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Post by jonathan on Jun 12, 2015 3:31:08 GMT -8
Hi people,
I would like to take some photos of butterfly genitalia and I would like to 'invest' in a macro lense which gives some very good results. Even though my camera is a Nikon D80, a Sigma or Tamron lense would be enough. Are there any lenses/models which you would suggest please?
I aleady own a microscope which has a video connection with the laptop but i am not satisfied with the video output.
Thanks
Jonathan
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Post by zdenol123 on Jun 12, 2015 3:56:53 GMT -8
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Post by jshuey on Jun 12, 2015 6:14:54 GMT -8
Hi people, I would like to take some photos of butterfly genitalia and I would like to 'invest' in a macro lense which gives some very good results. Even though my camera is a Nikon D80, a Sigma or Tamron lense would be enough. Are there any lenses/models which you would suggest please? I aleady own a microscope which has a video connection with the laptop but i am not satisfied with the video output. Thanks Jonathan You will be severely disappointed with the resulting photos. You say you have a decent microscope and a decent camera – so just get the two to work together. AmScopes has a product that mounts your camera to the microscope – and allows you to take professional quality images. For under US$100. There are other sources as well. Go here for Nikon mounts - www.amscope.com/accessories/canon-and-nikon-slr-dslr-camera-adapter-for-microscopes.html. (note - that I did not buy from here because I shoot Pentax and they don't produce a K-mount adapter - but in general - I like their products) Assuming that the camera mount will work on your body, the only thing you have to do is to make sure it fits the eye-piece tube diameter on your microscope. And you need a good light source – which you can also get at AmScopes – I have a cheap adjustable LED ring light that cost less than $20. I’ve attached three photos – one – the generic view of an adapter. Two – a photo of the microscope set up I use (also an AmScope product – model ZM-2TZ. I love this scope with two reservations – the light source shown sucks, and is in the local landfill now. And the camera is not “parfocal” with the eyepieces - so you have to re-focus for the camera when shooting). And three, a photo of an undescribed Polythrix (Hesperiidae) taken with my set up. (you can see the depth of field limitations of such an arrangement – but that can be fixed easily with photo-stacking software). John |
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Post by Chris Grinter on Jun 12, 2015 12:16:51 GMT -8
John's advice is good - to get good pictures with a camera lens you need a macro rig (Canon MP-E 65mm or lots of extension tubes) coupled with automated stepping rail and lots of flashes/studio lighting. You can get beautiful genitalia shots with that setup- but connecting a DSLR to a microscope never works well. A $3000 camera will get crummier shots than a $100 scope camera. Get a purpose-built microscope camera, shoot multiple images and combine them with the free software Combine ZP. If you wanted to spend a little extra, Zerene Stacker is very good.
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Post by berkeleybug on May 11, 2020 8:37:10 GMT -8
I tried the Amscope setup and found it to be junk; I ended up giving it to the thrift shop. Main problem is that there was no way to focus clearly. Probably there are decent options out there that are still affordable, but lately I've used only the Leica setup in our museum, which produces pretty darn good results even though we have only the basic version. But one of those will set you back thousands.
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Post by jshuey on May 11, 2020 12:12:38 GMT -8
I tried the Amscope setup and found it to be junk; I ended up giving it to the thrift shop. Main problem is that there was no way to focus clearly. Probably there are decent options out there that are still affordable, but lately I've used only the Leica setup in our museum, which produces pretty darn good results even though we have only the basic version. But one of those will set you back thousands. Which "Amscope setup" are we talking? The photo tubes are very simple optics, and should not have any difficulty with focus as long as your camera is up to the task. But if you are talking about an actual AmScope microscope, then indeed there is a wide range of quality available - ranging from absolute crap that targets the home-school market, to what I would call the mid-market. Most of their models seem targeted to be the home school crap - ranging from $100-300. The scope above cost about $1,000. If I had done a "name brand scope" with the capabilities that this one has (2-90X, trinocular, ultra wide field, and long focal distance), perhaps used I could have found a unit at $4-5,000 - but I doubt it. THere was a great new Nikon scope that I loved, but it was over $10k. I've had the scope now for about 8 years, and it has served me well. john   |
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