Allan, if I had your talent for explaining things I would be able to express just how perfectly you are able to explain things. I would have been fascinated with this video even if I were not interested in the subject, just to observe a masterful teacher in action. So for me this works on two levels: it tells me all I need to know to move forward with extreme macro, and it provides me the pleasure of watching a genius at work sharing his knowledge with perfect clarity and graciousness. You made my day! Thank you!
My goodness, Owen - I don't know how to respond to your overly generous words! I'll try, "thank you", but only because my mum taught me to accept compliments that I don't deserve with grace! You are too kind!
Such an amazing tutorial. Each thing You told about can take years to understand if you don't know what is going on. Such as a reflections inside of the tube and the ways to fix that. No words, it's crazy. Thanks!
I have been a photographer for many years (Architectural mainly) but have always found images of the microscopic world so utterly fascinating. I'm afraid that once I go down this rabbit hole I may never return...I'm a tech geek, so this type of technical photography just gives me all the warm and fuzzy feelings. Awesome content, thank you so much for voluntarily sharing your knowledge and experience. Its very much appreciated (New Subscriber!)
Thanks, Tim - glad you are finding my work useful. My rabbit hole is architectural photography - I love the challenge but am afraid to get too deeply into it!
100% agree with you that it's a complete another world in the photography, i've tried so many things since start and end-up with boxes full of useless stuff. Finally most of the time simplicity is divinity!!! Btw, long time ago i set my system in vertical position and change my dslr's to mirror-less, it takes my photography to a all another level!!!
Your videos are superb 90%. What I think you need to do for them to be perfect 100% is to include picture samples in all of them. Is a pedagogy recommendation. Keep up the great channel.
Hello Allan, I would like to thank you for a very informative video. I find you so easy to listen to and the way you explain things, it’s not all technical jargon that goes over my head so much so that I’ve been watching your video’s back to back and in some cases the same one over a couple of times. 10/10 for presentation.
Alan thank you so much for taking the time and making the effort to help us all, my macro photography has improved tenfold thanks to your videos. Cheers from Mark
I really apprecciate you time and efort, the only thing , this is only my hobbie and sometimes you consume all my free time watching your videos, thanks a lot, I save a lot opf money and improved a lot watching your videos GOD BLESS YOU
Yet another excellent video thanks Allan. You have covered a number of issues I have experienced and worked around in 'regular' focus stacking and a lot of other areas I can now look at. I am beginning to get the bits and pieces together for some 'extreme' macro adventures and will hopefully have had chance to watch all of your videos first. Great stuff! By the way, I don't mind that your videos are quite long. These days my brain only absorbs information which is clearly explained at a leisurely pace. This is a complex topic and your pace is great for me.
Allan, another outstanding video. I greatly appreciate the attention to detail. You’re a very talented teacher and I’m enjoying this journey immensely. Warm regards from North Alabama...
Thanks for the introduction to Robert Otoole. His website is a treasure trove. His article on the Godox flash system convinced me to not bother using my existing Nikon flash units for macro and adopt the Godox system. My limited experiments shooting focus stacks with the Nikon flash units have already introduced me to the issues he mentions.
one tip, if you are using a Nikon system, ie: the R1C1 ring flash kit, the C1 part of the kit, commander, is the su-800 and this is designed for using these flashes at the lens mounting ring, so close firing should not, presumably be any problem at all, this is for, as I understand, the macro lens / bellows systems and their related magnification ratios, not sure if YOUR level of magnification is similar, as in if this would work or not, but just a suggestion, as it is designed to work close in.( this CAN be a standard trigger, aka in cls operation, NOT just for the R200 flashes in this kit).
Great point Andy. I have used the R1C1 in the field and it is a superb piece of equipment. I have not found it to be very helpful in extreme macro, mostly because mounting the flash units off camera is very fiddly. I love the size of the SB-R200s but wish they took standard rechargeable cells. You are right about the close-in operation - very few misfires.
@@AllanWallsPhotography yes, thanks I forgot about that point, they have a unique single aa shaped battery all of them take, NOT the readily available AA or NIMH batteries we can all get our hands on, or wished Nikon had designed their flash for!!
Thanks for the flocking pro tip. My tubes have black velvet but my objective adapter and EF adapter dont. Going to have to black them out too and see if it makes a difference
Hey Allan, I thought I would throw out a FYI on slabbing. I use a Mac and found the various links to extensions for slabbing for zerine to either be PC only or for 32-bit Mac which is not longer supported in the more recent operating systems. What I did find though is that if you have the pro or prosumer version of zerine you can pick up the latest beta of it where the publisher has included means to slab. It’s slightly kludge in that it leaves you with a bunch of sun stacks as an output file that you need to open into a new project to do your second stacking operation but otherwise works great. It really helps eliminate a lot of the artifacts caused by stacking deep stacks all at once. Personally I like to use a 7 image stack with 2 overlapping images on each side for stacks that I do that tend to be 70-200 images deep. If I end up with more than 20 or so sub stacks I usually slab again to get it down to around 20-30 is final sub stacks before doing the final stack.
Thanks Andrew. I was actually talking with Rik Littlefield, the inventor of Zerene, just yesterday about the new beta, which I have been using for a few weeks. Before upgrading (downgrading?) my OS to Catalina I used Bugslabber, but I am very pleased to see that Rik has added this 64-bit functionality to ZS. Thanks for the heads up!
One great thing I found with zerine as a general statement is its ability to preform multi-threaded tasks well. Most software only uses one or at best 2 cpu cores. zerine on the other hand maxes out all 16 cores on my iMac. It’s a huge time saver over apps like photoshop which shockingly does not multi-thread tasks well at all.
I appreciate your thoroughness. I think for me though it's starting to suck the fun out of it for me. My macro images are not perfect by any stretch but I do enjoy it. I do many other genres of photography. My guess is I'm driven more by artistic and creative concerns than technical perfection. I still enjoy your videos though Allan.
Hi Robbie. Fair enough, there really is a lot of this kind of material to get through, but we aren't in a race and I appreciate your feedback. It is probably time to leave the tech stuff on the back burner and spend some time getting creative. Point well taken. Thanks.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I'm sure lots of folks really appreciate this information. I'm only expressing my own opinion. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what I say at all if I were you. If I could offer a wee bit of hopefully constructive criticism I would say at an hour long this video is a pretty hard slog. I think I could take in more of the information if it were in 10-15 minute bites. Probably better for the growth of your channel that way too. If you get to the point of running ads on here just remember you need over 10 minutes to be able to run a mid roll ad. I love chocolate cake but a slice after dinner is plenty. If I ate a whole cake at once I'd probably get sick.
Thanks for sharing this wealth of knolwedge! One question. What do you use for the a/c power source for speedlights? The yongnuos I have have the same power port (apparently the same as on canon speedlights) but i cant seem to find any a/c adapters on amazon or BnH.
Hi Justin, I am no longer using the switching power source that I mentioned in the video. It was homemade, and while it worked great most of the time, I started to run into trouble with some of my older speed lights. It actually killed a couple of them. So I have switched over to using Godox V860IINs, which take a large rechargeable battery pack that lasts for a long time. For low power macro stacking, one pack can last all day long - many hundreds of shots. I don't know of any commercially available wall transformers for use with today's speedlights. Many can run off an external power bank, but not from a wall adapter. I am going to give my DIY supply another try, with some help from someone who actually knows what they are doing. If it works I will do a video on the device. In the meantime, I will continue to scour the earth for flash/power supply combo that can be bought. One alternative may be to use some of the ultracompact studio strobe offerings, that may just be small enough to use for macro work.
