# Boo ! ! !



## tpe (Jun 8, 2008)

a700 4x microscope lens on bellows and stacked in combineZ
tim


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## ernie (Jun 8, 2008)

that's pretty amazing. and scary. i'm assuming it's a spider, how did you get it to pose in front of the camera like that?


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## tpe (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks ernie, i am afraid the trick to getting it to stay still is pretty permenant, the poor thing was frozen for about 20mins and then gently dethawed. It is still difficult positioning them as they are small but they dont run away very often, with the exception of ticks that is.

tim


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## Corry (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks for the nightmares, TPE.  

...just thanks.  










 That's a pretty awesome shot! So much detail!


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## nynfortoo (Jun 8, 2008)

What a fantastic shot. The eyes are creepy and almost lifeless; they look like bottles viewed from above.

Beautiful. Well done


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## DZX (Jun 8, 2008)

Amazing, I love the symmetry in this shot.


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## uplander (Jun 8, 2008)

WOW!!! Just simply WOW!!!


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## Overread (Jun 8, 2008)

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!


don't scare me like that!

gah - once I got used to the scary sight it is an amazingly close up shot - just give more warning next time its a spider


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## kundalini (Jun 8, 2008)

I'm getting a red *X* Tim.


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## Overread (Jun 8, 2008)

refresh - its still there!


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## kundalini (Jun 8, 2008)

OH, F#¢K ME!!!!

Excuse me while I go change my pants.


Uh, cool shot Tim..., yeah...coool shot!  I'll be right back.


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## MissMia (Jun 8, 2008)

Cool shot! Now I'm going to sleep with all the lights on tonight.


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## abraxas (Jun 8, 2008)

That is absolutely incredible!

I like the little curly eyelashes on the highbeams- Is it a girl?

That would make one heck of a hat.


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## tpe (Jun 10, 2008)

Corry said:


> Thanks for the nightmares, TPE.
> 
> ...just thanks.
> 
> ...


 
Hehe, sorry Corry  And thanks.



nynfortoo said:


> What a fantastic shot. The eyes are creepy and almost lifeless; they look like bottles viewed from above.
> 
> Beautiful. Well done


 
Many thanks. The diffuser is a white dome around the lens and it is pretty clearly reflected and you can see it pretty clearly in the eyes, otherwise i think they would be pure black.



DZX said:


> Amazing, I love the symmetry in this shot.


Thanks DZX 



uplander said:


> WOW!!! Just simply WOW!!!


The smalll world never ceases to amaze me either, i wish you could have seen it in person.



Overread said:


> AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
> 
> 
> don't scare me like that!
> ...


LOL, ok will do  Kind of reminds me of a teddy bear though 



kundalini said:


> OH, F#¢K ME!!!!
> 
> Excuse me while I go change my pants.
> 
> ...


Glad ( err i think ) it turned up in the end, my host is a bit dodgy sometimes ... Thinks may have to try something cute next time.



MissMia said:


> Cool shot! Now I'm going to sleep with all the lights on tonight.


Thanks mia, and ah, sorry, but dont worry they dont come out at night.



abraxas said:


> That is absolutely incredible!
> 
> I like the little curly eyelashes on the highbeams- Is it a girl?
> 
> That would make one heck of a hat.


 
LOL, i hadnt thought of that, davie crocket eat your heart out. Yes i think you are right, it has small palipeds so must be a girl, not just from the eyelashes, but thats how the daughter knew it was a girl. Also a bit longer than the males, about 6mm from head to tail. It had some kind of orafice on the bottom front of its abdomen, i am not sure if thats differentiating, but could well be and i had not see the organ before?


Thanks for the comments all  

tim


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## abraxas (Jun 10, 2008)

tpe said:


> ...
> 
> ... it has small palipeds so must be a girl, not just from the eyelashes, but thats how the daughter knew it was a girl. Also a bit longer than the males, about 6mm from head to tail. It had some kind of orafice on the bottom front of its abdomen, i am not sure if thats differentiating, but could well be and i had not see the organ before? ....



I hope you don't mind, but with a little modification the quote above will probably start a memorable conversation between me and my 15 year old grandson on the beach next month.


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## tpe (Jun 10, 2008)

LOL. I wish you the very best of luck   .

tim


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## niforpix (Jun 10, 2008)

Don't see the photo


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## LaFoto (Jun 10, 2008)

You have taken away the photo , Tim. Now I must cry :cry: ...


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## tpe (Jun 10, 2008)

niforpix and Corrina, i am really sorry, my host is horrible, you can try pushing F5 and hopefully that will bring it back, but i have to get onto them again as it really isnt good enough that it does not show up propperly when remote linking to my site . Please don't cry corrina, you are making me cry, perhaps i can send a virtual box of chocolates?

tim


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## LaFoto (Jun 10, 2008)

Ah, ok. Now it is there AND I LOVE IT!


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## Bifurcator (Jun 11, 2008)

tpe, take a pic of your setup or explain how you attached a microscope's objective to your camera.  Or did I misunderstand?  I have 100s of objectives laying around.  If I could use them with a camera directly somehow instead of through the microscope that would be neat!


