Psyche

Thank you i_munasinghe!
It's one of my favorites too

I love this spotting! Simple as that.

Thank You

check out the following auction on e-bay. this is an "L" series lens. the professional grade lens that has much, much sharper glass. Im sure this lens goes for over $1000 new and the highest bid now is under $200 (of course that may go up before the auction ends in a few days): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EF-100mm-...

I also use Amazon

I usually look on e-bay. do you have that platform in Sri Lanka?

jazz.mann Thank you, anywhere to find a Cannon EF 100mm macro for cheap price?

Thank you! You have great knowledge of photography! I know nothing about this stuff.

happy to share what I know:) BTW another way to get a cheaper lens is to buy another brand--there are brands that are not Canon, but are made to fit on your Canon camera. these will usually be cheaper.

If you care a lot about getting sharp, not grainy shots, you could set the ISO to 640, but then dont use the M manual mode, use the TV mode @ 1/500s. and BTW all this mostly applies to if you are using the pre-focus method Sahana suggested. If you can focus on a still subject normally, I would maybe set the ISO to 640, TV mode to 1/500s and dont worry about the aperture so much. smaller (higher number) aperture gives a longer depth-of-field so that more near and far things can all be in focus--needed if you are not sure where you are going to focus exactly. larger (smaller number) aperture will blur out everything in the background--considered more artistic, but you lose some of the habitat context, and if your focus is a bit off, you won't get a usable photo

Thanks a lot for all of these bits of advice jazz.man! They will surely help a lot in the future.

Auto is correct for the ISO. Then either set the main dial to TV mode @ 1/500 and see if your f-stop is auto-setting to at least f8 in the given lighting conditions. if it is less than that, you could try setting the camera to M (for manual mode), keep the shutter at 1/500, and set the aperture for f8. hopefully there will be enough light so that the ISO doesnt auto set too high (you can tell if the photos are grainy). you should be able to get good shots if the ISO is setting at 1000 or below. BTW, you can get a macro lens for a lot less than what I quoted earlier if you sacrifice the zoom feature and go for a fixed focal length lens like a 50mm, 85mm, 100mm or 105mm (the longer/higher number the better, but check the minimum focus distance because tha will increase as the magnification increases). look for a used one.

I have set my ISO speed to Auto. Can someone advise me how much should I set it?

Thanks a lot, jazz.man! Tbh I know nothing about these settings but I will try to change them as you guys said.

yep, also, if you are pre-focusing, it is not a bad idea to sacrifice a little bit of ISO (set it a bit higher), so that you can get a higher f-stop (smaller aperture). this gives more depth-of-field, in case the focus is a bit off.

@jazz.mann yeah I've used 1/500 to take the shots

good advice, however if the butterfly is in flight and wings are in motion, I would suggest 1/500s (especially if the lens is extended out to 300mm)

You're welcome

Ah thanks for the advice. I'll follow them next time. I don't know much about settings but I'll try :)

Set the mode dial to TV (Shutter-Priority) mode and choose a fast shutter speed of 1/250s or faster. Pre-focus to an area where you can predict the butterfly will go and be ready to snap. Continuous or multi-shooting mode can be useful here.

Thanks :D
It was a really lucky shot.

Wow