Macro

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spacester

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Alan
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Hi

Been into photography since the mid-90's (with an old praktica, dating back to the 70's) but only recently moved to a DSLR. One of the things I've been meaning to do for years is build an ultra-magnification macro rig, and once my focusing rail arrives next week, I'll be there. But given the complexity of macro, and the skill needed to pull off a shot, why aren't there many forums out there devoted this toe of photography? It took me an age to work out what kit I need for ultra magnification (5:1 or maybe even more) and I still don't know if what I have is enough to pull off the stonking shot I want. For example, how come you guys don't have a dedicated forum? Are there just not the number of people to gain critical mass? Even on Flickr, where there are loads of examples of high-mag macro work, many of the photos have very little info on how they were taken (eg what lens combination to get the magnification, what lighting solution etc.). Just how many photographers are into this kind of work?
 
Hi Look down the forum list. You will find a Macro Forum. And its very good
 
I've been experimenting last week with 40:1.. is that extreme enough? ;)
 
Ploddles said:
Any chance we can see some of the results?
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I've put a lightly mullered version in Creative (here).. I'll post some straight shots next week. It's photomicrography at these magnifications (using an ex-school Meopta plus cheap ebay adapter), but I want to bring in focus stacking to improve depth of field (I have absolutely no idea what aperture I have at the moment).
 
Yeah there are posts about it, but I am surprised there isn't something in the advanced techniques section of the forum. Seems to be a dedicated section for landscapes, for example, but not for something as technically challenging as high-mag macro!

Guess I will trawl the general forums some more :-)
 
spacester said:
40:1 is a bit much! Did you butcher a microscope? I thought about doing that with a 200:1 microscope from work, but never got around to it :-)
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No need to butcher.. just a £10 adapter from Ebay (seller link) that allows me to couple an EOS camera to a standard microscope. Without rushing off to check, from memory it gives me 40:1, 250:1, 400:1 and 1,000:1 - but for anything over 40:1 it's more about slide preperation than photographic technique.

It is a cheap adapter. It takes a few moments to adjust the distance of the camera from the eyepiece - focus by eye, connect camera, nudge while checking live view until the image is in focus. But it's fun, and takes me back to university days spent in the labs.
 
Alastair said:
But it's fun, and takes me back to university days spent in the labs.
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I have that every day - I have the good fortune of having job that comes with a lab in a university :-)

I was hoping to make something a little more portable than just attaching my d5100 to a microscope. In theory, it should be possible to get a camera body blank for next to no cash, drill a hole in it and glue in a microscope objective. As long as you are careful and ensure it's light tight, it should work. Perhaps some extension tubes might be useful...? Not sure what the quality of images would be like though... Would be fund to try though :-)
 
spacester said:
I was hoping to make something a little more portable than just attaching my d5100 to a microscope. In theory, it should be possible to get a camera body blank for next to no cash, drill a hole in it and glue in a microscope objective. As long as you are careful and ensure it's light tight, it should work. Perhaps some extension tubes might be useful...? Not sure what the quality of images would be like though... Would be fund to try though :-)
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In theory that should work. I can roughly test the idea by removing the eye piece with my setup. If you have access to a dead microscope, rather than glue the objective onto the blank you could glue in the threaded assembky from the turret. That would allow you to swap objectives.
 
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