Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Macro_Cosmos
Posts: 1511
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:23 pm
Contact:

Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Macro_Cosmos »

Slide by one of my favourite Diatomists, Klaus Kemp.

Image

Oly 40x apo, phase contrast, green interference filter used, oil immersion.
~180 focus stack.
More info: https://flic.kr/p/2jnrpkL
Only a newb like me can make a high power oil immersion look worse than a $50 Achromat... :cry: :cry: :cry:
Without applying oil on the condenser, the result looked horrendous.
Long way to go...
Image

Smokedaddy
Posts: 1951
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:16 am
Location: Bigfork, Montana
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Smokedaddy »

Very nice. Look great to me. I wonder if Klaus Kemp is still making slides. Last time I spoke with him (via email) he wasn't.

Macro_Cosmos
Posts: 1511
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Macro_Cosmos »

Smokedaddy wrote:
Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:20 pm
Very nice. Look great to me. I wonder if Klaus Kemp is still making slides. Last time I spoke with him (via email) he wasn't.
Very sadly, he stopped. I probably got the last ever order from him and it took many months. This is party due to covid-19 and partly due to some hardware issues. Nevertheless, I wasn't in a rush and the slides landed safely. Customs didn't steal any. Royal post is very slow but it seems reliable. It takes a lot of time to make larger exhibitions.

As of now, there's one Italian seller (diatomlabs) and another in the Netherlands. Diatomlabs' slides are incredibly expensive, I'll get myself some when the hole caused by my microscope is sealed back up.

I compared my result to many others, it now seems alright. Spent all night fiddling with ZS to get the details I want. I'm using Lanczos8 (16X16) and an estimation radius of 5-10 if anyone's interested, Dmap of course.
My phase annulus was obviously off-centre. I don't have a centring telescope but looking straight through the TL with the camera dismounted seems to do the exact same thing, now centred. I suppose I can slap a basic telescope using the optics I have, ehhh lazy.

Smokedaddy
Posts: 1951
Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:16 am
Location: Bigfork, Montana
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Smokedaddy »

Lanczos8, I'm not familiar with that.

Lou Jost
Posts: 5942
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Lou Jost »

Macro_cosmos, did the choice of interpolation algorithm have a big effect?

Macro_Cosmos
Posts: 1511
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Macro_Cosmos »

Lou Jost wrote:
Sun Jul 19, 2020 8:23 am
Macro_cosmos, did the choice of interpolation algorithm have a big effect?
With the default settings, the stack is just soft, it's kind of like haze, or the lens has been smeared with fog. I played around with the Dmap settings and details started to show, at the expense of WAYYYYY slower stacking speeds. ZS is already very slow.

I doubt my choice of Lanczos8 (16X16) as the rendering interpolator had a huge impact, but lowering the estimation radius gave clear improvements.

Lou Jost
Posts: 5942
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Lou Jost »

Thanks for that info...I am just getting started with diatoms, now that I have found them on my orchid leaves. I had always imagined they were aquatic, but now I know they are everywhere, in vast quantities, and at high diversity!

Macro_Cosmos
Posts: 1511
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Macro_Cosmos »

Lou Jost wrote:
Sun Jul 19, 2020 2:21 pm
Thanks for that info...I am just getting started with diatoms, now that I have found them on my orchid leaves. I had always imagined they were aquatic, but now I know they are everywhere, in vast quantities, and at high diversity!
Yep, and there's new types being discovered too, Stefano at Diatomlab told me about a new species he recently found. It's said they account for 50% of the oxygen we breathe and they live in some of the worst conditions imaginable. :P

Lou Jost
Posts: 5942
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Diatoms: Centric&Pennate Slide

Post by Lou Jost »

Yes, no one has ever looked at the Andean cloud forest epiphyte diatoms, and I bet there are many new ones!
Lou

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic