3D printing hoods for microscope objectives

[daemonoropsis]

Hi All

I do photography very on/off and in my latest on-period I have been redesigning this setup ( http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=20278 ) to use LED lighting instead of flash.

In the process I have found that making a small paper lens hood has helped me combat some flare that I was getting in my test shots.

My DYI paperpcraft skills are less then ideal and my little hood is very imprecise and I would like to make something a bit better.
I have some working knowledge in 3D drawing (Im a trained architect even though my dayjob is as a GIS administrator so I used to work with AutoCAD/3DMAX etc when I was in school) and I have been wondering if it would be possible to simply 3D print hoods for my microscope objectives. I would like to try it out and I have been thinking about a simple hood looking something like this:



But I have absolutely no idea how to calculate the size of the hole in the hood. I am currently using 10x and 20x mitutoyo objectives which have front elements 28,2mm and 29,2mm wide. Does anyone here know how small a hole it would be possible to get away with for these objectives. I have been using paper cutouts which are hard to place on the exact center of the lens so it's almost impossible for me to figure out how small I can go before it starts to vignette on a FF camera.

Has anyone tried anything similar or know how to calculate it?

On a sidenote I have seen a few 3d printing designs for jansjo base plates that might make it easier for those of us who would like to get rid of the big black disc thing that comes with the jansjos

http://www.shapeways.com/model/704617/i ... terialId=6

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2014/04/jans ... acket.html

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ikea- ... wall-mount

I might end up designing something like these for that will fit my thorlabs breadboard.

Morten

oh, and here's one of my first succesfull stacks with my LED setup:

The business end by Ectemnius, on Flickr

Edit: Just retouched this as well:
Earwig by Ectemnius, on Flickr

[RogelioMoreno]

Morten,

I can not help with the size of the hole; but you are getting excellent results.

Rogelio

[TheLostVertex]

Do you know the accuracy of the 3d printer you will be using? Perhaps it would be possible to make a completely new hood that incorporates the diffuser into it. if that is not possible maybe a slip that is design to fit over the objective as its attachment method. You should be able to get most sizing information to a reasonable degree with a good pair of calipers.

[ChrisR]

Really nice lighting!

I'd decide how far from the objective I need my hood, and draw...


You know the Working Distances of the objectives, and the glass diameter you measured.
For the subject circle (blue) :
Your sensor at 24 x 36 has a diameter about 43.3mm, so the most you'll be able to see with M as magnification used, will be
43.3/M .
Those objectives' image circles are barely big enough anyway for full frame, at their marked magnifications. You'll have some tolerance by sliding the hood.

As long as you're clear of the light "frustum", I think that's it. I don't believe stray incoming light is a big problem with those particular objectives.

[daemonoropsis]

Do you know the accuracy of the 3d printer you will be using? Perhaps it would be possible to make a completely new hood that incorporates the diffuser into it. if that is not possible maybe a slip that is design to fit over the objective as its attachment method. You should be able to get most sizing information to a reasonable degree with a good pair of calipers.

No not yet, I doubt I can justify buying my own printer so I will be using some sort of printing service or maybe find someone in my local photography circle that has one.

Yes I've been thinking the exact same thing, I have an idea how I could make a kind of diffuser. Shapeways seem to print some reasonably diffuse materials that might work.

I will have to dust of my 3d drawing skills. I haven't got much practice in the last few years but I'm kind of hooked on this idea now

[daemonoropsis]

Morten,

I can not help with the size of the hole; but you are getting excellent results.

Rogelio

Thanks

[daemonoropsis]

Really nice lighting!

I'd decide how far from the objective I need my hood, and draw...


You know the Working Distances of the objectives, and the glass diameter you measured.
For the subject circle (blue) :
Your sensor at 24 x 36 has a diameter about 43.3mm, so the most you'll be able to see with M as magnification used, will be
43.3/M .
Those objectives' image circles are barely big enough anyway for full frame, at their marked magnifications. You'll have some tolerance by sliding the hood.

As long as you're clear of the light "frustum", I think that's it. I don't believe stray incoming light is a big problem with those particular objectives.

Awesome explanation. I think that was just the way of thinking that I needed to work it out

I will see if I can't do some sketching this evening. Then I just have to learn how to design specifically for 3d printers

[rjlittlefield]

daemonoropsis, the image is excellent! An earwig with mites?

ChrisR, that's a beautiful explanation and diagram. It is far more clear than what I was thinking to post before I saw yours.

