Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Have questions about the equipment used for macro- or micro- photography? Post those questions in this forum.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Thomas
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:11 pm

Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Post by Thomas »

I use and quite enjoy this combination as my hobby setup and thought I share some details to also cover a couple of questions people raised.

* Canon EOS RP. Full frame, 26 MP (6,240 x 4,160), 5.76 µm/px, built-in focus stacking.
* Sigma 150mm 1:2.8 APO EX DG HSM Macro.
* Nikon CFI Plan Achromat 10x (MRL00102). NA 0.25. WD 10.5mm.

Focus stacking works well, both, with the Sigma 150mm alone, or Sigma 150mm + Nikon 10x. I typically shoot indoors, USB tethered with Canon EOS software.

The EOS RP stacking feature uses an electronic shutter. There is practically no vibration except for small lens focus adjustments and I can get up to ~4.8 fps in jpeg-fine mode depending on exposure time per frame (more typically 2 to 3 fps).

Setting the Sigma to f/2.8 to maximize field of view, the Nikon 10x projects a (subjectively) usable image disk of around 30.9mm diameter; or black-to-black ~37.7mm.
lothman wrote:
Sun Oct 11, 2020 2:52 am
.. what is the max stack depth in mm you can achieve with the 150mm macro lens together with the 10x lens.
The Sigma 150mm lens focus distance indicator goes from 0.38m to infinity. With the Nikon 10x attached, I get approximately 2.3mm subject depth. To avoid large scale differences in stacks, I generally shoot from 0.52m to infinity, which gives me around 1.3mm subject depth. The choice of 0.52m isn't scientific and stacking software might work with a wider or even full range.

The approximate subject size projected onto the width of the sensor (35.94mm) is:
* Sigma set to 0.38m: ~3.6mm (mag ~10x)
* Sigma set to 0.52m: ~4.6mm (mag ~7.86x)
* Sigma set to infinity: ~4.8mm (mag ~7.44x)

Stacking step size can be set ranging from nominal values 1 (small steps) to 10 (large steps), with 4 recommended for normal lens configurations. With the Nikon 10x attached, I generally set this to 7, which gives me around 380 frames from "0.52m" to "infinity", ie, approximately 3.5µm per step. If I set it to 2 (nevere used in practice), I can take 1,000 frames from "0.52m" to "0.6m". If I set it to 1, the Sigma appears to stop moving, or maybe I ran out of patience.

Battery power is a minor limiting factor. I can take several thousand shots, but for longer sessions I need to keep an eye on the battery or need to use a power adaptor. But, to be sure, the ~350 shots per battery charge in the EOS RP spec sheet does not apply when stacking.

Thomas
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:11 pm

Re: Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Post by Thomas »

Here is an example to demonstrate sensor coverage.

3 types of sugar: Top: Jaggery. Right: Raw sugar. Bottom 3: refined white sugar.

EOS RP + Sigma 150mm + Nikon CFI Plan Achromat 10x.
Sigma at f/2.8.
Full frame image (6240x4160). Stacked, sharpened, scaled to conform to forum rules.

Sugar.jpg

Chris S.
Site Admin
Posts: 4042
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:55 pm
Location: Ohio, USA

Re: Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Post by Chris S. »

Nice demo! :D

I had to look up jaggery, as I'd never heard of it. Sounds tasty.

--Chris S.

lothman
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:00 am
Location: Stuttgart/Germany

Re: Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Post by lothman »

Thanks for the demonstration =D> does the change in magnification cause some problems when stitching the frames together?

Thomas
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 5:11 pm

Re: Canon EOS RP + Sigma 150mm Macro + Nikon CFI Plan 10x

Post by Thomas »

lothman wrote:
Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:41 am
.. does the change in magnification cause some problems when stitching the frames together?
I haven't tested the full range 0.38m .. inf, as I never needed it. This could probably be tested with any other lens.

The range 0.52m .. inf does not appear to create problems with Zerene, Helicon, nor Adobe. I do have minor stacking artefacts, like halos along borders, bright sparkles, (and ghosts when those !@^$ critters don't keep still), but think these are often unrelated to scale changes.

Chris S. wrote:
Mon Oct 12, 2020 9:50 pm
I had to look up jaggery, as I'd never heard of it. Sounds tasty.
I tried it as sugar for my caffe latte which wasn't all that great, but it's nice for making desserts.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic