Here is picture of the method I use to get even diffuse lighting for highly reflective coins. I modified an un-serviceable ring light mount by removing the LEDs. I attached the ring light mount to a white polypropylene kitchen cutting board. I then reflect the lights off the cutting board on to the...

rjlittlefield wrote:

ChrisR wrote:a Chinese autofocus set with contacts can be bought for $12 or so.

Nice catch! These ultra-low-cost versions are new to me also. I've just now ordered a set.

--Rik

How well do they work?

I saw his video this afternoon while looking for videos on how to pin insects for photography. It was amazing.

I wish I had one of those large format printers.

That's a great image, beautiful color and detail.

A fly, clumsily mounted on the end of an insulin syringe. I switched from my Tokina 100mm macro on electronic tubes because I couldn't get close enough. These flies are incredibly tiny. I still need to get some wearable magnifiers. The display was VERY dark, making it hard to focus. Canon T4i 50mm M...

My fear was that not enough light will enter and I won't be able to capture details. A trick I learned was to not place my lights too close to the diffuser material. That creates hot spots and doesn't allow the tent to diffuse the light. Pull your lights back so that they illuminate the entire surf...

Regarding light tents, PVC pipe is your friend. I made a tent using plans I got off of a firearms forum. As long as you don't glue the components together, it's endlessly configurable. Just adjust or replace the pipe and connectors to suit your needs. You literally need no tools beyond a hacksaw or ...

I am a big fan of JB Weld KwikWeld epoxy (this is their faster curing version). It hardens at nearly a perfect rate to allow you to make subtle adjustments during the curing process. Hardens to a dark grey. I personally do not care for super glues, at least the very low viscosity types. As often as...

I'm considering these to mount my lights when I build my macro table:

Sugatsune 24-in Center-To-Center Satin Stainless Steel Bar Cabinet Pull - From Lowe's

It helps to separate two aspects of the problem: 1. How to attach the subject to any positioning jig. 2. What sort of positioning jig do you want? For part 1, there's no substitute for glue. White glues like PVA are good for short term solutions. They tend to pop off glossy surfaces after a while. ...

A gnat shot using only dollar store disposable clip-on LED lights.

I had to play with the white balance a bit, but surprisingly less than I thought.

A tight crop of the head.

Now that I'm starting to get a handle on the photographic aspects of photographing tiny insects (tiny flies to be specific), I'm now running into some issues of handling and presentation. I've got an INCREDIBLE amount of light going into the subjects, but since they're dead, they're usually found ly...

A fruit fly that got into the freezer and froze. I'm finally starting to get the hang of things. I adjusted the lighting (300w CFLs) so that the head wasn't in shadow. I didn't let DSLR Controller do an excessive number of images. This was 51 images at medium setting. I made minor exposure and contr...

277 for a fruit fly would be reasonable if it were shot with a microscope objective. If you're talking about the fly at http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=212796#212796 , then 277 seems pretty high. That's kind of what I thought. Some day, I hope to graduate to microscope objecti...

That looks like the same model that I tested, under yet another brand name, or perhaps a knock-off. Do you do focus stacking with DSLR Controller? It looks like you do. Do you always take the default focus bracketing suggestions, or do you modify them to suit you? If the latter, how do you determin...