@@AllanWallsPhotography thanks for your reply! I found a “fake AA battery” solution on Amazon shortly after messaging you. It’s basically a wired wall plug AA battery with 3 empty dummy batteries to complete the circuit. It should be here next week. I will definitely keep you updated once I test it 👍🏻
David Barnes Alan, great video again, personally I like the detail you go into, you can watch and read as much as you like but a personal explanation I find extremely helpful to pull it all together particularly with tips and experience. Having used the lockdown to reinvent my past macro interest by an extended use of my 100mm macro lens I took the plunge and purchased a rail from Ultramacro and use the Helicon Focus software to drive the rail, a Canon FD mount bellows from ebay, some adapters and a 5X finite objective also from Ultramacro has got me hooked so now its practice and more practice. Just an observation from your previous video re the 10X objective where you intimate this can be used for 6, 7 or 10 times magnification yet the fixed 160mm tube lens length must preclude this. Would I be correct in assuming you reduce the tube length to get the reduced magnification and therefore greater field of view. Tried it on my bellows and it seems to work with no reduction in resolution.
Hi David, yes, I wasn't as clear as I could have been - to use the 10X objective at lower magnifications you would have to change the tube lens' focal length (to 100mm for 5X and about 135mm for 7X). So it is not the tube length, per se, though this would be adjusted to the focal length of the tube lens, it is the focal length of the tube lens that need to change. Your 100mm macro lens would not work very well, though. A non macro lens, of 100mm, focused to infinity would work with that objective to give you an excellent 5X system.
You are probably the most technical macro related photographer on youtube, extremely useful video for someone who want to get to high macro, btw this is addicting, how deep in magnification you can actually get using dslr, where is the line?
Concerning the focus points a little bid before and behind the object: are these pictures used by the software to "make" the stack (I use Affinity. works very well)? Or uses the software only the sharp pictures to stack? Or should I remove the unsharp pictures by myself?
Hi Kees, no. The program only uses those images that are in focus. I do this to make certain that I have everything in focus. I don't send the images with nothing in focus to the stacking program. But I sometimes find that these extra shots DO have something in focus that I would otherwise have missed.
Perhaps it would be good to point out that the laser pointer aimer only works with old style DSLR cameras using the mirror/pentaprism. Using it on a mirrorless either won't work or might it even burn a hole in the EVF? I don't know and will not be trying that one.
Thanks for the eneloop pro tip. I’ve tried several brands, including the white eneloops, all so unreliable I’ve gone back to using single use alkalines, but with the consequent accumulation of hazardous waste to dispose of.
Hi Michael - I ended up throwing away a whole box of those white Eneloops, but the Pros are so much better. Expensive, but I have been using the same 24 AA cells for over a year, in speedlights, triggers, and everything else that needs batteries, with no problems - they seem as good as new.
Thanks again for another great video. I put most of my available budget into my camera and lens. I have purchased most of what I need to build my macro cage. Just have the hardware stuff to purchase. I go not own a flash yet for my new camera. Just wondering what flash I need to get first. I have an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark lll. Would appreciate your thoughts please Allan. I live in Australia.
Hi Marg, thanks for the question. Seeing as you will probably never use the flash in automatic exposure mode (TTL) and you will seldom need to throw the light more than a few inches, almost any flash will work. I am a fan of the Godox brand, mainly because of the ability of their X-1 trigger system to control multiple speedlights at short distances from the trigger. Other brands have this same functionality but, in the case of camera branded lights (Nikon, Canon, etc.), are much more expensive. If you plan to use your cage and flash setup for focus stacking, I would strongly urge you to consider devices that can be powered by your home power supply. Batteries have a tendency to run out of juice during deep stacks. The Godox V860-II lights that I use do rely on battery power, but they use a very large LiPo battery pack that can manage even the deepest stacks. You may be tempted to go with smaller speedlights, like the Nikon SB-200, but they usually have smaller batteries and cannot be run using home power. Godox frequently offer good discounts for kits consisting of two V860-II speedlights and one X-1 trigger (in your case, the Olympus version). If you are trying to keep expenditure to a minimum, any basic manual flash could be used without having to also buy a trigger, just by using the OMD's on board flash as an optical trigger. I hope that helps.
Very helpful video, like most of Alan’s videos I will have to watch it multiple times to make sure I have absorbed it properly, mainly because I am 64 I guess. I am trying hard to perfect this art and am at the beginning stage. Amazing fun
@@mondujar279 I did. When I get caught up on email, once or twice a year, I randomly look for unanswered comments and make snarky responses to see if anyone's looking. It's fun. You should try it! You just reminded me that I forgot to ask your permission to use your picture of the microscope stage in last week's video. May I?
@@AllanWallsPhotography You do realise that I live near royalty in the U.K.? Royals get lots of money just by being or existing. So surely I should get some for the use of my stage? Say 2 cents? If that’s a bit much I could give you a discount considering you’re a pensioner 🧓?
When you say that any movement is a problem in big magnification photography, I can't stop thinking about the iris movement. Wouldn't be better if the iris be always closed in the chosen aperture? To do that an old stile objective with an aperture ring that made possible to fix the aperture and the iris would never move; in modern objectives you couldn't do that unless you hold the depth of field preview button with tape or some thing.
OUTSTANDING!!!!!!! Thorough, comprehensive and Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I recently purchased the Stack Shot and have found it difficult to get the results I've been looking for. You have cleared up many of the issues I've been having and, for example, your discussion of backlash and programming sufficient delays to allow flashes to recycle and cool down was extremely helpful. I do have a question though. You mentioned programming the rail for two shots per focus step to allow for "Mirror Up" mode operation. My question is: "If I use Live View - which puts the mirror up so the sensor can send the image to the LCD screen - can I use just one shot per focus increment?
Hi Christopher - Your point is a good one - in LV the mirror is locked up, so if you are in LV you don't need to program the Stackshot to two pulses. But I never use LV because of how quickly it drains the batteries during a big stack. I should have made that clear, but you are correct - a single pulse when in LV.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Thank you for responding so quickly. Your videos are extremely helpful to me. It's a real pleasure to have your expertise available. Please keep it coming.
I use a mains power adapter on my nikon d500 when focus stacking,bought on ebay.Works great and no worries about camera battery running out of charge. Ex-Pro® Nikon EP-5B Coupler Kit EH-5 EH-5A VEB002EB AC Mains Power D500
Very interesting video - learnt a lot. A couple of thoughts occurred while you were talking about "backlash". I wondered if this might be reduced by some light lubrication to the screw to smooth the friction? I also felt the weight of the camera/lens set up might accentuate the problem? I feel this is more likely with a full frame Nikon/lens than say an Olympus?
Hi Dave. The backlash is not really a friction problem (though it is harder to make small advances with a "sticky" screw). It is just a function of the tolerances of the machined parts. When you change the direction of movement, the screw has to move through the tolerance until it once again engages with the carriage. Unfortunately, that can never be removed entirely (or the screw and carriage would lock up). The weight of the equipment will increase the rotational work of the screw, but as long as the carriage can move at all, it won't affect the backlash as you will still have to take up the slack every time you change direction. Hope that helps!
one question: who r the 4 ppl who disliked this video :D please let us know if u've seen anything better. a 1hr video where u dont fall asleep after 10 min . cheers Allan for a wonderful series o7
Oh, what about software? It would be great if you make a video about what do you use and how do you put together all those photographies, into a final composite image.
Hi João, I have many videos on using Lightroom, Photoshop, and a number of different stacking programs - about 20 of them! Look through the videos on my channel listing and you will find what you are looking for.
As usual, a detailed, interesting and engrossing presentation. Sir, how image circle and sensor sizes are related? Image should form on any size of sensor like a rectangle. Most pixels are anyway dumped. So, how does a ff camera better than a crop-sensor or a mft?
Thanks, Vageeshbabu! The image circle is a function of the lens arrangement and the extension between the sensor and lens optics. With some microscope objective/ tube lens combinations (especially high magnification with a long infinity space), the image circle will be of insufficient diameter to cover a full frame sensor, causing a vignette to form. In such cases, I will use a camera body with an APS-C or MFT sensor to ensure coverage. However, I prefer to use a FF camera, when feasible, because of the larger photosites, better light-gathering capabilities, and improved performance at higher ISO (as compared to smaller sensors of the same pixel count).
