Hello all! I am so glad I found this forum. My goal is to create a microscopic image of objects like brush strokes on canvas or wood. I own an older Cannon EOS 20D. I would love to heat some equipment recommendations for a microscope, adapter, lighting etc. as well as some technique tips.
My budget to start out would be $800 to $1000.
Thank you.
Newbie setup for capturing objects like brushstrokes?
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
HI!
What field of view would you want to cover?
Would the subject be a whole painting?
Would you want only perpendicular views, or oblique too?
What lens(es) do you have that fit your Canon - including telephotos?
(Micromosaics would be interesting!)
And - it might sound odd, but how good do you want the qualilty. I mean, is it for prints a mile wide, or only for web display?
What field of view would you want to cover?
Would the subject be a whole painting?
Would you want only perpendicular views, or oblique too?
What lens(es) do you have that fit your Canon - including telephotos?
(Micromosaics would be interesting!)
And - it might sound odd, but how good do you want the qualilty. I mean, is it for prints a mile wide, or only for web display?
There's some stuff here about simply reversing a lens: http://photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11491.
You may well find that the depth of field you get is less than the curvature of the field, because the lenses aren't meant to be used this close. Stacking will largely overcome that, but your camera-holding ability becomes an issue for multiplle shots. If you use a set-up nearer its designed parameters, you should be working with a flatter field which may need only one exposure of a flat subject.
You might consider a "leitz" pattern stand, as mentioned in the middle of this thread;
http://photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=56026.
The stand fixes to a ring on the front of your lens (so would need some simple adapters etc). If you replace the legs with round head (e.g. roofing) bolts with soft layer stuck on, you can carefully hold the arrangement against a painting without damaging it, for a predetermined magnification.
You may well find that the depth of field you get is less than the curvature of the field, because the lenses aren't meant to be used this close. Stacking will largely overcome that, but your camera-holding ability becomes an issue for multiplle shots. If you use a set-up nearer its designed parameters, you should be working with a flatter field which may need only one exposure of a flat subject.
You might consider a "leitz" pattern stand, as mentioned in the middle of this thread;
http://photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=56026.
The stand fixes to a ring on the front of your lens (so would need some simple adapters etc). If you replace the legs with round head (e.g. roofing) bolts with soft layer stuck on, you can carefully hold the arrangement against a painting without damaging it, for a predetermined magnification.
Thank you for the suggestions. So much to learn!
Does a set up like this make sense? The pictures of the set up are towards the bottom.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurythyrea/5292967415/
Does a set up like this make sense? The pictures of the set up are towards the bottom.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurythyrea/5292967415/
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How big is the painting you want to photograph? With the setup shown, which is a standard one for small objects like insects, the vertical upright does not get in the way at all. For taking close up views of a painting, you would be limited to areas near the edge of the painting.tinear10 wrote:Thank you for the suggestions. So much to learn!
Does a set up like this make sense? The pictures of the set up are towards the bottom.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurythyrea/5292967415/
It depends what you are doing, though. If you working for an art gallery and photographing portions of whole paintings in frames, you need a setup that allows close, stable access to any part of a very large object. If you are doing research on paint interactions and you are photographing small pieces of canvas on which you have added different types of paint as tests, you can make the samples a much more convenient size.
Ah! An answer to my question in post one line two!I can use very small sections of canvas.
For something like that you might consider using a bellows-mounted slide copier, if you don't have a macro stand or more elaborate rig.
They have the advantage of a rigid connection between the camera and subject. Something like a 50mm f/2.8 El-nikkor reversed, would be good for about 2 to 4 or 5x magnification in that setup. For more, you can use 4-5x microscope objectives. I wouldn't have thought you'd need 10x, but that would be OK too.