CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

This is the time of year for mushrooms, toadstools and other fungi to be seen in woodland in and around East Lothian.  I posted some pictures on the 25 August of some large Parasol Mushrooms that we spotted in the grass out at Tyningham.  However these shots were taken a lot closer to home, in fact in the back garden! Using the Fujifilm X-T1 and either the 60mm f2.4 macro or 10-24mm wide angle zoom I set about getting some images of these mushrooms in the grass.  For some of the shots I used the extension tubes to increase the magnification of the 60mm macro.  I also used the Fujifilm EF20 flash on a remote extension cord to put some light into the dark areas under the mushroom cap. As well as getting an overall view of the clump of mushrooms I also tried to show the incredible texture and colour of the cap. All of the images are as they were shot, none have been cropped in post production to increase the magnification further. The only problem is I ...

The Fujinon XF60mm f2.4R is a really nice short telephoto prime lens and was one of the original three lens that was launched back in 2012 with the 18mm and 35mm alongside the Fujifilm X-Pro1.  The 60mm is also badged as a macro lens but only has a 1:2 magnification, where true macro lenses are 1:1 or better.  I was ready some of the Fuji orientated blogs and I came across a post about some third party extension tubes that provided full automation when used.  Unlike the DSLR lenses where you can use cheap extension rings with no electronic coupling between the lens and the camera body, the 'fly-by-wire' manual focusing on the XF lenses requires the lens to be coupled to the Fuji camera body to work. I ordered the Neewer Metal Bayonet Automatic Macro Extension Tube Set, which has a 10mm and 16mm tube that can be used individually or together to increase magnification, from Amazon and they duly arrived two days after placing the order. The price was £34.47,...