Botryococcus (yet again)

[75RR]

Plan 40x/0.65, DIC, 6 stacks of 4 images stitched in Photoshop

[billben74]

Yes again, but they are getting (even) better.
Lovely and clear and the composition works very well.

[hkv]

Stunning! World class!

[75RR]

Many thanks billben74 and hkv, most kind.

[KurtM]

You recently accused me of working wonders with the 40x/.65. Well now look who's making it sing and dance! Seriously, that's a knockout image, and a perfect example of the very kind of thing that made me unable to resist DIC. It also gives me inspiration and hopes of obtaining better images with my 40x, which I yet struggle with.

My wet mounts are always terribly cloudy through this lens. Any hints or tips for getting this kind of clarity?

[rnabholz]

You own this subject, and this is another of your beautiful images with that patented smoothness and outstanding color.

Just super.

Rod

[75RR]

Hi Kurt,

I think that image is the product of a bit of fine tuning I did over the last couple of days.

Because I was testing another eyepiece as a possible projector lens I took it and my old one (which I was using today) apart to compare them. Gave the lenses a good clean before I put them together again.

I was also testing my LED conversion, so when I put the 12v 60w Tungsten back on I made sure the element was focused on the condenser diaphragm.

I also cleaned the sensor today.

I am assuming these steps helped.

The rest is due to a bit of fiddling in Camera Raw (+20 Contrast and +50 Clarity) before stacking in Photoshop. Images were actually Jpegs (to save space) as I usually use, as I found a way to open them in the Raw editor by using Adobe Bridge.

In Photoshop I did the usual, checked levels, corrected chromatic aberration in hue/saturation, ran it through shadows/highlights, added a bit of brightness and a little more contrast, reduced to posting size and sharpened.

Additionally it is worth checking that your cover slips are 0.17mm or pretty near to it.

Other than that, a good subject always helps to make a good image.

[75RR]

Many thanks rnabholz :)

[gekko]

I didn't think one could do better than your last Botryococcus, but I was wrong. Super image!

[Crater Eddie]

I can't add anything useful to what has already been said, but dang that is gorgeous! The oil droplets around the perimeter really set it off.
CE

[75RR]

Many thanks gekko and Crater Eddie

a good subject always helps

[c-krebs]

Very crisp and clean! Great detail to study.