Hello Allan. I just started learning extra macro. Recently I was given the following lenses: JENA 20 - 0.40 (62 1 066), Progress plant (emblem like a smile) St. Petersburg 3.7 - 0.11 (33047) (new), BAUSCH & LOMB rochester, NY USA 22, 7mm 0.17 6X, LOOMP (ЛООМП ОИ-13 A-1.2) OI-13 A-1.2, and no name, similar to LAIOWA, adjustable distance(?) from 0.16-1.4. Is there anything that will be useful in mastering this science? I hope to become a leader in macro photography by my 100th anniversary. Thank you. (Google Transletter)
55:37 a theory about that, I hope it isn't a total nonsense. The focal length of the objectives is not exact it is approximated. For example, if you shoot something, with the same camera, with two different objectives, at the same focal length, like the 70-200mm f/2.8 from Canon and from Tamron, you will see that the angles of view are slightly different, so, focal lengths are also slightly different. Couldn't that be one of the problems, if the objective used wouldn't be have 200mm of focal length, but 190mm or 210mm instead?
I'm really annoying, I know, but I sorry, I'm loving your videos they are unique on TH-cam, no ones can even compare to them, at least for those I know. Anyway, maybe I understood some thing wrong but there was some thing about flash batteries that didn't make much sense to me. You cant pause the sequence of shoots so if your batteries die, you have to start all again, but you can change them?! How do you do that? With the intervals you said I think it is impossible. OH, by the way, about batteries, do you use thumb batteries to the camera also to prevent the same problem?
You are not annoying and I'm happy to help! Unfortunately, there is no way to pause the StackShot rail. So if I start missing flash firings, I need to stop and start over. That's what makes it frustrating. I am going to replace my speedlights with units that can be powered from a wall outlet. Batteries can be very unreliable (and they are very expensive!).
Hi Willy, I have used a self adhesive flocking material, but it has been shedding fibers recently - I usually use a more permanent spray-on flocking so I will be replacing the adhesive material soon. Is there a specific brand that you have had good luck with?
Another terrifically helpful video. Thanks so much for doing these. On internal reflections I used to use flocking paper from optical supply companies in my lab. Have you tried it? If so do you prefer using velvet? Also we did a lot of calculations to determine veiling glare so we could assess the degree of internal reflections and assess the flocking effectiveness. Would that be going too far here?
Hi Robin - nothing is too far for this channel! I am not familiar with the calculations you speak of, but I'll be reading up on it tonight. I have used commercial flocking material, but I have a huge sheet of very fine velvet that I bought for something else, and I'm very cheap - so I just use that. Do you think the paper is more effective, or just easier to work with?
Allan Walls Photography The paper is made for optical systems and in theory doesn’t shed fibers. Velvet is wonderfully non reflective but it does tend to shed a little. Maybe not an issue in the build your describing but it was a show stopper for us in the medical devices we were building.
When I was researching infinity microscope objectives and tube lenses after Part one I came across metallurgical infinity objectives. Will they work for photography and how are they different from the Plan, Achromat and Apochromats?
Christopher Moore , I believe that you are seeing bright field/dark field vs metallurgical. Bright field is what you saw in high school biology class where you put a specimen on a glass slide with sandwiched between the slide and a small cover slide and light was passed through the specimen from below up through the objective. Dark field is a bit more difficult to explain but the light comes from the side or above or any angle in between and the objective only collects scattered (reflected) light from the specimen. BD objectives are designed to work with both where M (metallurgical) objectives are only dark field. M objectives are designed to take in reflected light and minimize glare. Additionally bright field objectives need to compensate for additional refractive elements in the optical path namely the cover slide. While both BD and M objectives will work you should consider wether you want to capture bright field images or not as you will be trading that capability for a slightly less glarey dark field image with the M objective. I ran into glare issues at work with BD objectives on a 20-2000x keyance video microscope trying to image a cross section of a piece of laminated plastic (studying the layer structure). The final images were starched to cover the whole part at a magnification of around 350x and processed in matlab to recognize the individual lamina to check their actual position vs desired position in the laminate. Each layer is around 40microns thick. Switching to a M objective really helped with the glare in my particular case but at a price as 200-2000x objectives are $$$$$$$ (the microscope has 20-200 and 200-2000 objectives)
Andrew H Wow😲. What a thorough answer! Thanks so much. 👍. Very helpful information. I didn’t know that M objectives were designed for dark field purposes. 🤔
Hi again Allan. Question for you, if you don't mind.... are there job/career options for people doing this kind of work? Beyond being an independent photographer or artist? Many thanks.
Hi Alex, That is a really interesting question. The short answer is yes, but the full answer contains a bunch of caveats. I am actually going to answer your question in an upcoming "Viewer Questions" video - there is too much to cover in this format. If you still have questions, please email me at contact@allanwallsphotography.com and I will be glad to help.
I know that, you wouldn't be able to use the laser technique, but about the mirror movement problem, mirroreless cameras are a good alternative, or not?
Yes they are - many macro photographers love mirrorless. I do not have any mirrorless cameras, yet, but I am currently looking at a Fujifilm camera - so ,maybe soon!
Do you think you could show how to use flashes off wallpower (with that port you mentioned in the video)? I have problems with my flash not firing at the same strength with each photo, and I've heard that wallpower eliminates that issue.
Hi David, unfortunately, the two speedlights that I had with that capability are both broken and I am back to using battery power again. Are you using matching speedlights and are you using the same brand of batteries? - both of those issues can result in inconsistent power output. I am planning to replace my speedlights soon, and when I do I will make a video showing how to set up the system.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I only have one flash at the moment, but it seems to have the port where you can connect it to a cable for wallpower. I'll see if I can figure it out, thanks :)
@@rommme Sometimes the ports on speedlights are just for battery packs. The ones that use wall power usually sell the power adapters separately. Tel what brand and model and I'll get to the bottom of it for you.
@@rommme The TT600 has a DC charging port on the front of the unit, but this is only intended for charging the recommended Ni-MH cells that are recommended. However, the port is not mentioned anywhere in the owner's documentation and the cord with its proprietary three pin plug is not listed as an available accessory. Strange, but the bottom line is that these flashes will not operate on wall power. I'll do some digging to find out which ones can run with a wall adapter.
Shooting with Sony you need to turn off the in body stabilization or you will have problems. Going to change my tube length for my 4x. So 150 from sensor to the end of the tube?
@@AllanWallsPhotography Below are my tube length calculations Lens is the 4X Plan Objective you use. 10mm Lens/adapter 110mm Main Tube 1 or 2mm M42 to E-Mount Adapter 10mm + 10mm Extension tubes 18mm Flange to sensor. Total of 159mm or 160mm Still not as good as I'd like. So I guess it is now up to my lighting. Helicon Focus was used and provides much better results than Affinity Photo. Going to try using .jpg again. The Helicon Focus eats up RAW and TIFF files. Unlike Affinity Photo. It is snail slow compared to Helicon Focus.
