Masked Devil Cicadas

[UniPol]

They're everywhere in Blackheath, noisy little fella's.

[hotspur]

Lovely cheerful images,nice to see something happy.

#5 would make a lovely framed print.

[Regulus]

Beautiful images Steve. Very sharp; can I ask what you use for the close-ups?
I would ad No 2 to the framed images as well :-)

Trev

[zardos123]

very nice

[UniPol]

Thanks for your comments guys. No big secret with regard to my macro shots, I have been using a Ricoh RR30 which I bought new in 2001 and more recent purchases of a Ricoh R6 and Ricoh R7 P & S digitals. All focus as close as 1cm and I usually use a monopod for the higher up shots. These cameras are super cheap on ebay. I bought a Canon EF 100mm f2.8L macro IS USM lens last year to further my macrophotography interests but frankly am disappointed with the results. The depth of field is too short and I don't think it is as sharp as I would like for an "L" lens.

I also took other cicada pics last year in Winmalee, see :

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=114113&highlight=cicadas

The pics of these Green Grocers are of the same species of cicada but just happen to be green. I recall some of the shots may have been taken with my Contax TVS 5Mp P & S camera as well as the Ricoh's, A superb camera and still going strong after 13 years

[Regulus]

Remarkable. I have a friend who uses a Nikon P7800 compact, though a dearer one with wireless flash to do fungi photography (link below) and his results with this system are superb. He prefers it to his very expense professional dslr gear for the macro stuff for it's convenience, and it's quality.
Again, nice pics Steve.
http://underamushroom.com/life-under-a-mushroom