I have an application where I potentially need to shoot approx 2~3x lifesize with an Canon 5DMk2 and the MPE65 lens (which I am about to buy). Is there any way of setting the camera to fire as the subject comes into focus with this lens (I cannot tether the camera)?

A couple of years ago I bought a Leitz 50mm f/2.8 Photar which has an odd thread fitting (M40 x 0.75). However, I got an adapter made which effectively converts this to a Leica R fitting lens when screwed into part of a Leica extension tube set (which can in turn be fitted onto various camera system...

Here's another one- from today - in rather higher contrast conditions. Wind IS a problem but results are still surprisingly good - stacked in Zyrene.

I'll post some pix of my revised set up in due course. It has only one custom built part and the bellows is actually a cut down section from a slide copying extension but a bag bellows would be handy! The camera body is on a Thorlabs stage with a micrometer drive. Lens is the OM 28/3.5 removed from ...

Following on from: http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4864 and http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4879&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 I have refined my set up and am again trying to produce 'infinite depth of field' stacks in the field. Here's an attempt to us...

Mitch One reason that I use an intermediate PSD is that I never sharpen it. So I know at a glance that this file is in an unsharpened state whilst my TIFF files are sharpened 'for output requirements'. The PSD is also retained as a '16-bit' file so my workflow is essentially: RAW > 'Optimised RAW (w...

JPG's simply do not hold the information a RAW does. Absolutely! I see my own workflow as a two part process. Optimisation of the RAW file, followed by output and final adjustment to an appropriate size and file format (for the specific requirement that I need the file for). Sometimes, if the outpu...

Many thanks for the info - It will be very useful as the main upright is very solid and offers good XYZ movement. Just needs a bit of tlc!

I recently bought this item for a few £ off ebay as it was local pick up. It was wrongly described as a Reichert Enlarger and i suspected that it would offer a useful XYZ movement which it does and which is why it was worth buying. It is very incomplete but beautifully made and I wondered if anyone ...

Thanks Andrew - useful links

I recently bought a simple rail of this seller and I can say that it certainly does the job and was substantially cheaper than a similar rail from RRS, Kirk, etc. It seems well made, the finish is slightly glossier than RRS but what I most liked was that the slots were long and give more versatility...

Well oddly enough this doesn't look dis-similar:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Leitz-Lei ... 19c2f4a353

Its not the precise colours I was commenting on, but their placement. Usually the greens are behind the focus point and the purple/magenta in front. Chris, It's an interesting observation, and it's a thing to be tested more carefull. Perhaps the deep blues aren't LoCA but just halos in high contras...

Many thanks Rik I'm only just starting to try to get to grips with stacking software (running trial copies) but I shot another trial image and tried it in Zerene with substantially better results. I can see spending a lot of time trying to sort this out as I have applications for this type of image ...

Thanks for all your comments. I've now tried stacking in Zerene (the previous stack was in Helicon) and edges are, whilst not perfect, at least substantially better and it may be that Zerene is the software which I will go with for such stacks. I think that the 'mush' I referred to is contamination ...