@@onegreenev Hi Pete, I would try that same setup but with only one of the 10mm extension tube sections - that should get you a bit closer. I just crashed my Mac this morning, trying to load a stack of 300 TIFFs (D850 files) into Zerene. I need a bigger machine! I am not crazy about using JPEGs for stacking but I have no other options right now. Computers have gotten a lot more expensive since I bought this one.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Changed setup and removed one of the 10mm. I also received my sonic cleaner. Dang, it worked great. Had a tiny bug that was so covered with dust you could hardly even see the eye. You recommended only a few seconds in the bath, or under a minute and that should do. Yup. Its surprised how quickly it cleaned. Here is a 67 image stack of that bug with the new setup and my 10x Plan instead of the 4x Plan. My flash was triple diffused and I had a small bounce card on the opposite side. Still have not created a paper diffuser tube. I need to do that. Main flash from one side is not good for bugs. I need good soft light covering the whole bug. Think beauty lighting instead of side lighting. Time for setting up the new lighting. Just trying to get a good crisp image first. New lighting should help even more. Not sure what kind of beetle this is. The file is a .png drive.google.com/file/d/1oyX02_HQq5aRTuw_i5y14A_QDjXkqA5D/view?usp=sharing
@@onegreenev Nice work, Pete. I love that US cleaner - it has salvaged countless bugs over the years. Yo are right about the light. The diffusion tube works really well for a soft, minimally directional light that cuts way down on the specularity that spoils so many images. Which objective are you using? It must be a finite 10X of some type. You are getting plenty of sharpness, you just need more light. Keep me posted!
Maybe you can put the backslash adjustment to 0, then you have 5 or whatever pictures more on the beginning on the same position what you can then put in the trash.
i bought these Objective at bolioptics ill be using these on the fuji xt-3 APS-C im new so i hope it works for that sensor. $56.98 Objective Working Distance 17.9mm 10X Infinity Plan Achromatic Objective Nexcope-NE610-Objective-10-A $39.98 Objective Working Distance 30mm 4X Infinity Plan Achromatic Objective Nexcope-NE620-Objective-4-A im going to try and put the objective to a RMS Thread for Microscope objective to M42 x1mm Converter (Cone) Adapter. and then try using in camera fuji xt3 focus bracketing this mimic like using a focus rail, it can adjust the focus real fast it takes picture and adjust focus like 100 pic in seconds, if that dont work ill use the zoom to mimic focus on the camera in movie mode then use Helicon Focus 7 for stacking the video images, it can import video, if i get to much shake there is online uploads for Stabilize Shaky Videos, just upload then download, for the inner tube for being to glossy messing with the image quality ill be using a high heat flat black spray paint, made for like for fire places and grills
Sounds like a plan. Your camera will work fine with this setup, the X-T3 has an awesome sensor. I think you might run into difficulties using the focus bracketing feature, though. Generally the step lengths are going to be very much shorter than the camera can handle, especially at 10X and above. I tried some 1:1 stacks with the D850, and it was a non-starter. But let us know how it goes, the Fuji may be able to manage it. Good luck!
@@AllanWallsPhotography still waiting on my objective but i did a test on the raynox 250 with fuji xt--3 focus bracking and it can handle mm pretty well, not sure if i can post a image but ill try, go zoom fullscreen i.imgur.com/NqKMIca.jpg fuji focus bracking 100 images in about 10 seconds i think i could of used less and used focus peaking and when using peaking you move the focus ring and it magnify BIG right in on the object, dont you have fuji xt-2 i think you can do the same, the image is a calibrated box with a tad over 1 inch needle each mark next to the needle i think is 1 mm then used helicon focus with fuji lens 16-80mm and raynox 250 in front of it.. the needle is straight up and down and the calibrated box has a slight angle. box was bought on amazon really cheap.i know the image makes the mm marks look big but there so small i all most cant count them with my glasses on, there very tiny and close to each other. the hole in the sewing needle is like 4 mm super small, if your camera has focus bracking your going to get rid of that focus rail.
@@A-Eye--A I retract my earlier comment - you nailed it on that test shot. I am really impressed. I will be very interested to see how it performs at a smaller scale. Using a 10x microscope objective and a step length of 10um, you will need to compress those 100 images into the width of the needle in the shot. Please let me know how it goes.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I got the spelling wrong. Vanta being the acronym for Vertically Aligned Nanotube Arrays. I don't think its commercially available. There is Black 3.0 paint which is close (99% vs 99.96% light absorption). Vanta black video: th-cam.com/video/fg2x0L4YAuU/w-d-xo.html Black 3.0 available at: www.culturehustleusa.com/products/black-3-0-the-worlds-blackest-black-acrylic-paint-150ml
Alan, I believe you should stop using the mirror lockup feature. It makes everything only more complicated and takes time. Normally, the mirror lockup has benefits in the 1/10s range. You are shooting at around 1/20,000s (at 1/256 power). Excellent work otherwise!
Absolutely. But these days a good microscope stage and a fine focus mechanism do not come cheap. I have nearly completed my DIY table after finally finding an ideal Nikon scope to break down. Thanks!
Allan Walls Photography Hello Allan, I am glad that you read my comments. I have a very particular question and I do not know anybody who had the knowledge to answer it. Let me explain: I am a dedicated hog hunter and I use a night vision device attached to my daylight scope. The scope is really high end and collects a lot of light and make a decent night vision device out of my cheap Budget gadget. So far so good. My problem is the eye relief. I use a silencer but still the riffle has some decent amount of recoil. Now, every time I take a shot, I risk to get bitten by the scope. The eye relief of my setup is only 12mm. Normally I have a 90mm eye relief. I do not need 90mm but 50mm would be good. With my scope I can magnify between 4x and 20x. I usually use 8x to 10x. My idea was to put a 0.5x Barlow lens in front of the eye piece. That should result in an increased eye relief. Is that correct. And if so how can I know at what distance to put the lens. And is a Barlow lens the right choice? Can I guesstimate at which magnification factor I get an eye relief of about 50mm? Thanks for your beautiful and instructive videos. I am not into photography but after chasing down that rabbit hole I was tempted to dismantle my Zeiss Microscope to take some pictures of really tiny stuff 🙈
@@flugschulerfluglehrer Fascinating question! This is not an area in which I have any expertise, or experience, for that matter. But I know someone who may be able to help. The Barlow lens is designed to increase working distance in microscopy. Attaching it to the ocular of your scope could conceivable work, but it seems that your target will now appear to be a great deal further away. I will try to get a better answer for you. Send me an email address (to contact@allanwallsphotography.com) and I will respond when I get more information. Thanks!
Allan, if I had your talent for explaining things I would be able to express just how perfectly you are able to explain things. I would have been fascinated with this video even if I were not interested in the subject, just to observe a masterful teacher in action. So for me this works on two levels: it tells me all I need to know to move forward with extreme macro, and it provides me the pleasure of watching a genius at work sharing his knowledge with perfect clarity and graciousness. You made my day! Thank you!
My goodness, Owen - I don't know how to respond to your overly generous words! I'll try, "thank you", but only because my mum taught me to accept compliments that I don't deserve with grace! You are too kind!
Allan, you're a hero to anyone starting out in microscopy (like me). Thanks so much for creating quality content and sharing your knowledge.
Thank you!
Such an amazing tutorial. Each thing You told about can take years to understand if you don't know what is going on. Such as a reflections inside of the tube and the ways to fix that. No words, it's crazy. Thanks!
I have been a photographer for many years (Architectural mainly) but have always found images of the microscopic world so utterly fascinating. I'm afraid that once I go down this rabbit hole I may never return...I'm a tech geek, so this type of technical photography just gives me all the warm and fuzzy feelings. Awesome content, thank you so much for voluntarily sharing your knowledge and experience. Its very much appreciated (New Subscriber!)
Thanks, Tim - glad you are finding my work useful. My rabbit hole is architectural photography - I love the challenge but am afraid to get too deeply into it!
100% agree with you that it's a complete another world in the photography, i've tried so many things since start and end-up with boxes full of useless stuff. Finally most of the time simplicity is divinity!!! Btw, long time ago i set my system in vertical position and change my dslr's to mirror-less, it takes my photography to a all another level!!!
Allan, you’re a God-send …. can’t thank you enough for all the details and tips
Great knowledge.thanks Allan
Your videos are superb 90%. What I think you need to do for them to be perfect 100% is to include picture samples in all of them. Is a pedagogy recommendation. Keep up the great channel.
