. The shorter the focal length of the second lens, the more magnification you will get (however, wide-angle lenses will often cause serious vignetting to the corners of the image.) The easiest way to mount the lens is with a coupling ring, which screws into the front of front of your lens, where you would ordinarily put lens filters or hoods. What makes a coupling ring unique is that it has two "male" ends (allowing you to easily attach the front of another lens.) Be sure to know whether or not your camera has a filter thread, how wide it is, and how wide the thread of your second lens is. I actually attached my lens with rubber bands for this video, because my coupling ring was so late to arrive in the mail. You can find nice, old lenses at antique stores and on eBay for a very reasonable price (you might have to do some research to find the best lens for you.)
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Post by bobdol on Oct 22, 2011 8:27:35 GMT
Thanks I will try messing around with some magnifying glasses in front of the camera and what not
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Post by Wood~Ant on Oct 22, 2011 8:35:33 GMT
A truly remarkable video BSF, as I thought I was watching one of the BBC's nature programmes the clarity is so good I know how long it takes to make a 3 minute video and load it onto YouTube, so making your 9 minutes and 48 seconds long is a work of dedication. What camcorder/video camera are you using now?
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mtrein
Nurse Ant
Posts: 93
Likes: 1
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Post by mtrein on Oct 22, 2011 12:21:03 GMT
Yes, lovely close ups Keep them coming
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Post by batspiderfish on Oct 24, 2011 7:11:20 GMT
Thank you everyone for your comments!
My camera is a Canon HF S200. The lens I used over it was a Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 58/1.4.
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Post by batspiderfish on May 10, 2012 17:43:51 GMT
New video! Not too happy with it, but an update is an update! Cool footage of a larva spinning its cocoon from the inside.
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Post by Wood~Ant on May 11, 2012 7:29:27 GMT
Good choice of music to your video BSF, and a very healthy and prolific colony too. Jen loves the colour of these ants, so I must try and get a colony instead of trying to keep L. flavus, which always fail after a time for me.
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Post by batspiderfish on May 11, 2012 17:21:24 GMT
Haha! yes, Lasius umbratus is a great alternative to Lasius flavus. A little pricey, though; you might be better off looking for alates in the fall, and using my guide.
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