Suggestions for a camera for taking butterfly photo's

[Chris Raper]

On Sat, 27 Feb 99 19:07:26 GMT, Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk (Neil Jones)
wrote:

>I don't think the actual camera body is that important. I use a Pentax
>myself but the lens is a 90mm Tamron. 

For what it's worth, I use:
- an Olympus OM4Ti body: a very durable, titanium body with
spot-metering facility. The body should be functional and able to
shrug off knocks. Spot-metering is useful but not essential, though
TTL flash-metering (a highly accurate system where the camera judges
the flash duration by reading light levels off the film surface) is a
very useful facility.
- Tamron 90mm SP macro lens: a very good quality close-up lens capable
of 1:2 magnification (or 1:1 magnification using it's extension tube).

- T10 ring-flash: reasonably high-power close-up flash. When you
hand-hold high-magnification shots in the field you need plenty of
light to give maximum depth of field and to freeze any movement.
- Autowinder: not essential but it saves spooking subject by
'thumbing' the film-advance lever. 
- A fine-grain film like Fuji Sensia 100 or Kodachrome 64: The finer
the grain the better any subsequent enlargement will turn out.

I don't want to carry bulky tripods or even monopods. When I am in the
field I am usually carrying collecting gear and other equipment. I
don't claim my setup to be perfect but it suits my style of
photography. 

Best wishes,
Chris R.