Sure, a linear stage with micrometer feed will work fine for this application, or you can repurpose the stage of many microscopes, for example by adding an extension to the stage so that you don't have to take the scope apart, or a Proxxon KT-70 milling table. Study the FAQ on focusing for details ...

Fwiw, in terms of "specimen catching solutions" in the UK, your best bet would be a Robinson trap from ALS . Don't bother with actinic, get MV. Skinners are ok too although Robinsons tend to do better, I believe Watkins and Doncaster do them as well ALS is where I will be going to have a look - I h...

Quick update and of course more questions The adapter rings for the Nikon objective to 62mm (105mm 2.8 Micro) thread have arrived & the 4x Objective is due to arrive within 3 weeks. I will start to organise an studio area for the shot next week. I am hoping to achieve a vibration free zone and I hav...

Either way, using the 4X will be notably less sharp than what you'd get by pushing a 10X down to say 5X. That's just because of aperture. Pushing the 4X NA 0.1 up to 5X will get you roughly f/25 effective, while pushing the 10X NA 0.25 down to 5X will get you f/10. See again the sample images HERE ...

Many thanks Craig & Rik for the time and effort you are both applying to this and the images Craig posted are a great help. Much has been clarified by you both in the past 3 or 4 posts over the last 12 hours or so. The learning curve has been steep but here is where I am at:- I plunged in earlier to...

At 4X, it is unlikely the Raynox 202 will deliver the resolution you seek. I've just had a look using a Canon 50D (22.3 x 14.9) with a Canon Macro 100/2.8 L and a Raynox 202 attached; FOV = 5.5mm. It's not a configuration I would normally use; but this thread gave me a good excuse to setup and have...

With my Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, focus range is about 3 mm with the lens from infinity to 1 meter, and another 3 mm from 1 meter to 0.5 meter. You can probably push that farther and still retain good image quality. So can I infer from the above that if focus stacking I would have around 6-8m...

One reason I ask is that very sharp images in the 2-10X range can be created pretty easily by using certain microscope objectives in front of ordinary lenses having focal length 100 to 200 mm. This can give you the resolution of a microscope with more the flavor of a macro setup. See for example AF...

In response to Rik Exactly what is it that you currently have? Please tell us about all your lenses, not just the ones you think are good for macro. Body = Nikon D5100, lenses I own, AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 G ED, AF-S Nikkor 17-55mm 1:2.8 G ED, AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.4 G & Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 ...

In response to Harold Depending on the species, some may even be visible at 1:1 but you probably need 3 or 4 :1 to see any detail on the scales. Yes I agree - discussions in another forum on this site have led me to believe I need at the very least 2.5:1 but probably 3:1 and the option of going 4:1 ...

Thank you very much for posting the images - it has helped a lot and I think I will need to acquire at least a 2:1 ration or 3:1 ratio to get the image composition and detail I am looking for. The resolution of the sensor will be important as you rightly point out and I will have to make a call on t...

There are two basic things you need to resolve individual scales - well, three actually. The first is to ensure your specimen has nice, large scales. Lycaenidae and Hesperiidae tend to have small scales. Some moths, Papilionidae and so on tends to have larger scales. This obviously is a factor. Tha...

I am hoping to capture the scales on the wings of lepidoptera - I am not looking for the (albeit wonderful) high magnification shots taken using a microscope as seen throughout these forums but for a macro equipment solution if at all possible. I am hoping that the image will be seen within context ...

Hi and thank you for posting such a great set of comparable images and could you answer a couple of questions for me. 1) I was wondering what your equipment set up was to get this set - especially with regards to the 4x shot of the swallowtail section? 2) Do you (or anyone else reading this) have an...

Hello and it feels really good to finally track down a well managed and truly specialist forum where I can feed off your combined knowledge as I delve into photomicrography. I have a personal art based photographic project which I intend to exhibit sometime next year here at www.windmillart.co.uk (a...