Simple setup with bridge camera.
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Simple setup with bridge camera.
Santa was nice to me and gave me a Powershot SX50 at Christmas.
I have tested it with Raynox DCR250 and MSN202 and want to share the result and maybe get some feedback regarding improvements.
Setup:
Canon Powershot SX50
CHDK software in camera
Home made focus bracketing script
Home made diffuser
ZS PMax for stacking
NO rail, tripod or external flash needed ...
Facts with the DCR250:
- Working distance: 110-125 mm
- Object filling frame: 5,5-77 mm
- Possible DOF: 10-110 mm
Facts with the MSN202:
- Working distance: 30-35 mm
- Object filling frame: 2-18 mm
- Possible DOF: 1,5-7 mm
Some stacks (no pre/post-processing or retouching):
DCR250 : Stack with 12 images
DCR250 at max zoom (50x) : Stack with 27 images
MSN202 : Stack with 53 images
MSN202 headshot (needed to stack two stacks to get sufficient DOF): Stack with 59+37 images
MSN202 at max zoom (50x) : Stack with 43 images
Conclusions:
- I need better light with MSN202 due to the short working distance.
- Very soft at full zoom. Diffraction ?
Any improvements I can do without complicating the set up ?
BR
Leif
I have tested it with Raynox DCR250 and MSN202 and want to share the result and maybe get some feedback regarding improvements.
Setup:
Canon Powershot SX50
CHDK software in camera
Home made focus bracketing script
Home made diffuser
ZS PMax for stacking
NO rail, tripod or external flash needed ...
Facts with the DCR250:
- Working distance: 110-125 mm
- Object filling frame: 5,5-77 mm
- Possible DOF: 10-110 mm
Facts with the MSN202:
- Working distance: 30-35 mm
- Object filling frame: 2-18 mm
- Possible DOF: 1,5-7 mm
Some stacks (no pre/post-processing or retouching):
DCR250 : Stack with 12 images
DCR250 at max zoom (50x) : Stack with 27 images
MSN202 : Stack with 53 images
MSN202 headshot (needed to stack two stacks to get sufficient DOF): Stack with 59+37 images
MSN202 at max zoom (50x) : Stack with 43 images
Conclusions:
- I need better light with MSN202 due to the short working distance.
- Very soft at full zoom. Diffraction ?
Any improvements I can do without complicating the set up ?
BR
Leif
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Re: Simple setup with bridge camera.
Aside from better color balance, I don't know how to make big improvements on this without making some major changes in the setup.Any improvements I can do without complicating the set up ?
Your MSN-202 is 40 mm and optimized to be used in the way you're using it, so by specification it's about equal to a 5X infinity-design microscope objective. Swapping in a real 4-5X microscope objective might get you some better sharpness and contrast for smaller subjects, but I can't guarantee that.
The next step up would be to use a 10X objective paired with lower optical zoom on your camera, but vignetting is always a concern there. To investigate that possibility at zero cost, you might play around with putting a mask with a 10 mm hole about 10 mm in front of your lens, mimicking the hole in the back of an objective.
The big thing that strikes my attention is that there's a lot of opportunity for improvement in post-processing. I think if you ran that last image in your first post through a strong sharpening filter, you'd be pretty surprised about how much detail that's currently hidden can be made visible.
Probably not. Diffraction is established by the effective aperture, which in your setup is established entirely by the setting of the camera lens. If the image you're getting through the MSN-202 is significantly less sharp than what you get looking across the street through an open window with the same lens settings, then diffraction is not the cause.- Very soft at full zoom. Diffraction ?
Also, diffraction mainly eats away at fine detail, leaving overall contrast unchanged. What I'm seeing here looks like it's due to other aberrations.
I suggest running a test series at various aperture settings to see what gives the best result.
--Rik
Edit: I see that while I've been typing you posted a followup done with different settings. My earlier suggestions and comments still apply, however.
Agree with Rik, it has more information that can be squeezed out. Skrylten, I hope you don't mind me fiddling with it - 10 minutes with Topaz Detail 3 did quite a nice job with this:
My extreme-macro.co.uk site, a learning site. Your comments and input there would be gratefully appreciated.
Butterfly scales are amazing! There is a Youtube channel called Smarter Every Day with a photography series about this topic, though he uses a microscope to capture pictures that blow my mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjyWg-Lhek. This one really inspired me to try and capture butterfly wings. It's a great subjectskrylten wrote:Thanks for that idea fonakta. Works well with my set up as well.
"Normal stack"
Stack with a 14,5 mm "aperture" in the back of MSN 202.
Yeah, I also have an SX50, I'm sure you're having a great time with that one.moorli wrote:Thanks for posting your setup Leif. I just got an SX50 and I'm hoping to get some shots like yours.fonaktea wrote:Hi, i am working with similar gear, Fuji HS30 + Raynox DCR 250, MSN 505.
I tried a homemade aperture in the MSN 505's back end. It's a single ring from black cartoon paper. Aperture is 20 mm. With this aperture the yoga burn images is sharper and has less chromatic aberration.