After some field testing last spring I’ve now started to redevelop the HDSLR macro rig for my endangered WA flora documentary project – On the Verge.

The new rig is built around a Glidetrack Shooter HD and the Micro Nikkor 200mm ED – which allows me to use both Canon HDSLRs (5D and 7D) and the Nikon D3s (or whatever comes out soon to replace the D700) if I need to.

The pictures above and below show the rig with a Canon 5D2 on a old Manfrotto 029 three-way photo head – simply because it was lying around unused when I took these images – plus the Genus Matte Box, rails and Nun’s Knickers.  Obviously a video head can be used instead – but just testing it here.  The Genus MB is ideal for this rig as it is not too heavy and provides both shading and multiple filtering options.

The Glidetrack is the HD version of the Shooter – this is basically a more industrial version of the SD Shooter used by Philip Bloom on his recent ‘Prague’ test of the Canon 1D IV (see link at end of post).  As I wanted to use the matte box and probably add a follow focus / monitor down the track I went for the slightly heavier version – although it’s still compact enough to travel with relatively easily!

The 200mm Micro Nikkor can go 1:1 from about 25cm which provides a pretty useful working distance for getting really close-up. Not so crucial with flowers but helps with insects and other animals.

For stills I generally use a 105 2.8 VR Micro Nikkor (on Nikons – doesn’t really work on Canon!) as it is much more flexible hand-held with the VR and the shorter focal length.

The 200mm is virtually impossible to use hand-held without camera shake – but is ideal on a tripod – a rig like this for video – and being an older design it has an aperture ring so I can use it on the Canons (which I can’t do with the newer G series 105mm VR).

On the Canon 7D this is effectively is a 320mm f4 1:1 macro lens – which will give it another dimension for getting up closer from further away!
I’ve found the Canon 70-200 2.8 with 2 x converter OK for some macro work at a pinch but this combo is obviously not ideal – and offers nowhere near the magnification of the 200 Micro Nikkor.  I didn’t go for a Canon Macro lens – like their excellent 180mm 3.5 – as this wouldn’t give me the option of using it on the Nikons as well.

Using the Glidetrack is excellent for very stable low shooting (which can be great for backlighting) with or without the actual gliding element being used. Even using a video head on the Glidetrack the camera can be used much closer to the ground than a traditional tripod set-up – and the smooth gliding can actually be very effective for adding something to relatively static macro shots – like flowers.  On uneven or slightly sloping ground the handles can also be adjusted to keep it level. It can also obviously be added to a tripod where low level shooting is not required – or even used as a hand-held shooter – although probably not for macro, particularly with this set-up!

On my last WA field trip I used the 5D2 on a Gorillapod for low shots but it was a bit too low in a lot of cases (and focussing was a pain!) I also couldn’t really load it up with gear.  (Plus there’s not a lot of gliding or panning options on the Gorillapod!).

So I’m looking forward now to my next WA field trip with the Glidetrack and some more time to really develop this project.  Will probably require driving over rather than flying but this will mean more flexibility when I get there – plus no compromises on the actual gear I can take!

Just a little background…

One of my real passions is propagating, promoting and protecting Australian plants – in particular the rare and endangered flora of Western Australia which often now only survives on fragile roadside verges (hence the working title of the documentary ‘On the Verge’).

I’m also a big fan of conservation through cultivation and have been trialling the propagation (mainly through grafting) of some of the rarer WA Grevilleas for several years now.  I have a pretty big collection myself and am always keen to get these into cultivation and into other gardens to help with the long term preservation of this unique biodiversity.

I have also have a pretty large image library of these plants – and one of the reasons I have been keen to converge into HDSLR video is to extend this collection with video footage and hopefully produce some documentary material which will help raise awareness of the issue of these endangered species and their roadside verge habitats.

So on my last trip to WA I took the Canon 5D2 and shot some video alongside my Nikon stills gear – more as trial than anything else – with an eye to developing a more extensive documentary project in 2010 and beyond.

On this previous trip I had both limited time and space so I didn’t take a tripod at all – just the 5D2 and a Gorillapod for video. This was actually OK – and I did shoot some useful footage with it (including the rare Grevillea thyrsoides ssp thyrsoides – see below).

I was mostly using the 90mm tilt/shift with either a 2 x converter and/ or extension tubes on the Canon with the Gorillapod. The 90mm tilt/shift can be great for macro but I found that even with the 2 x converter I couldn’t get in tight enough sometimes – and other times I was just too physically close to the subject.

With hindsight a real tripod would have been ideal – but I didn’t have one – so I just worked with what I had.  I spent most of my trip researching locations and shooting stills in between wind and rain – so it was no big deal at the time.

But from this initial experience in the field I have now started to rebuild the rig around the Glidetrack and the 200mm Micro Nikkor.  I just need to find some time in the schedule now to test it out a bit more – before finding the time to drive to WA for a month or two in the spring!

More on the Glidetrack at www.glidetrack.com/

See Philip Bloom’s ‘Prague’ at http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/12/22/prague-a-canon-1dmkiv-pre-production-test-film/