Hello Allan, I would like to thank you for a very informative video. I find you so easy to listen to and the way you explain things, it’s not all technical jargon that goes over my head so much so that I’ve been watching your video’s back to back and in some cases the same one over a couple of times. 10/10 for presentation.
Thanks Stuart! Your kind words are much appreciated!
Alan thank you so much for taking the time and making the effort to help us all, my macro photography has improved tenfold thanks to your videos. Cheers from Mark
Thanks Mark - I'm glad to hear it!
Thanks again Allan. I have had my StackShot for about 8 years now. I never considered the backlash issue before. That will solve many problems.
It drove me crazy when I first started using my rail - I could not figure out why my foregrounds were always out of focus!
I really apprecciate you time and efort, the only thing , this is only my hobbie and sometimes you consume all my free time watching your videos, thanks a lot, I save a lot opf money and improved a lot watching your videos GOD BLESS YOU
Yet another excellent video thanks Allan. You have covered a number of issues I have experienced and worked around in 'regular' focus stacking and a lot of other areas I can now look at. I am beginning to get the bits and pieces together for some 'extreme' macro adventures and will hopefully have had chance to watch all of your videos first. Great stuff! By the way, I don't mind that your videos are quite long. These days my brain only absorbs information which is clearly explained at a leisurely pace. This is a complex topic and your pace is great for me.
These deep dives are a gold mine for a newcomer :D
Thanks! Thoroughly enjoyed making them!
A marvelous video Allan and full of great advice & expertise into extreme macro photography.
Cheers, Dennis!
Wow, thank you so much for this very precise macro hint !
Allan, another outstanding video. I greatly appreciate the attention to detail. You’re a very talented teacher and I’m enjoying this journey immensely. Warm regards from North Alabama...
Thank you John - I do love the northern part of the state - Huntsville was home, once upon a time!
Another great Watch Allan, thank you for the time in making this, its awesome, I love your work.
Thanks Barry!
Thanks for the introduction to Robert Otoole. His website is a treasure trove. His article on the Godox flash system convinced me to not bother using my existing Nikon flash units for macro and adopt the Godox system. My limited experiments shooting focus stacks with the Nikon flash units have already introduced me to the issues he mentions.
Yes. His work is invaluable, Michael. He is a great source of reliable information.
thank you very much. You have helped me no end. Kudos to you
Great video again. Thank you sharing this. I have to try these microscopic lenses in the future. Looks a lot of fun.
Great content!
Very helpful, thanks. You answered a problem I am having with light bouncing around causing hazy images.
Hi Mark - it makes all the difference!
one tip, if you are using a Nikon system, ie: the R1C1 ring flash kit, the C1 part of the kit, commander, is the su-800 and this is designed for using these flashes at the lens mounting ring, so close firing should not, presumably be any problem at all, this is for, as I understand, the macro lens / bellows systems and their related magnification ratios, not sure if YOUR level of magnification is similar, as in if this would work or not, but just a suggestion, as it is designed to work close in.( this CAN be a standard trigger, aka in cls operation, NOT just for the R200 flashes in this kit).
Great point Andy. I have used the R1C1 in the field and it is a superb piece of equipment. I have not found it to be very helpful in extreme macro, mostly because mounting the flash units off camera is very fiddly. I love the size of the SB-R200s but wish they took standard rechargeable cells. You are right about the close-in operation - very few misfires.
@@AllanWallsPhotography yes, thanks I forgot about that point, they have a unique single aa shaped battery all of them take, NOT the readily available AA or NIMH batteries we can all get our hands on, or wished Nikon had designed their flash for!!
Thanks for the flocking pro tip. My tubes have black velvet but my objective adapter and EF adapter dont. Going to have to black them out too and see if it makes a difference
Thanks Jeff - it is amazing how much havoc a single reflective surface can cause.
Hey Allan, I thought I would throw out a FYI on slabbing. I use a Mac and found the various links to extensions for slabbing for zerine to either be PC only or for 32-bit Mac which is not longer supported in the more recent operating systems. What I did find though is that if you have the pro or prosumer version of zerine you can pick up the latest beta of it where the publisher has included means to slab. It’s slightly kludge in that it leaves you with a bunch of sun stacks as an output file that you need to open into a new project to do your second stacking operation but otherwise works great. It really helps eliminate a lot of the artifacts caused by stacking deep stacks all at once. Personally I like to use a 7 image stack with 2 overlapping images on each side for stacks that I do that tend to be 70-200 images deep. If I end up with more than 20 or so sub stacks I usually slab again to get it down to around 20-30 is final sub stacks before doing the final stack.
Thanks Andrew. I was actually talking with Rik Littlefield, the inventor of Zerene, just yesterday about the new beta, which I have been using for a few weeks. Before upgrading (downgrading?) my OS to Catalina I used Bugslabber, but I am very pleased to see that Rik has added this 64-bit functionality to ZS. Thanks for the heads up!
One great thing I found with zerine as a general statement is its ability to preform multi-threaded tasks well. Most software only uses one or at best 2 cpu cores. zerine on the other hand maxes out all 16 cores on my iMac. It’s a huge time saver over apps like photoshop which shockingly does not multi-thread tasks well at all.
I appreciate your thoroughness. I think for me though it's starting to suck the fun out of it for me. My macro images are not perfect by any stretch but I do enjoy it. I do many other genres of photography. My guess is I'm driven more by artistic and creative concerns than technical perfection. I still enjoy your videos though Allan.
Hi Robbie. Fair enough, there really is a lot of this kind of material to get through, but we aren't in a race and I appreciate your feedback. It is probably time to leave the tech stuff on the back burner and spend some time getting creative. Point well taken. Thanks.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I'm sure lots of folks really appreciate this information. I'm only expressing my own opinion. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what I say at all if I were you. If I could offer a wee bit of hopefully constructive criticism I would say at an hour long this video is a pretty hard slog. I think I could take in more of the information if it were in 10-15 minute bites. Probably better for the growth of your channel that way too. If you get to the point of running ads on here just remember you need over 10 minutes to be able to run a mid roll ad. I love chocolate cake but a slice after dinner is plenty. If I ate a whole cake at once I'd probably get sick.
so generous. thanks.
Thanks for sharing this wealth of knolwedge! One question. What do you use for the a/c power source for speedlights? The yongnuos I have have the same power port (apparently the same as on canon speedlights) but i cant seem to find any a/c adapters on amazon or BnH.
Hi Justin, I am no longer using the switching power source that I mentioned in the video. It was homemade, and while it worked great most of the time, I started to run into trouble with some of my older speed lights. It actually killed a couple of them. So I have switched over to using Godox V860IINs, which take a large rechargeable battery pack that lasts for a long time. For low power macro stacking, one pack can last all day long - many hundreds of shots. I don't know of any commercially available wall transformers for use with today's speedlights. Many can run off an external power bank, but not from a wall adapter. I am going to give my DIY supply another try, with some help from someone who actually knows what they are doing. If it works I will do a video on the device. In the meantime, I will continue to scour the earth for flash/power supply combo that can be bought. One alternative may be to use some of the ultracompact studio strobe offerings, that may just be small enough to use for macro work.
@@AllanWallsPhotography thanks for your reply! I found a “fake AA battery” solution on Amazon shortly after messaging you. It’s basically a wired wall plug AA battery with 3 empty dummy batteries to complete the circuit. It should be here next week. I will definitely keep you updated once I test it 👍🏻
David Barnes
Alan, great video again, personally I like the detail you go into, you can watch and read as much as you like but a personal explanation I find extremely helpful to pull it all together particularly with tips and experience. Having used the lockdown to reinvent my past macro interest by an extended use of my 100mm macro lens I took the plunge and purchased a rail from Ultramacro and use the Helicon Focus software to drive the rail, a Canon FD mount bellows from ebay, some adapters and a 5X finite objective also from Ultramacro has got me hooked so now its practice and more practice.
