Soft Focus Photo Question

Bill D · Post by **Bill D** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:28 pm

I have been experimenting with taking photos through my microscope eyepiece. Here is my latest. It is a photo of a prepared slide of a housefly leg. I was using the 10x objective and my 10x eyepiece. My point of focus with the microscope was the hair follicles, one is circled in red. Any tips I can work on to improve my sharpness? Taken with Rebel XT, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro, on a tripod. I used a remote shutter release. Exposure was f2.8 for 1/6 sec. Lens was set to focus infinity. ISO 100. To my eye, those hair follicles were very sharp in the microscope eyepiece.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:17 pm

This post crys out for Charlie Krebs. If anyone knows sharpness it is Charlie. You probably would have sharper images if you use a flash but Charlie is the expert on that. By the way, nice photo!

Bill D · Post by **Bill D** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:41 pm

Thanks Ken for the advice...But how do I get my flash meter down there, in between the coverslip and the objective? LOL Just kidding!

Ib Mathiasen · Post by **Ib Mathiasen** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:12 pm

The funktion "mirror lockup" might help, if you dont use i alredy

But to me the picture look´s alrady pritty sharp - but i have no experience with microscopy - only x5 macro - and here i often use "mirror lockup" - if et helps to get sharp picture ? - somtimes !!

Bill D · Post by **Bill D** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:55 pm

AAHHH! Mirror slap! I did not even think of that. I was shooting at 1/6 of a second, with a tripod, and remote shutter release, so movement didn't occur to me. But, at these magnifications, mirror slap could be a possibility. You are a genius Ib! I'll lock the mirror up next time and see if that helps. Thanks

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:28 am

Bill... not bad at all. As Ib mentioned, camera vibration can be a huge factor with SLR's. You can avoid the mirror induced vibration with the "lock-up". The shutter itself also deserves attention. A solid tripod or stand is essential. If possible, it can sometimes help to use either fairly long shutter speeds (1-3 seconds.., the shutter vibrations damps out quickly, so the bulk of the exposure is "dead calm") or very short shutter speeds 1/250 or faster.

At the microscope end it is very important to adjust the condenser diaphram properly. If you don't close it down enough, contrast can be poor. If you close it down too much, contrast goes up, but your resolution takes a nose-dive quickly.

My experience is that things always do look a little "sharper" through the eyepiece.

Bill D · Post by **Bill D** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:33 am

Charles- All good information! This gives me a direction to work toward. Thank you for the words of encouragement.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 9:00 pm

Bill,

I notice at the right side of the picture, the top hair, about 1/10 of the way across the image is very clear. For the second hair, the sharpest part is right at the edge of the image. For the hair you have circled, there seem to be two sharp sections, the lower one close to but not quite at the base.

I wonder if your focus might be off just a bit. Especially at lower magnifications, it's easy for eyes and camera to disagree slightly about what's in sharpest focus.

I suggest to shoot a finely spaced series as a test. Start definitely too low and sweep through definitely too high, using the slightest tweak to focusing that you can manage. Record the frame when your eye thinks the focus is best, and you should be able to detect any mismatch.

--Rik

Bill D · Post by **Bill D** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:45 am

Rik- That is a very real possiblity. I thought the hairs, extending upwards, did come into focus. But, I was wishing hard for something to be in focus, so I discounted it! I would guess, I have a number of issues I must address in order to get a sharper, in focus image. I would bet all of the suggestions above will contribute to helping me! Thanks for the observations.