Nikon D850 DSLR to Nikon Eclipse E600 trinocular port

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JohnyM
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Post by JohnyM »

As mentioned earlier, only way for 35mm is removing binocular and Y-IDP and mounting camera with ~200mm infinity focused lens.

Pau
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Post by Pau »

Jesse wrote:
Pau wrote: Another option is to use direct projection but use a teleconverter at the camera
I have the Nikon AF-S FX TC-14E III (1.4x) Teleconverter. Should be an interesting experiment if I end up with a DX direct projection setup.
Having it at hand, test direct projection with it over the Y-IDP photoport. Likely it would save the clearance issue...you lose nothing with the test.
Does your camera work with the teleconverter mounted and no lens? With Canon it could lock the camera until you restart it.
Pau

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

Pau wrote:
Jesse wrote:
Pau wrote: Another option is to use direct projection but use a teleconverter at the camera
I have the Nikon AF-S FX TC-14E III (1.4x) Teleconverter. Should be an interesting experiment if I end up with a DX direct projection setup.
Having it at hand, test direct projection with it over the Y-IDP photoport. Likely it would save the clearance issue...you lose nothing with the test.
Does your camera work with the teleconverter mounted and no lens? With Canon it could lock the camera until you restart it.
Had a moment to test this evening. Adding the TC-14E III teleconverter to the front of the camera yields pretty good results. The below image was taken using 1.2X image area, which is half way between FX and DX.

The teleconverter and camera are literally resting on the trinic port with the short tube removed. There may be some risk of damage, but the teleconverter lens is recessed so I think this is probably fine.

It seems nearly parfocal to me, but because it's bottoming out I think the focus may be ever so slightly off. I wonder if a TC-17E II would help? Makes me wish I hadn't returned the TC-20E III.

Image

UPDATE: I thought it was cool enough to make my first 4k microscope video! https://youtu.be/uDGB6Oybkk0 (yes, everything is very dirty and it'll be a while before I release anything on my main channel, but this is very promising!)

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

abednego1995 wrote: Getting max FOV out of your D850, you should try the (V-T adapter MAB53410)+(PLI 2.5x relay lens)+(TMS-F F mount adapter tube)
The combination will project an 18mm diameter field magnified 2.5x to the sensor plane.
That Lmscope thing is way too expensive...

The TMS-F F mount adapter tube is obsolete and probably hard to get, but it's only a dumb tube with 123.8mm extension from the lower flange to F-mount so it's
simple to get it machined, assembled with available (cheap) parts, or use a bellows instead.
The V-T tube and PLI2.5x comes up frequently on the bay, so it'll probably end up the cheapest option.

John

Image
This was my plan B (maybe Plan C, if you consider the teleconverter).

I bought:
They arrived yesterday and I had a moment to test them out. It's a little difficult to tell with all the light leakage washing out the image, but this combo is definitely enlarging the image circle and raising the focus point well above the V-T adapter.

Last night I was debating designing and 3d printing the TMS-F adapter vs building one from lens caps and black PVC when I found this listing on ebay while searching for "TMS-F": https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-TMS-F-In ... 3390237082

It's a TMS-F with the adapter on top! I contacted the seller and asked if they would be willing to list it separately. They were, so I bought it! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-TMS-F-F- ... 3407968118

We'll see how that goes. If the weirdness with the Y-IDP attachment puts the image circle at the wrong height, at least I'll have a physical item to modify and/or 3d print a copy of.

genera
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Post by genera »

Jesse wrote: ....

It's a TMS-F with the adapter on top! I contacted the seller and asked if they would be willing to list it separately. They were, so I bought it! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-TMS-F-F- ... 3407968118

We'll see how that goes. If the weirdness with the Y-IDP attachment puts the image circle at the wrong height, at least I'll have a physical item to modify and/or 3d print a copy of.
That should work fine.

For anyone else doing this the Diagnostic Instruments PA1-12A has the same dimensions on the bottom end, is the same length, and can be fitted with an F mount adapter on top. Or, if you finding the PA1-12A or original Nikon parts hard to source, you can also use a Nikon AFX or UFX microscope film camera with an F mount adapter on top. The length and end fittings are the same as the PA1-12A. These bodies can be found on eBay in the $20-$30 range with the adapter. You'll need to move the AFX internal optics out of the way and open the shutter. Both operations can be done electrically with a 9V battery. Details here: https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... x&start=15
-Gene

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

TMS-F f mount adapter came in. It fits and works in FX mode, though it isn't parfocal.

