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Hello Adelaidians,

I've been thinking about a different sort of meet. Who's interested in a Macro meet, in at the Adelaide Botanic Garden?

Given we have the Tour Down Under in January and the Clipsal 500 in March, I'm thinking a February meetup on, say, the Sunday 15th or [other option removed]. Sundays are good as the parking is free. We could meet up at Cafe Fibonacci and wander around from there. Any suggestions or changes are welcome.

Don't worry if you don't have a macro lens, many lenses allow you to get close enough for some stunning shots. And you can have fun in the Botanic Garden with any sort of lens from telephoto to wide angle.

So who is interesting in something like that?

Daniel

Some shots I took there today...



People interested:
fozzie
Chica
DebT
darklightphotography
BigV
tommyg
Katatonic
vortex
DanW

Meeting 10am, Sunday 15 Feb, at Cafe Fibonacci.

Daniel - I'm in. Out of the two dates you have in mind, I would prefer the 15th February, 2009.

For those who do not have a macro lens = Nikkor micro lenses, and would like to use one, I can bring along the following by request via PM:

Nikkor AF 60mm f/2.8
http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon ... F2.8D.html

Nikkor AF 105mm f/2.8 (No longer available on the Nikon site, so refer below thread)
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/show ... =12&page=1

Nikkor AF 200mm f/4
http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon ... IF-ED.html

Sigma 150mm APO MACRO f/2.8 EX DG HSM (Nikon Mount)
http://www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/lense ... avigator=5


fozzie

Hi Guys

Tom and I will come along... sounds like fun. Fozzie, we would love to trry out some macro lenses, we will PM you closer to the day about it, thanks for your offer.

Hi Daniel, like the bee & great idea for a meet,
I'll be there with my Canon stuff, 40D 100m macro 2.8 and ring flash - please send me a reminder closer to the date
DebT

fozzie wrote:Daniel - I'm in. Out of the two dates you have in mind, I would prefer the 15th February, 2009.

No problem.
One vote for the 15th, two for either.

fozzie wrote:For those who do not have a macro lens = Nikkor micro lenses, and would like to use one, I can bring along the following by request via PM:

I didn't realise you had such an arsenal of macro lenses. Some excellent glass there.

Daniel

I'm in. Either date is OK for me.

I vote for the 15th...

Sundays no good for me, otherwise id be along for sure, i really gotta get out of retail! Have fun peoples!

Doctor wrote:Sundays no good for me, otherwise id be along for sure, i really gotta get out of retail! Have fun peoples!

Sorry to hear that.
Of course, the gardens are there for whenever you're free.

Daniel

15th best for me also
DebT

DanielA wrote:

Doctor wrote:Sundays no good for me, otherwise id be along for sure, i really gotta get out of retail! Have fun peoples!

Sorry to hear that.
Of course, the gardens are there for whenever you're free.

Daniel

Indeed they are, ive had quite a few interesting encounters in there and its a great place to spend a quiet afternoon, will certainly be in there again, along with the zoo, once work quietens down

OK, looks like Sunday the 15th Feb 2009 is the date.

As before, I reckon we should meet at Cafe Fibonacci, so people can get their morning coffee, etc.
I've marked the cafe on the map (click for big):


[Edit] Start time is now 10am. Current list of possible attendees in first post.

Daniel

Daniel - I am a morning person, so either time will be okay for me. I will just keep and eye on the thread for the final outcome.

fozzie

I will make an extreme sacrifice and say 10..

Daniel - 10's great with me also
DebT

Hmm, it's a Sunday - so the normal sleeping in time is til 1pm ... but I guess I can get out of bed a little earlier and be there at 10

tommyg wrote:Hmm, it's a Sunday - so the normal sleeping in time is til 1pm ... but I guess I can get out of bed a little earlier and be there at 10

I also feel your pain. But 10am looks like the best time, so 10am start it is.

Daniel

Hmmm I guess I'll attend. Probably be my first macro shoot (usually to wide angle stuff).

Is it worth bringing a tripod? (I'm guessing it won't be needed).

Katatonic wrote:Hmmm I guess I'll attend. Probably be my first macro shoot (usually to wide angle stuff).

Great.
I think wide angle works quite well with things in the close foreground.

Katatonic wrote:Is it worth bringing a tripod? (I'm guessing it won't be needed).

That's up to you.
I find I have trouble keeping steady for macro. But now I use a flash to keep a higher speed shutter.
If probably depends on the lens you will be using. If you are using a wide angle then you probably won't need a tripod.

Daniel

I've got a Sigma 50-150 1:1 Macro lens too, although I haven't used it on flora yet.

My wide angle lens is a Tokina 12-24 and it's ridiculously wide.

Katatonic wrote:I've got a Sigma 50-150 1:1 Macro lens too, although I haven't used it on flora yet.

Then you're all set then.

Katatonic wrote:My wide angle lens is a Tokina 12-24 and it's ridiculously wide.

