Thanks for the great macro tips. To soften the flash I have used a folded white paper taped to the pop-up flash, which works good too imo. I had a Sony 717 this summer and though it does allowed me to get as close as 2cm of the subject the AF didn't seem to work and it was impossible to focus manually using the EVF, which is very-very poor on all digital cameras (my main reason I sold the 717, the others being noise and poor DOF) so here is what I did (shooting butterflies):
1. I noticed that they allow You as close as 30-40 centimeters if You approach them slowly and nosilessly.
2. I set the focus manually to 4-6 cm
3. I crouched down and tilted the LCD 60-75 degrees up and started moving the camera closer to the butterfly
4. The butterflies didn't seem to mind the approaching camera as long as You stayed back
5. As I was able to see on screen when the subject came to focus I pressed the shutter. here are the results: http://www.zone.ee/svenzacek/libputgbr.htm
This was just a tip for those with less expensive cameras who are stuck with useless EVF's.
Sven @ looking to do nice macros this summer with a clear viewfinder.
If you are shooting living subjects, I find it important to know the subjects behavior. As an example, many dragonflies will return to the same spot, so that you can set up your tripod and camera and be confident that the subject will show up. Other dragonflies such as Darners spook easily so that getting close is almost impossible. For them you need a long-distance setup and a watchful eye.
Praying Mantis are easy to spot in tall grass if you know what color variation to look for and they are patient. Butterflies tend toward certain flowering plants so they are easy to shoot.
I'm currently using the best combo I've ever tried for Butterfly Photography, 100-400mm IS + 25mm Extension Tube.
I believe most of you already know that it's almost impractical to use a tripod when shooting these elusive butterflies, thus, the IS really helps to handhold the equipment.
@400mm range, the working distance is very ideal to avoid distracting these highly sensitive insects.
Combined with 550ex/420ex with omni-bounce tilted 45 deg, you dont need a flash bracket at all. I just normally compensate the flash exposure to -1 stop to act as a fill-in light to the shadow portion.
Let me just share some photos taken with this combo, and let me have your feedback as well..
splendid shots.
I 've some hope my combo nikkor 300 f4 with extension tube will work as fine as that on butterflys.
I made some try on flowers as we must wait spring for butterflys in France http://perso.wanadoo.fr/reto/stock/fl.jpg
