Erodius sp. 5x and 10x (thanks rovobeetle for the ID)

[seta666]

Hello,
Today I took a couple of shots of a beetle I have for a while; I do not know the species. (Erodius sp)
First shot is with mitutoyo 5x with morfanon 172mm as tube lens, magnification is 4.5x
101 shots with 0,04mm steps; few last shots have aperture closed, taken from a enlarger lens
Shot with 5DmII in EFCS mode with 3 led lamps

Full size
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/554 ... 204b_o.jpg

The Stereo
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2898/e ... o2000p.jpg


Next one is same beetle, this time with the mitutoyo 10x and the morfanon, magnification is 9x
184 shots with 0,009mm steps, few last shots have aperture closed, taken from a enlarger lens
Shot with 5DmII in EFCS mode with 3 led lamps


Full size
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5097/554 ... dc38_o.jpg
The stereo, may look a bit weird as I removed somedust and it shows
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6672/stereo2000.jpg

Regards
Javier

[rjlittlefield]

Javier, the full size images look great. For the stereo, I think you accidentally referenced a thumbnail. Removing ".th" from the url, I found http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6672/stereo2000.jpg which seems to be the correct image.

You're right, retouching was not friendly to this stereo pair. The retouched spots are pretty obvious.

For retouching stereo, sometimes it works well to retouch one image of the pair, then carefully clone the retouched spots from one image onto the other one, being careful to position each cloned spot so that it matches the detail around it. In Photoshop, it is easy to get the Y-coordinate exactly correct by watching the Info display. You have to choose the X-coordinate by eye, but if you start the cloning with a small feature near to the retouched spot, it works pretty well. Usually I cannot make the retouched spots completely invisible, but the cloning trick works much better than trying to retouch each image separately.

--Rik

[seta666]

Thanks Rik,
I replaced the thumbnail with a direct link, also added the stereo for the 5x shot.
I will try to retouch stereos the way you say, spaecially with big dust spot it is a difficult task
I guess that preaparing well the specimen is the way to do it but sometimes I find it difficult to remove the dust, sometimes I even make things worst.
I was considering buying a pair of binoculars for this task, something like this one in ebay 130498460387
Regards

[rjlittlefield]

I was considering buying a pair of binoculars for this task, something like this one in ebay 130498460387

A low-power stereo scope does help a lot for cleaning. But you might want one that has either zoom or multiple powers. That particular scope only has 20X.

--Rik

[Pau]

If you look for an stereo and you plan to work some hours with it, only one with 45º inclined tube would be suitable. The vertical ones like the linked one are a pain to work with. Belive me: I have a 25+ years experience working with bad stereos!

[seta666]

Thank you, something like this one better 190512263122 ? Optical quality is not that important as I only want it for preparing subjets. Working distance is important
I have replaced the 4.5x picture with a newer one mixture of DMap and PMax
Regards

[rjlittlefield]

I keep coming back to admire the wealth of detail captured in the full-size images. These Mitutoyo objectives and the morfanon are giving astonishingly high quality!

--Rik

[seta666]

Thank you Rik, also when you get the right lighting much more detail is shown. Lighting is the thing I want to learn more about as I find it the more determinant in final image quallity. Also the mixture of DMap and Pmax in the 5x image has heleped to get more detail (I should work more with Dmap, to see if I finally can understand it)
Regards

[Craig Gerard]

...snip...few last shots have aperture closed, taken from a enlarger lens

Javier,
Just to clarify, the "enlarger lens" used for the stopped-down shots, are you referring to an enlarger lense which has the elements removed?


Craig

[seta666]

Just to clarify, the "enlarger lens" used for the stopped-down shots, are you referring to an enlarger lense which has the elements removed?

Yes, without optical elements; I used to do it with my finite lenses (I copied it from morfa) but you had to be carefull with things like vigneting
With infinity lenses works much better, no vigneting at all. Aperture works like in a normal lens
Regards

[Cyclops]

Wonderful photos!

[Eric F]

Javier,

Your photos are fantastic! I'm especially impressed with the Mitutoyo 10x shots of this beetle (and the Tenebrio); like Rik says: a "wealth of detail...". If possible, could you please give more specific info on your tube lens setup with the Mitutoyo and morfanon (aperture type & position, distance between parts, adapters, maybe a photo?); any additional info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Eric

[mrwildie]

I think the light in these two images is as a triumph.



Gary

[seta666]

Glad you like it,
You can see my tube lens set up here
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... c&start=15
For aperture I use an old M39 AICO 50mm 3.5 without the optical elements. Front thread happens to be same as BD but the lens is a bit far from the Iris. This was more of a problem with finite BD plans, mitutoyos work very well, with no vigneting no matter the aperture setting
Distance from the mitutoy rear element to the tube lens is around 25mm


Any questions you may have just ask

By the way, at the end I bought a 45º binocular with 1x and 2x lenses and 10x and 20x eyepieces so I will have 10x 20x and 40x
It is mainly to prepare and have a look at subjects before working with them
Regards

[Eric F]

Thanks Javier,

That's very nice how neatly the AICO aperture fits into the tube lens.
I'll be using a Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 10x (haven't received it yet...); it is narrower than the BD type (34 vs. 44mm), and I wonder if vignetting will be an issue?

Regards,

Eric