some more Balinese macro video on the Lumix LX10

[bghazzal]

 Here's a small macro clip where I tried working with slightly different subjects and angles, sometimes a little more abstract.

 

 

 

Shot in Amed, east Bali, in 4K 30fps, CineD profile, edited/graded in FCPX

Equipment used:
- Panasonic Lumix LX10 (LX9/LX15 in some locales) compact camera  in a NALX10 Nauticam housing, AOI UCL-09 +18.5 diopter, Inon UCL-165M67 +6 diopter and Nauticam CMC-1 (the skeleton shrimp clip if I remember - I just got this lens and will be working with it in the coming weeks)
- Backscatter MW 4300 video light and two Archon D11V2 video lights
- Homemade quadripod

cheers
ben

[Matan]

Absolutely amazing! I'm still dreaming reaching this level with my LX 10 as well this really inspires the whole macro video capabilities of this camera.

 

Wow!

 

A complete macro noob here - are you just stacking the diopters or changing lenses during the dive?

 

 

Matan.

Edited May 4 by Matan

[bghazzal]

Thanks a bunch Matan!

 

Yes, despite a limited focal range (compared to newer RX100vii with it's massive 200mm zoom lens), macro capacities are really good on the LX10 - with a good set of diopters, that is.

 

It's a fixed lens on the LX10 so i'm just adding diopters based on the shot - I have a +6 Inon UCL165, an AOI-09 +12.5, and at the time I shot this clip I was still using an +10 diopter made for GoPro (Backscatter's macro mate mini).

 

I've sold this since and managed to buy a second-hand Nauticam CMC-1, which is roughly a +15 diopter, so quite close to the AOI +12.5.

Conditions here in east Bali have been bad the past couple of months with rainy season, so I haven't been shooting as much as before - but it's clearing up now, even though subject wise it's still not back to what it was, so I'll be working with the new lens.

 

Based on the tests I did do, my working combinations are the Inon on it's own (bigger subjects, wider shots), CMC-1 on its own (lovely), and CMC-1 stacked with the Inon.

 

For tiny supermacro sujects, I also use CMC-1 stacked with the AOI09, which is a really good combo (even though I would have liked to have a more powerful single diopter to have a shorter lens, which allows to get closer and  avoids losing light - alas they're very expensive (I had my eyes on the AOI 900 Pro +23, but it's not in the books.
 

So i'm keeping the AOI-09 for now, as it opens up stack possibilities for very small subjects, even though i no longer use it on it's own, and use the CMC-1 instead. They're very close, but the CMC-1 is a little shorter and brighter, and thus offers a tiny bit more magnification.

But when stacking the AOI-09 and the CMC-1, the depth of field is really tiny, so the subject has to be very stable...
Any swaying or movement of the animal and it will be violently swinging out of focus, - this is a little different from macro photographt where you just need to freeze the subject in focus.
For video you want at least 10 seconds in focus, ideally more. So swell and current makes it difficult to get usable supermacro video subject.

 

I've also managed to shoot a triple stack, which works only in the following order: Inon, CMC-1, AOI, so the weakest diopter first, which is most likely due to lens design curvature. In a more classical strongest diopter first order (CMC-1, AOI, Inon) it focuses on the glass....

But it's difficult to use, and only for very stable tiny subjects...

cheers

ben