How about third-party tubes? These from Kenko claim to provide diaphragm and meter coupling, though they are explicit that you have to focus manually and that "Nikon 'D' information is not transmitted because the lens is focusing closer than its programmed to focus".DaveW wrote:Nikon's extension tubes (and bellows) are still in the "Stone Age" in that they have no electronic contacts at all.
That's a good question, and one that I won't answer at the moment.georgedingwall wrote:What would you suggest would be a good X10 lens for me to get?
I've used mostly a Nikon 4X, the aus Jena 3.2X and 10X that came with my microscope, and an Edmund Optics 20X, most of them just basic achromats. These all work OK as macro lenses. They have some curvature of field, but that's no problem with extended DOF. They also have some visible CA that's removable with PTlens, and they get soft around the edges.
The reason I'm hesitant to recommend is that some objectives have large amounts of lateral chromatic aberration (LCA) designed into them and are intended for use only with matching eyepieces that have compensating negative LCA. The matched pair works great, but the objective by itself can be awful. See figure 17 and associated discussion in this article by Ted Clarke. Based on that article, I'd be inclined to avoid LOMO and Zeiss kpl lenses. But as I understand it, my "aus Jena" microscope is essentially East German Zeiss, so apparently just "Zeiss" is not a good indicator. Anyway, at the moment I'm aware that there's an issue and I don't know enough to feel comfortable making recommendations. Maybe it's a good time to ask my friends in the Yahoo Microscope group for some info/guidance.
--Rik