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Close to the King - _TNY_4304

When I photograph butterflies at the Haga Ocean butterfly house, I use a Sigma AF 180 mm f/3.5 APO Macro EX DG HSM lens. This is already one of the longest 1:1 macro lenses out there (Nikon has a 200 mm if you are on the dark side), but my lens works great with a Sigma 2x EX APO DG teleconverter which turns it into a 360 mm macro. The really cool thing is that the minimum focusng distanceremains the same which in turn means that the magnification doubles so it becomes a 2:1 lens!

 

Here I removed the lens hood (to not startle the butterfly) and moved the camera (on its tripod) as close as absolutely possible, resulting in a 2:1 mag photo of this beautiful king swallowtail (Papilio thoas).

 

For photos showing the entire butterfly, please have a look here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54733705370/

 

here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54797351527/

 

and here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54851016212/

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Uploaded on October 19, 2025
Taken on August 20, 2025