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I’ve been working with the new Panasonic FZ38 now for over a month as my main insect macro camera. As a follow-up to last month’s article showing off some sample images direct from the Panasonic FZ38, I thought I’d share some more sample images, this time concentrating on insect macros using the popular Raynox close up lenses, the DCR-150 & DCR-250.

You can read the previous article here.

As with the previous article, none of the images have been processed in any way, they are all taken straight from the camera. So, without further ado, on with the samples….

Sample 1 – Female Blue-Tailed Damselfly (ISO80, F4.4, 1/400, Manual Exposure)

Blue Tailed Damselfly, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This little female Blue-Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) was resting in the early morning sun on a wooden bench. The 100% crop reveals a lot of detail, showing how hairy the damselfly is and also you can see what look like tiny seed particles on her eyes.

Blue Tailed Damselfly, 100% Crop

Sample 2 – Bug – (Myrmus miriformis) (ISO80, F5.6, 1/200, Manual Exposure)

Bug, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This tiny little bug was taken on in reed bed at the edge of a small lake.

Bug, 100% Crop

Sample 3 – Gatekeeper Butterfly (ISO80, F5, 1/320, Manual Exposure)

Gatekeeper, Full Frame (1000px resized)

I took this Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus) while it was feeding on the flowers of a blackberry bush at the edge of a small lake. It was one of several gatekeepers around that day.

Gatekeeper, 100% Crop

Sample 4 – German Wasp (ISO80, F4.5, 1/1000, Manual Exposure)

German Wasp, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This German Wasp was taken on a wooden bridge, doing what comes naturally by collecting scrapings of paper from the wood to bring back to the hive.

German Wasp, 100% Crop

Sample 5 – Green Docken Leaf Beetles (ISO80, F7.1, 1/250, Manual Exposure)

Docken Beetles, Full Frame (1000px resized)

These Green Docken Leaf Beetles where taken in their natural habitat, on their namesake host plant, a docken leaf (or dock leaf to some of you). Note the swollen belly of the already heavily pregnant female.

Docken Beetles, 100% Crop

Sample 6 – Large Skipper (ISO80, F3.8, 1/500, Manual Exposure)

Large Skipper, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This Large Skipper butterfly (Ochlodes faunus) was taken in the early part of a summer’s morning at one of our local parks, while it rested on some leaves in the warming sunshine.

Large Skipper, 100% Crop

Sample 7 – Midge – (Chironomus Sp) (ISO100, F4, 1/160, Manual Exposure)

Midge, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This small midge was taken at rest on a leaf on a dull morning in our local park.

Midge, 100% Crop

Sample 8 – Small Skipper (ISO80, F7.1, 1/320, Manual Exposure)

Small Skipper, Full Frame (1000px resized)

This Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) was taken feeding on the flowery purple head of a thistle.

Small Skipper, 100% Crop

Conclusions

So there have it, 8 more samples from the FZ38 in combination with the raynox lenses. As mentioned in the previous article, I used a step-down thread to attach the raynox lenses directly to the front of the FZ38 lens. Some of you may prefer to use an adaptor to mount the raynox directly to the body of the camera rather than the lens itself, but in practice, I think the raynox isn’t heavy and hopefully won’t cause any problems to the lens itself. It has the threads on there, so might as well use them I say. Plus the fewer accessories I have to carry around and faff around putting on my camera when in the field, the better.

I hope these samples are of some help to some of you wondering if you can use the FZ38 with the Raynox as an excellent budget macro setup. Please do leave a comment if you have any questions or just want to say hello.

Clarke