The f mount adapter's black pipe sticks up a bit from the top of the V-T photo tube. Probably if I saw the end off with a horizontal bandsaw it'll be closer to parfocal. I'll probably try that next.

For now, here's my first 7 image focus stack of my super dirty toy test slide:

Image

genera
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Post by genera »

Jesse wrote:TMS-F f mount adapter came in. It fits and works in FX mode, though it isn't parfocal.

The f mount adapter's black pipe sticks up a bit from the top of the V-T photo tube. Probably if I saw the end off with a horizontal bandsaw it'll be closer to parfocal. I'll probably try that next.

. . .
You need to adjust parfocallity at the seat of the 2.5x lens, not by cutting off the black tube. If it's not off by much, and both eyepieces are adjustable, you may be able to make both of them parfocal with the photo port.
-Gene

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

Here's a photo of the TMS-F f mount adapter bottomed out in the V-T photo tube:

Image
genera wrote: You need to adjust parfocallity at the seat of the 2.5x lens, not by cutting off the black tube. If it's not off by much, and both eyepieces are adjustable, you may be able to make both of them parfocal with the photo port.
Ah, I didn't realize these eyepieces were adjustable. Backing out the eyepieces did indeed allow me to achieve parfocality. Wow, this is a really nice setup now. :)

Pau
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Post by Pau »

First you need to be sure if the sensor is too low or too high. Usually the best procedure is with a 10X objective focusing in a little depth subject like a dust spot in the slide and focusing with the micrometer having the eyepieces regulation to 0 (or to your actual long distance eyeglasses correction if needed). Yo will be able to determine if the camera focus is lower or higher then the eyepieces one.

Despite not having experience with this equipment, to me the coupling between both tubes doesn't seem right (red arrow), did you refer to filing it in your former post?. Fist carefully study it and its locking screws (green arrows) to see if the upper tube can go all the way down.
Image

Aside the photoeyepiece, do the tubes have lenses inside?

You can use shims (tape would do for testing) to set parfocality as per Gene advice if the camera is too high, although it could alter parfocality between objectives.
If it's too low things would be easier: just lock the upper tube higher.
Pau

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

I'm pretty happy with this setup at this point. My only complaint is that the image circle in the camera is a pretty small crop of what I see through the eyepieces.

I may try 2.0x PLI eyepiece in the future.

At first, I thought the image through live view was a bit odd. It looked washed out. But then I realized that was because looking through a microscope is a bit like looking at a sunset. The dynamic range is enormous. Once I started extracting the dynamic range in RAW before focus stacking, things started looking much more like what I see in my eyepieces.

Focus stack of 20 photos of a cardinal feather I found in my backyard using 10x objective:

Image

Jesse
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Post by Jesse »

Pau wrote:First you need to be sure if the sensor is too low or too high.
No worries. I fixed the parfocal issue by adjusting my eyepieces on the ergo head.
Pau wrote: Despite not having experience with this equipment, to me the coupling between both tubes doesn't seem right (red arrow), did you refer to filing it in your former post?. Fist carefully study it and its locking screws (green arrows) to see if the upper tube can go all the way down.
It is all the way down in the photo. I think the TMS-F f mount adapter just isn't really meant to be used with the V-T photo adapter and I got lucky that the dimensions of the tubes are the same.
Pau wrote: Aside the photoeyepiece, do the tubes have lenses inside?
No. I was a little surprised by this as I expected the V-T photo tube to have a lens on the bottom. Mine does not. The only lens above the Y-IDP mirror is the 2.5x PLI eyepiece.

genera
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Location: California, USA

Post by genera »

Pau wrote: . . . .
Despite not having experience with this equipment, to me the coupling between both tubes doesn't seem right (red arrow)
That coupling is exactly as it should be. The amount of space there doesn't matter once the parfocal distance is set correctly except that moving that tube up or down will slightly affect the size of the projected image.
Fist carefully study it and its locking screws (green arrows) to see if the upper tube can go all the way down.
The locking screws (green) are just that. They are not meant for adjusting or holding focus. They are meant only for locking the adapter above in place. In the equipment shown they shouldn't be used at all because their points will permanently damage the black tube, possibly making it difficult to remove and potentially generating debris that can fall down into the microscope. Nikon has other 42mm diameter tubes with grooves at the appropriate height, to coincide with the setscrews, so that any damage from the set screws will be below the mating surface of the tube. The large thumbscrew has a plastic tip to avoid damaging the black tube.

Image
-Gene

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