--Rik

[ckatosmith]

This is a very tangential, but may prove useful, reply:

I own a FLIR E4 camera which has proved popular enough to inspire 3D printed parts/accessories. So I have bookmarked the 'super useful FLIR E4 thread' for future reference. If you cruise through the thread, you may find useful information on 3D printing companies (a Super Contributer was really impressed with Lunevalley3D, for example), and examples of shared 3D printing projects. You might even find a name to correspond with. These guys are uber engineers and seem to really know their stl files stuff, plastics, how to produce what they envision (see Georges80).

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/fl ... thread/30/

Also, there may be a 3D printer service not too far from you that allows the Public to walk in with their stl files to print stuff out. The below link, for example, is a place in Seattle, WA that encourages the public to use their facilities.

http://www.metrixcreatespace.com/#makesomethingawesome

I am not 3D savvy in the least, but I do enjoy technology! I was really excited to receive my first 3D printed part in the mail, a tripod adapter for my FLIR camera, only to be disappointed by the one I ordered from Shapeways, poor fit. Whether this was due to poor design, poor execution, poor plastic, poor tolerances of manufacturing, dunno, but it just didn't fit well enough to do the job imo.

Edited to ask: IS that an earwig? Fantastic photo. They are one of the few creatures in my garden (or when they intrude into the house) that make me cringe. I stomp on them vigorously and have hesitated to do a stack on one with my current revulsion. However, I saw a photo of one (I think it was an earwig in a video by Michael Erlewine) last night where the guy actually looked a bit gallant with his head cocked to the side... it looked a bit like he had suited up in thoracic armor... and now your amazing photo.

If this is an earwig, perhaps I'll try and lay aside my revulsion and do a stack...

Hope you find the links inspiring and helpful. Carolina

[daemonoropsis]

daemonoropsis, the image is excellent! An earwig with mites?

ChrisR, that's a beautiful explanation and diagram. It is far more clear than what I was thinking to post before I saw yours.

--Rik

Yep, its an earwig alright. They seem to be extremely common in the area I have moved to. I'm constantly jumping to avoid stepping on them when I'm out running.

I was surprised to see parasites on both the claw at the back and jsut behind the neck.

by the way, sorry for posting images in this thread. They should have been in the gallery part of the forum. I was just excited to finally have sometihng useful from LEDs only.

[daemonoropsis]

This is a very tangential, but may prove useful, reply:

I own a FLIR E4 camera which has proved popular enough to inspire 3D printed parts/accessories. So I have bookmarked the 'super useful FLIR E4 thread' for future reference. If you cruise through the thread, you may find useful information on 3D printing companies (a Super Contributer was really impressed with Lunevalley3D, for example), and examples of shared 3D printing projects. You might even find a name to correspond with. These guys are uber engineers and seem to really know their stl files stuff, plastics, how to produce what they envision (see Georges80).

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/fl ... thread/30/

Also, there may be a 3D printer service not too far from you that allows the Public to walk in with their stl files to print stuff out. The below link, for example, is a place in Seattle, WA that encourages the public to use their facilities.

http://www.metrixcreatespace.com/#makesomethingawesome

I am not 3D savvy in the least, but I do enjoy technology! I was really excited to receive my first 3D printed part in the mail, a tripod adapter for my FLIR camera, only to be disappointed by the one I ordered from Shapeways, poor fit. Whether this was due to poor design, poor execution, poor plastic, poor tolerances of manufacturing, dunno, but it just didn't fit well enough to do the job imo.

Edited to ask: IS that an earwig? Fantastic photo. They are one of the few creatures in my garden (or when they intrude into the house) that make me cringe. I stomp on them vigorously and have hesitated to do a stack on one with my current revulsion. However, I saw a photo of one (I think it was an earwig in a video by Michael Erlewine) last night where the guy actually looked a bit gallant with his head cocked to the side... it looked a bit like he had suited up in thoracic armor... and now your amazing photo.

If this is an earwig, perhaps I'll try and lay aside my revulsion and do a stack...

Hope you find the links inspiring and helpful. Carolina

Thanks for the links, I will definately have a look at them. I don't have an awful lot of experience with 3D printing my self yet but I have bought a few things of shapeways and so far I haven't been disappointed. But everything I have ordered came from their print shop in holland as it's the closest to me, maybe that makes a difference or the design itself. Sorry to hear you had problems.

Yes it is a earwig, I have one more stack of the interlocking plates just before the claw that I haven't had time to process yet but earwigs are definately one of my favorite bugs, they are very much worth stacking. The parasites were a bonus

Morten