Just an observation from your previous video re the 10X objective where you intimate this can be used for 6, 7 or 10 times magnification yet the fixed 160mm tube lens length must preclude this. Would I be correct in assuming you reduce the tube length to get the reduced magnification and therefore greater field of view. Tried it on my bellows and it seems to work with no reduction in resolution.
Hi David, yes, I wasn't as clear as I could have been - to use the 10X objective at lower magnifications you would have to change the tube lens' focal length (to 100mm for 5X and about 135mm for 7X). So it is not the tube length, per se, though this would be adjusted to the focal length of the tube lens, it is the focal length of the tube lens that need to change. Your 100mm macro lens would not work very well, though. A non macro lens, of 100mm, focused to infinity would work with that objective to give you an excellent 5X system.
You are probably the most technical macro related photographer on youtube, extremely useful video for someone who want to get to high macro, btw this is addicting, how deep in magnification you can actually get using dslr, where is the line?
Concerning the focus points a little bid before and behind the object: are these pictures used by the software to "make" the stack (I use Affinity. works very well)? Or uses the software only the sharp pictures to stack? Or should I remove the unsharp pictures by myself?
Hi Kees, no. The program only uses those images that are in focus. I do this to make certain that I have everything in focus. I don't send the images with nothing in focus to the stacking program. But I sometimes find that these extra shots DO have something in focus that I would otherwise have missed.
Perhaps it would be good to point out that the laser pointer aimer only works with old style DSLR cameras using the mirror/pentaprism. Using it on a mirrorless either won't work or might it even burn a hole in the EVF? I don't know and will not be trying that one.
Thank you.
Thanks for the eneloop pro tip. I’ve tried several brands, including the white eneloops, all so unreliable I’ve gone back to using single use alkalines, but with the consequent accumulation of hazardous waste to dispose of.
Hi Michael - I ended up throwing away a whole box of those white Eneloops, but the Pros are so much better. Expensive, but I have been using the same 24 AA cells for over a year, in speedlights, triggers, and everything else that needs batteries, with no problems - they seem as good as new.
Thanks again for another great video. I put most of my available budget into my camera and lens. I have purchased most of what I need to build my macro cage. Just have the hardware stuff to purchase. I go not own a flash yet for my new camera. Just wondering what flash I need to get first. I have an Olympus OMD EM1 Mark lll. Would appreciate your thoughts please Allan. I live in Australia.
Hi Marg, thanks for the question. Seeing as you will probably never use the flash in automatic exposure mode (TTL) and you will seldom need to throw the light more than a few inches, almost any flash will work. I am a fan of the Godox brand, mainly because of the ability of their X-1 trigger system to control multiple speedlights at short distances from the trigger. Other brands have this same functionality but, in the case of camera branded lights (Nikon, Canon, etc.), are much more expensive. If you plan to use your cage and flash setup for focus stacking, I would strongly urge you to consider devices that can be powered by your home power supply. Batteries have a tendency to run out of juice during deep stacks. The Godox V860-II lights that I use do rely on battery power, but they use a very large LiPo battery pack that can manage even the deepest stacks. You may be tempted to go with smaller speedlights, like the Nikon SB-200, but they usually have smaller batteries and cannot be run using home power. Godox frequently offer good discounts for kits consisting of two V860-II speedlights and one X-1 trigger (in your case, the Olympus version). If you are trying to keep expenditure to a minimum, any basic manual flash could be used without having to also buy a trigger, just by using the OMD's on board flash as an optical trigger. I hope that helps.
Very helpful video, like most of Alan’s videos I will have to watch it multiple times to make sure I have absorbed it properly, mainly because I am 64 I guess. I am trying hard to perfect this art and am at the beginning stage. Amazing fun
And I thought I was old!
@@AllanWallsPhotography FUNNY 🪰
@@AllanWallsPhotography Did you notice I left the initial comment 11 months ago? You really ARE getting on!! Lol
@@mondujar279 I did. When I get caught up on email, once or twice a year, I randomly look for unanswered comments and make snarky responses to see if anyone's looking. It's fun. You should try it! You just reminded me that I forgot to ask your permission to use your picture of the microscope stage in last week's video. May I?
@@AllanWallsPhotography You do realise that I live near royalty in the U.K.? Royals get lots of money just by being or existing. So surely I should get some for the use of my stage? Say 2 cents? If that’s a bit much I could give you a discount considering you’re a pensioner 🧓?
the pro tip was very useful 😉
🤣😂😅
When you say that any movement is a problem in big magnification photography, I can't stop thinking about the iris movement. Wouldn't be better if the iris be always closed in the chosen aperture? To do that an old stile objective with an aperture ring that made possible to fix the aperture and the iris would never move; in modern objectives you couldn't do that unless you hold the depth of field preview button with tape or some thing.
"When in doubt flock it." Granny was a very smart woman!
I think that was what she was saying - but with such poorly fitting dentures, it might have been something else...
OUTSTANDING!!!!!!! Thorough, comprehensive and Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I recently purchased the Stack Shot and have found it difficult to get the results I've been looking for. You have cleared up many of the issues I've been having and, for example, your discussion of backlash and programming sufficient delays to allow flashes to recycle and cool down was extremely helpful. I do have a question though. You mentioned programming the rail for two shots per focus step to allow for "Mirror Up" mode operation. My question is: "If I use Live View - which puts the mirror up so the sensor can send the image to the LCD screen - can I use just one shot per focus increment?
Hi Christopher - Your point is a good one - in LV the mirror is locked up, so if you are in LV you don't need to program the Stackshot to two pulses. But I never use LV because of how quickly it drains the batteries during a big stack. I should have made that clear, but you are correct - a single pulse when in LV.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Thank you for responding so quickly. Your videos are extremely helpful to me. It's a real pleasure to have your expertise available. Please keep it coming.
@@cmoore7723 also in live view the sensor is constant on and it can produce hot pixels.
Dirk Schafer Hmmm. I hadn’t considered that. Good point. Thanks
I use a mains power adapter on my nikon d500 when focus stacking,bought on ebay.Works great and no worries about camera battery running out of charge.
Ex-Pro® Nikon EP-5B Coupler Kit EH-5 EH-5A VEB002EB AC Mains Power D500
Very interesting video - learnt a lot. A couple of thoughts occurred while you were talking about "backlash". I wondered if this might be reduced by some light lubrication to the screw to smooth the friction? I also felt the weight of the camera/lens set up might accentuate the problem? I feel this is more likely with a full frame Nikon/lens than say an Olympus?
Hi Dave. The backlash is not really a friction problem (though it is harder to make small advances with a "sticky" screw). It is just a function of the tolerances of the machined parts. When you change the direction of movement, the screw has to move through the tolerance until it once again engages with the carriage. Unfortunately, that can never be removed entirely (or the screw and carriage would lock up). The weight of the equipment will increase the rotational work of the screw, but as long as the carriage can move at all, it won't affect the backlash as you will still have to take up the slack every time you change direction. Hope that helps!
@@AllanWallsPhotography Thank you for taking the time to give this extensive explaination. Much appreciated.
one question: who r the 4 ppl who disliked this video :D please let us know if u've seen anything better. a 1hr video where u dont fall asleep after 10 min . cheers Allan for a wonderful series o7
Thank you! Very kind of you to say so!
Oh, what about software? It would be great if you make a video about what do you use and how do you put together all those photographies, into a final composite image.
Hi João, I have many videos on using Lightroom, Photoshop, and a number of different stacking programs - about 20 of them! Look through the videos on my channel listing and you will find what you are looking for.
@@AllanWallsPhotography oh, I'm really sorry, I'm just new to your channel.
Can I use the Nikon CFI plan 10x achromat infinity objective on my canon setup?
As usual, a detailed, interesting and engrossing presentation. Sir, how image circle and sensor sizes are related? Image should form on any size of sensor like a rectangle. Most pixels are anyway dumped. So, how does a ff camera better than a crop-sensor or a mft?
