Nikon D850 and image cropping

We've got a fence lizard living on a tree along our pathway that was another photo opportunity for me with the new camera. She is kind of shy, so I had to move slowly and not get too close to her to keep from spooking her. Luckily the Nikon D850 has megapixels to spare, so even getting a moderate distance away from a small subject still gives me a lot of leeway with cropping the image to get what appears to be a closeup shot.

These three pics were taken using a Nikon 28-300 zoom in natural sunlight. The camera was set to programmed mode, so depth of field isn't all that great. The first pic is "as is" out of the camera, with the following two using successively smaller areas in the cropping.










The next three pics were taken using the Nikon 105mm Micro lens with dual mounted flashes. This time the camera was set to aperture priority at f22 to get the widest depth of field. Again, the first pic is "as is", with the later two using cropping to "zoom" into the subject for greater detail.










I think there is a lot to be said with using a camera with the highest density pixels you can get for the image sensor. It gives you a lot of practical versatility using selective cropping without any noticeable loss of detail for the final image.

So the other day, I got the idea to try some close up screw on lenses on my Nikon 105mm Micro lens, thinking I might be able to get even closer macro shots. I wasn't sure how well this would work, because I read some accounts online where some people were claiming that it wouldn't work adequately.

Well, I did crop most of the photos I took, but I do believe I was able to get closer with the screw on macro lenses than I could without them. I used a +1 and +2 ganged together on the lens.

And then I tried to get some really close up shots of my sundews...

So, after that, I thought maybe using my 200mm micro lense would give me more working area, since I was having to get really close in to the plants for the above shots. I wasn't sure I had any larger magnifying lenses that would fit the larger lens, so I was rummaging around in the cabinet where I've been storing the old camera stuff I haven't touched in years. I actually did find a set of 67mm magnifying lenses (the 105mm lens uses 52mm), but the 200mm lens uses 62mm filters. I did find some step up rings that I could use, but while pulling out all that stuff out of the cabinet, I spotted a box that I had no idea what it contained. Well I'll be darned! A brand new set up extension tubes for macro work. This will be even better, because I won't have to put any more glass layers between the subject and the image sensor.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to try this yet, because we've had rain all day today. I also think I really should use a tripod, since this rig is quite heavy, and it is very difficult for me to hold it all steady to take the shot. I searched around and found what looks like the perfect tripod for this sort of work, but it will likely take about a week before it shows up here.

Would be nice to actually get some time lapse video of the sundews capturing their insect prey, but unfortunately the AC adapter isn't available for the Nikon D850 body yet. I don't think the battery will run the camera long enough in time lapse to do the job, unfortunately.

I guess I'm getting that camera bug back again. It seems to come and go now and again.

Terrific shots. Wish I could find something good in my closet besides all kinds of reptile junk.

Rich, very cool photos!