At this resolution, most of the difference between the lenses appears to be contrast. But now I'm thinking perhaps there's some flare from the inside of that tube that's just adding stray light over everything. Inside into the tube there is a matte black paper but there will certainly flare present...

I 've updated the 3 pictures to the Original full version on my Flickr site. Refresch the page also to view the new 800 pixel version here and to the new links on my Flickr web. The Original size are 4288x2848 pixels. I think it is time now to optimize first my exposure now I know what lens is neede...

Setup to test a 200mm DIY tube + the 35mm set at F8 reverse lens on the D300. The intention was to compare the 200mm macro lens with a 200mm tube. Setup: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5497/11853756155_d83e4fc10a_b.jpg Tube_200mm_reverse_52mm by fotoopa , on Flickr Results of the 200mm tube version +...

Today I added 2 flash supports to the setup, used a printout with a 1mm raster to test an AF105/F2.8Dmacro lens + an AIS35/F2.8 reverse lens. This give a macro ration between 3 and 3.75:1 I have used a small diffuser on the flashes. The new setup: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/11804399383_394e1...

It was not my intention to go to more accurately than 1 um. I like to test how it works because I develop a lot. It also seems important to me that I can send 1.5 or 2.5 um as step values. This seems to be good. Considering I do not have super objectieves the steps may be much greater. Today I'm one...

Fine! If I use 16 microsteps then the theoretical microstep will by 0.0625um. I have here the results on the encoder signals A en B with 8 microsteps: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3784/11713232606_8243805245_b.jpg micro_step_timing by fotoopa , on Flickr The times at each encoder step indicate the ...

Thanks Rik! Smaller steps are to be used, my problem is now that I can not measure them accurately considering I do not have the proper objective. Your tests are very informative. I suppose you use microstepping. A very important information would be how many micro steps you use. Micro Steps can als...

My first 5um step test. I use a razor blade with backlight and a macro magnification of approximately 7X to see to see how many pixels displacement there are on the sensor and to see if the steps are equal on the picture. I need to set the steps at 5 um because the macro setup has only 7X magnificat...

The encoder is probably just an incremental quadrature encoder, the home switch just gives a reference point to count away from. Yes Andrew, The encoder use an incremental quadrature encoder + home + home microswitch at the beginning of the slide. This encoder is not required in order to keep the c...

Thanks Yousef! I just put the camera on the lineair stage to start the tests. The controller is ready to drive the unit at any step interval and number of steps. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/11649633474_e83d967206_b.jpg PC309882 by fotoopa , on Flickr I just ordered the Zerene software, ready ...

For purposes of stacking, it is theoretically OK to use the "two-sided" measurement. That would be 7 microns for the Mitutoyo with green light. The calculation is lambda/NA^2, with lambda = 0.550 microns and NA=0.28. But many people use a smaller step to get some overlap. Other people use a larger ...

Hi Chris, Thanks for everything! I have read many of your contributions to the forum here. There is so much detail, I still have a lot to learn. I guess 1 micron is not really necessary for many applications, but more can always set. The intention was to make myself a macro rail, something like Cogn...

Thanks everyone for the welcome!
Most of the functions are already running on the hardware board. New pictures to follow within a few weeks.

Frans.

I am new to this forum but still follow quite some time the different messages. To date, I have a lot of high-speed macro photography done but really wanted something closer working. I've found a nice linear stage, a MT160-250 unit. 1 unit on the scale is 1 um or a full step on the steppermotor. Wit...