More 50/2.8 El Nikkor tests

A forum to ask questions, post setups, and generally discuss anything having to do with photomacrography and photomicroscopy.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

More 50/2.8 El Nikkor tests

Post by NikonUser »

Black Swallowtail Butterfly. This is the hind wing of the NA Papilio astyanax.

Original sequence for the middle and bottom images: Reversed 50/2.8 El Nikkor @ f/5.6. 76 frames @0.02mm, HF stack; 3.8x mag on sensor.

Top image is for orientation (not a photograph but an image from a flatbed scanner -a lot quicker than taking a photo)

Middle image: every 5th frame, i.e., 16 frames @ 0.10mm; full frame

Bottom image: 800 px selection (i.e., actual pixels) from the full frame.
Image
Image
Image

At 0.20mm spacing I could see OOF bands, but at 0.10mm spacing I could see no difference from the 0.02mm spacing.

I am amazed at the resolving power of the reversed 50/2.8 El Nikkor enlarger lens. The black pupil eyespot is about 2mm diam.
These lenses can be purchased on E-bay, often for just a few $$. I paid $12.00 for mine. Although they are said to work best at from about 5-10x magnification they produce good images at lower mag.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Charles Krebs
Posts: 5865
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
Location: Issaquah, WA USA
Contact:

Post by Charles Krebs »

It's great isn't it!

While many of us enjoy coming up with elaborate setups, when you get right down to it (if you have a camera already) you can set yourself up to take these types of pictures for a very modest investment.

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

I have some expensive Nikon Micro's but this lens is so much easier to use, assuming one has a bellows (and again these can be found on e-bay for a lot less than current retail prices).
It was your comments about this 50/2.8 lens on macrophotography.net that I purchased this lens; so heartfelt thanks.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Re: More 50/2.8 El Nikkor tests

Post by rjlittlefield »

NikonUser wrote:Although they are said to work best at from about 5-10x magnification they produce good images at lower mag.
The lenses are optimized for use at 5-10X, but remember that's covering a 24x36mm field on the "back" side of the lens. Reversed, as shown in your example, the lens is only having to cover about 7x10 mm. Most degradations appear in the periphery of the field, which is way outside the sensor in your case. In addition you're stacking, so curvature of field is not a factor. You're probably getting some spherical aberration, but that mostly manifests as a loss of contrast for fine detail, which can be compensated by USM.

All this merely explains "why" the lens does so well. The fact that it does speaks for itself. An amazing tool for $12.

--Rik

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Post by NikonUser »

Thanks Rik, makes sense. I was remembering some info in Holden, J. 1987. Real Photography 2, Close-up Control. The Crowood Press. I had failed to appreciate that he was refering to enlarging 35mm film for prints. BTW, lots of useful info. in this book.

EDIT Dec 1 08: There's a 50/2.8 El Nikkor currently on e-bay that looks absolutely in mint condition for $9.99 :shock: ;
but there are still 4 days to go.
SEE HERE
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic