I tried the lacquer trick and it does not appear it helped at all for my case. It appears that the issues are indeed on the inside of the front element . Oh well, time to find something different. I was excited because the price was a good deal but now I see why.

I had an objective with sort of similar etching, which really killed the contrast and overall IQ. I ended up hitting it with a very light coat of clear lacquer, and it worked surprisingly well after. I am very interested in trying this! At this point, the lens is useless to me so if I can do someth...

rjlittlefield wrote:I'm very sorry to hear about the objective.

On the bright side, that's one of the finest images of etched glass that I've ever seen.

--Rik

A consolation prize I guess! Thank you :-)

Thanks to you both! I was afraid it was going to be bad. I got this one on eBay. After a ton of back and forth where the seller stated that there 'was nothing wrong with the objective', I got a refund to bring the total to $60. Still, if it doesn't work that doesn't really help. Here is what it look...

Hi Everyone, I recently acquired a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x. There appears to be some residue or haze on the front lens element. I have attempted to clean it but it appears to be on the inside. Cleaning it does not improve anything. Is this something that can be fixed/repaired? I have seen some videos...

Hi! I have noticed this happening a lot lately in my stacks. I am using two speedlights, if that has any bearing. When I finish my stack, I will scroll through all of my photos. One picture will have a small amount of brighter exposure, while the next will be darker. This happens throughout the stac...

Thanks to each of you for your replies. After doing some more research last night, I do believe the WeMacro stand is going to be the way to go. I have fashioned one out of wood, but as it has been said, it is not very stable. Does anyone know if WeMacro has a store in the US? Shipping is pretty high...

Hi All, I figured I would ask the experts as I have not found a good answer from googling. I am looking to get a sturdy, steady Y-axis stand. I have found that the WeMacro stand seems to be fairly good and cheap. I am wondering if anyone has designed one from parts you can get at a home improvement ...

Wow Rik, that is incredible support. This whole time I have heard amazing things about Zerene but you putting yourself out there makes me want to use it even more. I’ll shoot you over an email tomorrow. Thank you so much.

Hmmm that’s interesting! Maybe I just need to learn how to use it. The last time I tried it was a 5 stack and two of the images didn’t get aligned correctly. I may pick it back up and see what I can do with it! Thanks.

Hi Chris. Thanks for the advice. I’m not 100% sure how to calculate the magnification yet. For this particular image I was using a Tamron 90mm macro lens with a 4x objective attached. I was also using a macro rail which unfortunately is a little touchy with the steps.

Hi Everyone, I am still fairly new to macro but I have been learning quite a bit. I continuously have an issue with a stacking output that I do not know the fix to. I am not sure if the issue lies in the stacking itself or the images. I stack everything with Photoshop CC 2015. I have tried Zerene bu...

So, I took two shots today where I can definitely tell the difference. The first is on the Auto WB settings. The second is on Flash setting. These are both before post processing, I just wanted to get an idea. I have not tried the custom WB settings yet. But plan to do that ASAP. http://www.photomac...

You guys are fantastic!!

I will get some examples of past attempts and then give it a try this weekend. I will report back with everything.

Thank you so much!

Thanks Rik! I will get some examples tonight. One thing of note that may not be helping the issue is that my equipment is not great. Right now I have a Nikon D3300 and Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP AF/MF 1:1 Macro Lens. I have tried using white computer paper as the background and for some reason eithe...