There is no such thing as too wide. I got the Sigma 10-20mm!

Daniel

Yea but wait till I get a full frame camera, I believe mine will still be wider as it's not cropped

Katatonic wrote:Yea but wait till I get a full frame camera, I believe mine will still be wider as it's not cropped

Are we talking about the "Tokina SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX AT-X PRO D"? I thought that was for APS-C sized sensors.
Sigma make a 12-24 full frame.

Daniel

DanielA wrote:

Katatonic wrote:Yea but wait till I get a full frame camera, I believe mine will still be wider as it's not cropped

Are we talking about the "Tokina SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX AT-X PRO D"? I thought that was for APS-C sized sensors.
Sigma make a 12-24 full frame.

Daniel

yep it is a DX lens, no good for full frame

Hmmm you would be right, thanks for that, don't know my own gear properly.

Katatonic wrote:Hmmm you would be right, thanks for that, don't know my own gear properly.

That's alright. It's better to find out now, then when you get a full frame camera!

Daniel

This would be cool, see how I go with the D40 & kit lens

You should be alright as long as the weather isn't too hot.

I'm going to take my P&S camera along to test it's macro abilities (Canon IXUS 90IS).

vortex wrote:This would be cool, see how I go with the D40 & kit lens

That should work alright. So will you be coming along?

Katatonic wrote:I'm going to take my P&S camera along to test it's macro abilities (Canon IXUS 90IS).

With a 3cm closest focusing distance, I think you'll do well.

Daniel

DanielA wrote:

vortex wrote:This would be cool, see how I go with the D40 & kit lens

That should work alright. So will you be coming along?

Yep put me down

vortex wrote:Yep put me down

Great. Done.

Daniel

Just a friendly reminder that the meet is this Sunday, 10am.

Meeting at Cafe Fibonacci. Note that is not the old restaurant by the lake, but the relatively new cafe by the newish lily glasshouse. Check the map further up this thread.

Weather looks like it will be good; fine, partly cloudy, max 33.

See you all there.

Daniel

I better not forget, I'll have to put it in my calendar on my phone set with an alarm.

Is it free parking on Sundays in town, on East Terrace?

Katatonic - free parking all day on Sunday's between the Botanic Gardens and the Adelaide Zoo, enter via Dequetteville Terrace.

Katatonic wrote:I better not forget, I'll have to put it in my calendar on my phone set with an alarm.

Is it free parking on Sundays in town, on East Terrace?

http://www.weather.com.au/sa/adelaide

Sunny day with a minimum of 17 and top of 28. Perfect. xD

Cowshi wrote:Within the first five minutes, we faithful viewers got to reminisce as the Haleys and Nathans were being cast. Even the poncho was brought back as Haley told Nathan off for being a dumb jock. Who would've thought back then that they'd be a stable and happily married couple today?

Have a good time guys. Wish I could come along too.

Here's a few from today:






All of these are from a D90 + Tamron 70-200. Not really a macro lens but I'm still happy.

It was a great day guys. Thanks.

DanW wrote:It was a great day guys. Thanks.

I hope everyone had fun today. I reckon there were less photos taken today and more chatting done than normal.

Nice shots Daniel. You did a good job getting the bee in flight.

Some shots of the day...









Daniel

We had a lovely day as well, thanks everyone!! Dan,well done getting the dragonfly! Did you do much cropping with the 70-200? Just wondering as we are picking our 70-200 this week and I am very excited to see the results you got with the combo I will soon have!!

Thanks for a fun day everyone and see you next time.

Cathy

Chica wrote:We had a lovely day as well, thanks everyone!! Dan,well done getting the dragonfly! Did you do much cropping with the 70-200? Just wondering as we are picking our 70-200 this week and I am very excited to see the results you got with the combo I will soon have!!

Nope! The dragonfly is as I saw it, as are the flowers. The bee shot is cropped though - a bit more than half the original image. I've only had this lens a month and am loving it. Just be careful with mounting the lens. I found halfway through today I was getting lens error messages (good old F-- error) that would go away if I pushed a little on the lens body. Could be a dirty contact but it's a bit of a worry. I had the lens mounted to the tripod with the camera hanging off the end most of the day. I'm just hoping the weight of the camera hasn't tweaked something out of alignment.

My efforts from today's Macro Meeting in windy conditions.

Some really nice shots with the insects and bokeh guys

Here are mine with a bit of Lightroom work:

A most enjoyable day as usual..
Here are my non-macro shots!!

Hi, great catching up as always
Looks like Fozzie can do macro - and very nicely to...and BigV's non macro textures just continue to remind me how much I LOVE his Canon and want one
I found a few bugs that almost kept still ..




and my take on the hibiscus


Till next time
DebT

There's a distinct lack of macro in what I took yesterday, but here's a couple I liked.

Darn, bummed I missed this, anyone want to organise and do a second one this month?

Always up for a fun afternoon!

Just start up a new thread and the people will come