my first post

Just bought that first macro lens? Post here to get helpful feedback and answers to any questions you might have.

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Janak Choudhary
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:08 am
Location: Jagadhri,Haryana,India

my first post

Post by Janak Choudhary »

Posting here for the first time , would like to acknowledge what i gained from this forum. Thanx a lot this forum n all the Admins for providing in-depth knowledge of the subject . I learned a lot from the wonderful, cooperative persons n admin who really spared time to respond to the queries of all newbie . Thanx a lot all of u .
Sharing my work ,first image is of head shot of long legged fly .
10 x MAGNIFICATION,NIKON 10 x LENS, 25 micron step,77 pic stack,at Iso 200. Yongnou twin flash used as light source . a diy diffuser .
second shot is that of wasp , Mag.4X ,Step size 35 micron.stack of 108 images, f-5, lens canon MPE -65.macro twin flash used.
Most difficult part of learning was and is understanding light diffusion , still struggling .
second was achieving sharpness . My stacks are still not up to my satisfaction,particularly with Nikon 10 X . I have a stable table top studio set up . Table is quite heavy n on concrete floor, away from road. wemacro rail is mounted on heavy wooden base n i m using flash as light source with second curtain synch.
Please help me in achieving sharp pics .Image
Image

I would like your valuable comments on two points ,
1- how to achieve sharpness , particularly with Nikon 10X objective, some of my stack were good or acceptable but others were hopeless .
2- lighting part .
I am newbie and learned macro from this forum only.
canon 1DX mk II .6d markii,7DmkII,Canon 100mm macro,wemacro rail, nikon cfi 10X OBJECTIVE.Amscope 4X ,canon bellows FL,Raynox 250

catchsoul
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:22 am
Location: Vietnam

Post by catchsoul »

I think the main issue you've got is lighting. Sharpness is not too important here and thought you've got some vibration also.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Janak, welcome aboard! I apologize for the late greeting and response -- obviously I overlooked your first post.

Usually flash can freeze out whatever vibration there is, but for that it is important that the flash runs on low power, so you get a short flash. To accomplish this the diffuser should be placed close to the subject, so the flash can be close also. If you adjust the flash power by hand, 1/16 power or less should be enough to freeze out vibration.

It is also important to realize that a 10X NA 0.25 objective, at 10X on sensor, will be running at effective f/20 on sensor. This gives quite a lot of diffraction blur, particularly on smaller sensor like your 7D Mark II. As a result, your images out-of-camera will never look sharp when you look at actual pixels, 100% scale. To make them sharper, you can and should apply lots of digital sharpening. Because the original image has been softened so much by diffraction, you will need a level of sharpening that would cause obvious artifacts in an image that started sharper. I commonly use Photoshop's "unsharp mask" at 100% with radius 1 pixel, sometimes even more, when working with images shot through a microscope objective.

--Rik

Janak Choudhary
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:08 am
Location: Jagadhri,Haryana,India

Post by Janak Choudhary »

rjlittlefield wrote:Janak, welcome aboard! I apologize for the late greeting and response -- obviously I overlooked your first post.

Usually flash can freeze out whatever vibration there is, but for that it is important that the flash runs on low power, so you get a short flash. To accomplish this the diffuser should be placed close to the subject, so the flash can be close also. If you adjust the flash power by hand, 1/16 power or less should be enough to freeze out vibration.

It is also important to realize that a 10X NA 0.25 objective, at 10X on sensor, will be running at effective f/20 on sensor. This gives quite a lot of diffraction blur, particularly on smaller sensor like your 7D Mark II. As a result, your images out-of-camera will never look sharp when you look at actual pixels, 100% scale. To make them sharper, you can and should apply lots of digital sharpening. Because the original image has been softened so much by diffraction, you will need a level of sharpening that would cause obvious artifacts in an image that started sharper. I commonly use Photoshop's "unsharp mask" at 100% with radius 1 pixel, sometimes even more, when working with images shot through a microscope objective.

--Rik
Thanx a lot Rik for sparing time for me and giving ur most valuable opinion . I was eagerly waiting for that .
for macro work i m using 6D mark ii body at iso 200. i used a styrofoam glass to diffuse the light .The cup was attached to 10X objective and covering the insect all round . Twin flash head were placed near to the diffuser . still i will follow ur advice .
lighting part is really difficult to achieve ideal light . will work on ur suggestion . once again thanx .
canon 1DX mk II .6d markii,7DmkII,Canon 100mm macro,wemacro rail, nikon cfi 10X OBJECTIVE.Amscope 4X ,canon bellows FL,Raynox 250

Janak Choudhary
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 3:08 am
Location: Jagadhri,Haryana,India

Post by Janak Choudhary »

catchsoul wrote:I think the main issue you've got is lighting. Sharpness is not too important here and thought you've got some vibration also.
Thanx Catchsoul for ur valuable input, will take care as per ur advice.
canon 1DX mk II .6d markii,7DmkII,Canon 100mm macro,wemacro rail, nikon cfi 10X OBJECTIVE.Amscope 4X ,canon bellows FL,Raynox 250

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