Thanks, Vageeshbabu! The image circle is a function of the lens arrangement and the extension between the sensor and lens optics. With some microscope objective/ tube lens combinations (especially high magnification with a long infinity space), the image circle will be of insufficient diameter to cover a full frame sensor, causing a vignette to form. In such cases, I will use a camera body with an APS-C or MFT sensor to ensure coverage. However, I prefer to use a FF camera, when feasible, because of the larger photosites, better light-gathering capabilities, and improved performance at higher ISO (as compared to smaller sensors of the same pixel count).
Hello Allan. I just started learning extra macro. Recently I was given the following lenses: JENA 20 - 0.40 (62 1 066), Progress plant (emblem like a smile) St. Petersburg 3.7 - 0.11 (33047) (new), BAUSCH & LOMB rochester, NY USA 22, 7mm 0.17 6X, LOOMP (ЛООМП ОИ-13 A-1.2) OI-13 A-1.2, and no name, similar to LAIOWA, adjustable distance(?) from 0.16-1.4. Is there anything that will be useful in mastering this science? I hope to become a leader in macro photography by my 100th anniversary. Thank you. (Google Transletter)
55:37 a theory about that, I hope it isn't a total nonsense. The focal length of the objectives is not exact it is approximated. For example, if you shoot something, with the same camera, with two different objectives, at the same focal length, like the 70-200mm f/2.8 from Canon and from Tamron, you will see that the angles of view are slightly different, so, focal lengths are also slightly different. Couldn't that be one of the problems, if the objective used wouldn't be have 200mm of focal length, but 190mm or 210mm instead?
I'm really annoying, I know, but I sorry, I'm loving your videos they are unique on TH-cam, no ones can even compare to them, at least for those I know. Anyway, maybe I understood some thing wrong but there was some thing about flash batteries that didn't make much sense to me. You cant pause the sequence of shoots so if your batteries die, you have to start all again, but you can change them?! How do you do that? With the intervals you said I think it is impossible.
OH, by the way, about batteries, do you use thumb batteries to the camera also to prevent the same problem?
You are not annoying and I'm happy to help! Unfortunately, there is no way to pause the StackShot rail. So if I start missing flash firings, I need to stop and start over. That's what makes it frustrating. I am going to replace my speedlights with units that can be powered from a wall outlet. Batteries can be very unreliable (and they are very expensive!).
Hi Allan, have you tried cloth tape for reducing internal reflection? It works well for me. :)
Hi Willy, I have used a self adhesive flocking material, but it has been shedding fibers recently - I usually use a more permanent spray-on flocking so I will be replacing the adhesive material soon. Is there a specific brand that you have had good luck with?
Another terrifically helpful video. Thanks so much for doing these. On internal reflections I used to use flocking paper from optical supply companies in my lab. Have you tried it? If so do you prefer using velvet? Also we did a lot of calculations to determine veiling glare so we could assess the degree of internal reflections and assess the flocking effectiveness. Would that be going too far here?
Hi Robin - nothing is too far for this channel! I am not familiar with the calculations you speak of, but I'll be reading up on it tonight. I have used commercial flocking material, but I have a huge sheet of very fine velvet that I bought for something else, and I'm very cheap - so I just use that. Do you think the paper is more effective, or just easier to work with?
Allan Walls Photography The paper is made for optical systems and in theory doesn’t shed fibers. Velvet is wonderfully non reflective but it does tend to shed a little. Maybe not an issue in the build your describing but it was a show stopper for us in the medical devices we were building.
When I was researching infinity microscope objectives and tube lenses after Part one
I came across metallurgical infinity objectives. Will they work for photography and how are they different from the Plan, Achromat and Apochromats?
Christopher Moore , I believe that you are seeing bright field/dark field vs metallurgical. Bright field is what you saw in high school biology class where you put a specimen on a glass slide with sandwiched between the slide and a small cover slide and light was passed through the specimen from below up through the objective. Dark field is a bit more difficult to explain but the light comes from the side or above or any angle in between and the objective only collects scattered (reflected) light from the specimen. BD objectives are designed to work with both where M (metallurgical) objectives are only dark field. M objectives are designed to take in reflected light and minimize glare. Additionally bright field objectives need to compensate for additional refractive elements in the optical path namely the cover slide. While both BD and M objectives will work you should consider wether you want to capture bright field images or not as you will be trading that capability for a slightly less glarey dark field image with the M objective. I ran into glare issues at work with BD objectives on a 20-2000x keyance video microscope trying to image a cross section of a piece of laminated plastic (studying the layer structure). The final images were starched to cover the whole part at a magnification of around 350x and processed in matlab to recognize the individual lamina to check their actual position vs desired position in the laminate. Each layer is around 40microns thick. Switching to a M objective really helped with the glare in my particular case but at a price as 200-2000x objectives are $$$$$$$ (the microscope has 20-200 and 200-2000 objectives)
Andrew H Wow😲. What a thorough answer! Thanks so much. 👍. Very helpful information. I didn’t know that M objectives were designed for dark field purposes. 🤔
Pythagoras theorem, the best friend to those who want to know diagonal length of his camera sensor.
Hi again Allan. Question for you, if you don't mind.... are there job/career options for people doing this kind of work? Beyond being an independent photographer or artist? Many thanks.
Hi Alex, That is a really interesting question. The short answer is yes, but the full answer contains a bunch of caveats. I am actually going to answer your question in an upcoming "Viewer Questions" video - there is too much to cover in this format. If you still have questions, please email me at contact@allanwallsphotography.com and I will be glad to help.
I know that, you wouldn't be able to use the laser technique, but about the mirror movement problem, mirroreless cameras are a good alternative, or not?
With mirrorless cameras you can also use electronic shuttering that, I suppose, would be also preferable, because there's shutter to make movements.
Yes they are - many macro photographers love mirrorless. I do not have any mirrorless cameras, yet, but I am currently looking at a Fujifilm camera - so ,maybe soon!
I think the scene at 38:29 should be in the 'gag' or 'blooper' reel at the back of the video!! :-()
cAN YOU PLEASE MAKE A DETAILED VIDEO ON USING 5x OBJECTIVE ON THE 70-200 LENS ??
th-cam.com/video/SCtmMYpv6go/w-d-xo.html was that quick enough?
@@AllanWallsPhotography thank youuuuu
Ty
Subscribed!
Wow, your subscriber count is really growing !
Hi Lysander - it sure is! I am delighted!
Do you think you could show how to use flashes off wallpower (with that port you mentioned in the video)? I have problems with my flash not firing at the same strength with each photo, and I've heard that wallpower eliminates that issue.
Hi David, unfortunately, the two speedlights that I had with that capability are both broken and I am back to using battery power again. Are you using matching speedlights and are you using the same brand of batteries? - both of those issues can result in inconsistent power output. I am planning to replace my speedlights soon, and when I do I will make a video showing how to set up the system.
@@AllanWallsPhotography I only have one flash at the moment, but it seems to have the port where you can connect it to a cable for wallpower. I'll see if I can figure it out, thanks :)
@@rommme Sometimes the ports on speedlights are just for battery packs. The ones that use wall power usually sell the power adapters separately. Tel what brand and model and I'll get to the bottom of it for you.
Ok, thanks! It's a Godox TT600 that I use with my Nikon D3400.
@@rommme The TT600 has a DC charging port on the front of the unit, but this is only intended for charging the recommended Ni-MH cells that are recommended. However, the port is not mentioned anywhere in the owner's documentation and the cord with its proprietary three pin plug is not listed as an available accessory. Strange, but the bottom line is that these flashes will not operate on wall power. I'll do some digging to find out which ones can run with a wall adapter.
Shooting with Sony you need to turn off the in body stabilization or you will have problems. Going to change my tube length for my 4x. So 150 from sensor to the end of the tube?
