Microscopy Forum

I'm having rather severe blurring of images due to vibration caused by the camera's shutter.  My camera, an Olympus E-P1, does not have a mirror, but neither does it have a "quiet" or "2nd curtain sync" mode (as do some Canon DSLRs).  The camera body is attached to the vertical eyetube using extension tubes such that it is parfocal with the binocular eyepieces.  In order to get unblurred images, I have to use exposures shorter than 1/1000 s or longer than 1 s (or thereabouts).   All components of the microscope, including camera mechanical connections, are tight.  I tried mounting the microscope on a solid table top, and I tried setting it on a plank of wood which was isolated from the table top by packing material.  I tried bracing the camera's extension tube via clamps and  a steel rod to the wall.  I tried rotating the camera 90 degrees so the direction of the shutter movement will change.  But nothing so far worked.  Any suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Tony T said

I use flash on my system. My suggestion is to post your question, preferably with a photo of you set-up, on PMG

http://www.photomacrography.net/

 

people there are the absolute experts of all aspects of high magnification photography.

Thank you very much for your excellent suggestion! 

A wooden frame

Oliver, I have reworked my setup so I can leave it without worrying about the camera crashing to the floor, and below I show its current state.  It is, of course, not to be compared with Tony T's setup, but it is what I could rig up quickly with what I had.  I've ordered another camera clamp that might allow some improvement.  The piece of wood is clamped to the side of the bookshelf, and protrudes about 10 cm in front, allowing the camera clamp to be attached to it.  The camera and the microscope stage are level, but for some reason, in order for the center of the field of view of the microscope to correspond to the center of the field of view of the camera, I needed to offset the camera axis with respect to the microscope.  I have not so far been able to determine why this is so.  I would very much appreciate any suggestions regarding this.

To test the setup, I took a photo of a diatom (prepared slide) with a 20x objective at 3 shutter speeds: 1/25 s, 1/60 s, and 1/500 s.  To my eyes, they look alright, but I would very much like critical feedback from anyone on any aspect, but particularly on whether they show evidence of shake.  Many thanks!

Thank you, Mitch, for your comments.  I need to get new glasses: I see little difference between the three images.  You are right also about the clamps:  I have C clamps but couldn't find them.  Also I am now using the bar of the upper clamp to tie the camera to it for more stability such that it is not supported only by the tripod socket, but I'll try to replace the other one with a C clamp as you suggest.

Flash: one of these days I'll try using flash. But my first aim is to get "good" images reliably rather than hit-or-miss .

Thank you, Tony, for you further suggestion.  I'll redo the test (I've deleted the original files, so I cannot resize them).