BTW, this is you too right?
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28043&PID=318920
http://www.scientificillustration.net/_temp/crab_spider_01.jpg (might need refresh to bring up)
http://www.scientificillustration.net/_temp/woodlouse_04.jpg

Bigger but beautiful! http://www.scientificillustration.net/_temp/spider35.jpg


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## tpe (Jun 11, 2008)

Bifurcator said:


> tpe, take a pic of your setup or explain how you attached a microscope's objective to your camera. Or did I misunderstand? I have 100s of objectives laying around. If I could use them with a camera directly somehow instead of through the microscope that would be neat!


 
Hi Bifurcator. If you have loads of microscope objectives thats great, they give the best results. Also it is really easy to attach them, I hope you have some bellows because that is the easiest. What i did is just attach the bellows to the camera, then i used a m42 adaptor to help me fit a DVD, painted black and cut down to size to fit the end of the bellows, then i screwed the microscope lens into the hole in the DVD. 

Using bellows is really good because it allows you to have the lens at the optimum distance from the plane of the film (it does not have to be exact). The distance is usually 160 mm or 170 mm, coresponding to the equivilant number on the lens. If there is no number but an infinity sign or inf or similar then the distance could be anything, but usually the distance is similar and it will probably work anyway. The bellows also allow you to focus by changing their length.This is also a great help for stacking.








This is one of my setups... the one with the DVD jammed in the end of th ebellows and the microscope objective in the hole of the DVD. The white thing on the end is a ping pong ball to diffuse the light, and there is a little cardboard roll as a lense hood. You can also use an enlargment lens in a similar way, and there are some good quality ones out there for almost nothing as everything has gone digital. Also you really do need the best form of tripod you can get your hands on, for these i use many different things but the best is screwing the camera directly to the table that the subject is on.






This is one of my best so far as resolution goes, the original is 12mp and will happily enlarge to A3, i am not sure what setup it was now, but it is worth being carefull that when you try a lens with a higher magnification you do actually get more detail on the picture, sometimes you dont and are better of with less magnification and cropping a bit more. You can also place a teleconverter between the bellows and the camera to frame the picture better and remove any vingetting but watch out as you may also lose resolution.






This may help if you get into it and then into stacking, as once you get down to that scale your DOF really is nothing.

http://www.scientificillustration.net/focus_stacking.html

There could be one problem, and that depends on your camera, as if you use a non standard lens i believe that some of them wont release the shutter, and that is make specific. My sony has a setting allowing you to use a non standard lens. I hope yours has the same.

Best of luck, and i would be very interested to see how it goes, dont hesitate to mail/pm if you get any questions. Whatever it is great fun and i hope you enjoy it if you take the plunge. 

Hmnn i should probably warn that even though it seems simple it is not extreemly easy, it generally does not work first time (lighting problems etc) and it takes a couple of hours to set up and process a single shot. O.K maybe that doesnt sound too bad, but the worst of it is it is very hard to stop trying because there are so many "almost shots" and that can really eat your time if you know what i mean?

tim


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## Bifurcator (Jun 12, 2008)

Wow! Excellent explanation! Thanks man! Seriously! Something has dawned on me while reading through this that I've been overlooking even tho it was staring me in the face the whole time. Stacking. I can get great color images with one of my better scopes and with many different filters including UV, IR, and etc. just by holding one of my compacts like the Nikon 950, 880, or even my newish P5100 up to the eyepiece. The resolution and clarity are pretty good (great even!) and I can easily zoom past the vignetting. I was looking for some samples that I took with the 880 a few years back but I can't seem to find them.  I need better cataloging skills!   Basically I can see like these through it and take pics of the same:

http://www.microscopyu.com/galleries/fluorescence/cells/ptk2/images/ptk2large8.jpg
http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/2005/images/7th2005large.jpg
http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/2007/images/4th2007large.jpg
or http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/2005/images/9th2005large.jpg

either from prepared slide sets I nab from my university or from me just goofing around. Usually they're much much flatter tho and with a bit more optical noise. Anyway, it came to me that basically all I need to do is place the subject on the stage and raise or lower it while taking the exposures for the "stack". 

I was somehow thinking that your setup was achieving a large(r) DOF than what I see through the mic. I realize now tho that it's the stacking where the magic happens and I sure appreciate you laying it out for me!  The next time I have the mic turned on I will definitely create a few!  Mosquito wings look killer.   BTW, you should enter the Nikon Small World contest! The prizes are big and the competition is rather low compared to your images!  Here's the 1st. place prize winner for "05:

http://www.microscopyu.com/smallworld/gallery/contests/2005/images/1st2005exlarge.jpg

Not nearly as good as yours!


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## Antarctican (Jun 12, 2008)

LOVE that pic!!! It's so clear and sharp and detailed. And there's an almost 'animation' look to it, as if it's a drawing of a scary (and scared) monster. Really wonderful image, very deserving of its potm nomination.


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## doenoe (Jun 13, 2008)

thats a groovy pic (the first one) but the second one still blows my mind. I saw that one before and was just amazed.
btw, do you always freeze your bugs before stacking shots?


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## skier66 (Jun 13, 2008)

insane closeups!


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