Yes, Pete - sorry for the confusion. It shouldn't make much difference, but noticeable. And definitely no IBIS!
@@AllanWallsPhotography
Below are my tube length calculations
Lens is the 4X Plan Objective you use.
10mm Lens/adapter
110mm Main Tube
1 or 2mm M42 to E-Mount Adapter
10mm + 10mm Extension tubes
18mm Flange to sensor.
Total of 159mm or 160mm
Still not as good as I'd like. So I guess it is now up to my lighting. Helicon Focus was used and provides much better results than Affinity Photo. Going to try using .jpg again. The Helicon Focus eats up RAW and TIFF files. Unlike Affinity Photo. It is snail slow compared to Helicon Focus.
@@onegreenev Hi Pete, I would try that same setup but with only one of the 10mm extension tube sections - that should get you a bit closer. I just crashed my Mac this morning, trying to load a stack of 300 TIFFs (D850 files) into Zerene. I need a bigger machine! I am not crazy about using JPEGs for stacking but I have no other options right now. Computers have gotten a lot more expensive since I bought this one.
@@AllanWallsPhotography Changed setup and removed one of the 10mm. I also received my sonic cleaner. Dang, it worked great. Had a tiny bug that was so covered with dust you could hardly even see the eye. You recommended only a few seconds in the bath, or under a minute and that should do. Yup. Its surprised how quickly it cleaned. Here is a 67 image stack of that bug with the new setup and my 10x Plan instead of the 4x Plan. My flash was triple diffused and I had a small bounce card on the opposite side. Still have not created a paper diffuser tube. I need to do that. Main flash from one side is not good for bugs. I need good soft light covering the whole bug. Think beauty lighting instead of side lighting. Time for setting up the new lighting. Just trying to get a good crisp image first. New lighting should help even more. Not sure what kind of beetle this is. The file is a .png drive.google.com/file/d/1oyX02_HQq5aRTuw_i5y14A_QDjXkqA5D/view?usp=sharing
@@onegreenev Nice work, Pete. I love that US cleaner - it has salvaged countless bugs over the years. Yo are right about the light. The diffusion tube works really well for a soft, minimally directional light that cuts way down on the specularity that spoils so many images. Which objective are you using? It must be a finite 10X of some type. You are getting plenty of sharpness, you just need more light. Keep me posted!
33:52 I know that is not the best solution, but there's always the cropping option.
amazing
Maybe you can put the backslash adjustment to 0, then you have 5 or whatever pictures more on the beginning on the same position what you can then put in the trash.
Hi Dirk, this is my duh-moment for today - it never occurred to me to do that, but of course it makes perfect sense! Thanks!
reversed nikon nikkor 50mm 2.8 is a great lens
i bought these Objective at bolioptics
ill be using these on the fuji xt-3 APS-C
im new so i hope it works for that sensor.
$56.98 Objective Working Distance 17.9mm 10X Infinity Plan Achromatic Objective Nexcope-NE610-Objective-10-A
$39.98 Objective Working Distance 30mm 4X Infinity Plan Achromatic Objective Nexcope-NE620-Objective-4-A
im going to try and put the objective to a RMS Thread for Microscope objective to M42 x1mm Converter (Cone) Adapter.
and then try using in camera fuji xt3 focus bracketing this mimic like using a focus rail, it can adjust the focus real fast
it takes picture and adjust focus like 100 pic in seconds, if that dont work ill use the zoom to mimic focus on the camera in movie mode
then use Helicon Focus 7 for stacking the video images, it can import video, if i get to much shake there is online uploads
for Stabilize Shaky Videos, just upload then download, for the inner tube for being to glossy messing with the image quality
ill be using a high heat flat black spray paint, made for like for fire places and grills
Sounds like a plan. Your camera will work fine with this setup, the X-T3 has an awesome sensor. I think you might run into difficulties using the focus bracketing feature, though. Generally the step lengths are going to be very much shorter than the camera can handle, especially at 10X and above. I tried some 1:1 stacks with the D850, and it was a non-starter. But let us know how it goes, the Fuji may be able to manage it. Good luck!
@@AllanWallsPhotography still waiting on my objective but i did a test on the raynox 250 with fuji xt--3 focus bracking and it can handle mm pretty well, not sure if i can post a image but ill try, go zoom fullscreen i.imgur.com/NqKMIca.jpg fuji focus bracking 100 images in about 10 seconds i think i could of used less and used focus peaking and when using peaking you move the focus ring and it magnify BIG right in on the object, dont you have fuji xt-2 i think you can do the same, the image is a calibrated box with a tad over 1 inch needle each mark next to the needle i think is 1 mm then used helicon focus with fuji lens 16-80mm and raynox 250 in front of it..
the needle is straight up and down and the calibrated box has a slight angle. box was bought on amazon really cheap.i know the image makes the mm marks look big but there so small i all most cant count them with my glasses on, there very tiny and close to each other. the hole in the sewing needle is like 4 mm super small,
if your camera has focus bracking your going to get rid of that focus rail.
@@A-Eye--A I retract my earlier comment - you nailed it on that test shot. I am really impressed. I will be very interested to see how it performs at a smaller scale. Using a 10x microscope objective and a step length of 10um, you will need to compress those 100 images into the width of the needle in the shot. Please let me know how it goes.
If you could get access to Vantablack
I've heard of Vantablack paint - is that the same thing? Where do you get the stuff?
@@AllanWallsPhotography I got the spelling wrong. Vanta being the acronym for Vertically Aligned Nanotube Arrays. I don't think its commercially available. There is Black 3.0 paint which is close (99% vs 99.96% light absorption).
Vanta black video: th-cam.com/video/fg2x0L4YAuU/w-d-xo.html
Black 3.0 available at: www.culturehustleusa.com/products/black-3-0-the-worlds-blackest-black-acrylic-paint-150ml
📌📌📌📌👌👌👌👌
Alan, I believe you should stop using the mirror lockup feature. It makes everything only more complicated and takes time. Normally, the mirror lockup has benefits in the 1/10s range. You are shooting at around 1/20,000s (at 1/256 power). Excellent work otherwise!
If you want a precise xyz-table at low cost you can butcher a microscope.
Absolutely. But these days a good microscope stage and a fine focus mechanism do not come cheap. I have nearly completed my DIY table after finally finding an ideal Nikon scope to break down. Thanks!
Allan Walls Photography Hello Allan, I am glad that you read my comments. I have a very particular question and I do not know anybody who had the knowledge to answer it. Let me explain: I am a dedicated hog hunter and I use a night vision device attached to my daylight scope. The scope is really high end and collects a lot of light and make a decent night vision device out of my cheap Budget gadget. So far so good.
My problem is the eye relief. I use a silencer but still the riffle has some decent amount of recoil. Now, every time I take a shot, I risk to get bitten by the scope.
The eye relief of my setup is only 12mm. Normally I have a 90mm eye relief. I do not need 90mm but 50mm would be good.
With my scope I can magnify between 4x and 20x. I usually use 8x to 10x.
My idea was to put a 0.5x Barlow lens in front of the eye piece. That should result in an increased eye relief. Is that correct. And if so how can I know at what distance to put the lens. And is a Barlow lens the right choice? Can I guesstimate at which magnification factor I get an eye relief of about 50mm?
Thanks for your beautiful and instructive videos. I am not into photography but after chasing down that rabbit hole I was tempted to dismantle my Zeiss Microscope to take some pictures of really tiny stuff 🙈
@@flugschulerfluglehrer Fascinating question! This is not an area in which I have any expertise, or experience, for that matter. But I know someone who may be able to help. The Barlow lens is designed to increase working distance in microscopy. Attaching it to the ocular of your scope could conceivable work, but it seems that your target will now appear to be a great deal further away. I will try to get a better answer for you. Send me an email address (to contact@allanwallsphotography.com) and I will respond when I get more information. Thanks!