I have a Minolta 5400 and the 7-element Scanner-Nikkor, which in their appropriate ranges I believe do resolve at this level. I also have a Mity 5x and 10x with CH-200 tube lens, which I believe also resolve at this level, though unsure if Mitutoyo lenses fill a full frame sensor. Within the Nikon s...

The high-end Canon DSLRs are currently incredibly aggressively discounted. Canon has disclosed their intention to shift focus to mirrorless and their new R-series bodies and lenses seem to lead the pack. That has led to the most aggressive discounts I have ever seen on actual top-end equipment: the ...

In the interest of full disclosure, I generally run my images through Perfectly Clear 3.5. However, I strive to use this for whole-image correction closer to actual color/what I see through the viewfinder rather than to apply something like an Instagram filter. I do not change the color balance. Thi...

Thumbnail size specimen of Wulfenite on Mimetite from the Rowley mine, Maricopa county, AZ . A few chips and broken corners but the overall specimen is quite nice. wulfenite_mimetite00_pmax_of_pmax_reduced.jpg After Robert's recent article where he found the Scanner-Nikkor ED 7 element lens did quit...

I ordered a couple of these diodes and heatsinks/mounts. I'm going to experiment with 3D printing a mount for the heatsink, as well as just directly 3D printing a mount for the diode for Nikon.

If successful I'll post the STL files.

I manually swapped because in the preview view, this looked incorrect. Then on revision I opened the incorrect version and manually swapped it again, resulting in the same output (with a bit of cropping on the edges to remove the lines from stereo artifacts). This is the actually corrected version. ...

It's come to my attention the stereo pair from the first 10x image is likely swapped; see if this works better.

Yoweh boulder opal in ironstone matrix, SW Queensland, Australia. This small specimen is presented along its natural cleavage face (irregular, no polish) showing significant multicolored fire throughout dark gray translucent opal in the shattered orange/brown host rock. 2.7x magnification with Minol...

Long story short, bigger sensor isn't necessarily better when it comes to photomacrography. You've got the same body I do one generation newer (I currently use the D7000) and while a bit more resolution might be nice, the truth is I'm getting excellent results. I'm planning to shoot the shutter out ...

Very nice! Do you use Zerene? If so, a stereo pair of this might be a great companion. Your previous agate example inspired me to experiment with some work involving crystal inclusions, and I've been really impressed with the 3D stereo results I've been seeing from my early work with included quartz...

So one thing to note here is that a lot of Nikon lenses play tricks with focus and focal length. The Nikkor 18-200 DX zoom lens is notorious for this. At infinity it's a real 200mm lens, but as you focus closer the thing shortens in reality to something like 135mm in portrait distance despite being ...

Carl refers to this image on how not to do it:
Caps not even attached, but thrown in there for good measure. Just nauseating.

The top image is definitely a stacked stereo pair but the differences are subtle. I think I had Zerene set to around 1% or less (maybe around 0.6%) instead of 3%; I got more artifacts if I tried to go higher probably because I overlapped focus in the stack too much. The close-up backlit stereo pair ...

I'm again impressed with your work, Geopressure.

Do you have any insights about cleaning miniature mount specimens? I have an ultrasonic cleaner but always seem to have some specks leftover. Everything you show here and on your site appears absolutely pristine.

This is a 4.5 cm wide specimen of Spessartine garnet from Navegadora claim, Penha do Norte, Conselheiro Pena, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This particular mine is known for its exquisite stepped terminated gemmy garnets. I got carried away on this particular piece and had great results experimenting with s...