Moss with crossed polarizers ands wave plate

[c-krebs]

[hkv]

Simply beautiful and outstanding!

[JimT]

Wow and Wow!!!

Nice thing about moss leaves are that they are single cell thick so one can see a lot of cellular detail. But, I have never seen any as beautiful as these.

How about details as to technique and objectives.

Kudos, JimT

[exmarine]

An outstanding pleasure to look at. Perfection personified. Thank you.

[rnabholz]

You transform ordinary, everyday objects into masterpieces. Just a treat.

Your vision and techniques are wonderful. Thanks for posting here.

Rod

[Johann]

Wow, absolutely amazing !!

[billbillt]

These are so perfect they look almost surreal,.. Perfect in every way..
BillT

[vasselle]

Bonjour
Superbe photos et de couleurs
Cordialement seb

[75RR]

Striking images, really quite beautiful

[KurtM]

Absolutely beautiful work!

[gekko]

Incredibly beautiful and amazing details. Many thanks for sharing those images.

[billben74]

Beautiful "use of colour" as they often say about good paintings and seems most aposite here.
What a treat and inspiration.

[Oktagon]

Beautiful!

What magnifications and equipment were used? Is there any post processing of the images?

[c-krebs]

Thank you for the very kind remarks.

How about details as to technique and objectives.

What magnifications and equipment were used? Is there any post processing of the images?

Pretty straightforward. Subject between two polarizers, at least one of which can be rotated. A full wave plate was also placed between the two polarizers. It was this 50mm square, 560nm full wave plate: http://www.knightoptical.com/stock/opti ... 0mm-560nm/

The microscope was an inverted (Nikon Diaphot TMD) but the principles are the same for non-inverted scopes. ( I added a picture below that indicates the locations... but this is not my actual scope so you don't see the components, just the locations.) I added a 77mm ring at the light port on top and use a 77mm polarizer there. This one can be rotated. My Diaphot has a polarizer slider below the inverted nosepiece. This one is "fixed" once inserted and can't be rotated. The wave plate is simply placed on top of a fixed lens located above the condenser in the illumination path. It can be rotated to any angle desired. (The wave plate could really be located anywhere between the two polarizers to give the "effect". But this inexpensive plastic one is not optically satisfactory to be placed in the imaging path so it is placed in the illumination path.) The stage plate on this scope is circular and seats into a recessed groove on the stage, so it can be rotated if desired. Then it is just a matter of playing around with the rotatable polarizer and wave plate (and perhaps the rotating the subject) until you like the result. (There are endless possibilities!)

All images are stacks ranging from about 19 to 50 images. (1st image was a stack of 19, third was stack of 49) The completed stacks required the typical "clean-up" of artifacts, dust tracks/spots inherent to this type of imaging. Sometimes when using wave plates with crossed polarizers the pink/magenta backgrounds become too intense and saturated for my taste so I will reduce the saturation of that color.

The objectives were 4X, 10X and 40X onto a Canon APS-C sensor (T3i). The camera port on the front has a built-in 2.5X magnification which is more than I would like on this sensor size... it would be preferable to use a full-frame camera on this port. (But on web sized reproductions the images look fine.)

[Oktagon]

Thank you for the very kind remarks.

[

Thank you for explanation. This is very nice setup.
I have both, upright as well as inverted scopes (Universal II and ICM-405), equipped for BF, DF, FC, POL and DIC in both light paths, as well as photomicrography. I use Canon 1Dx full frame 18MP body, which is pretty much an overkill. I don't have a retarder plate and adjustable retarders for Universal are very pricy ($700-1200 on eBay), so thus far I have not acquired it. I can't really use generic retarders, because Zeiss has a very specific slot for them in the tube body right bellow optovar. I havn't experimented with stacking yet, but plan to do so. Thus far DIC gives me good enough results using single frames. I personally find Universal much easier to work with then ICM-405, which is a very nice microscope, but the ergonomics is quite strange. I wrote before, that you pretty much have to hug the scope to work on it. Also the travel range for the nosepiece is very short, so if you switch from LD Epiplans POL, which I use for DIC and standard objectives (either Epi or transmitted), you have to change the mounting spacers on the stage, other wise you can't focus. The camera mount is very convenient though, much like your Nikon, and you can use 4x5 focusing screen to project image when you open microscope's electric shutter and switch the light path to 4x5. The one good thing about ICM-405 is that the stand and stage is so steady, that I have actually mounted 40+lb flow citometer on the microscope to observe particle flow through capillaries. It was an interesting project I did for my kid.

[c-krebs]

Oktagon,
I'm slowly getting this Diaphot TMD set-up the way I want it. It is set up for DIC, and the condenser has a polarizer and swing-in wave plate, but when "in place" they can't be rotated. For the type of polarized shot posted above, it is really nice (probably necessary) to have the ability to rotate these components. I find the "openness" and easy access to the illumination path to be a real benefit, and it enabled me to quickly and inexpensively "add" a rotating polarizer and wave plate.

These things are heavy. I am pretty obsessive about camera induced vibration, but I admit that it is somewhat less of an issue with the camera "bolted" to the cast iron base of this scope instead of being perched on top of a relatively long, relatively slender tube above the microscope (as is sometimes the case with upright microscopes).

My inverted DIC condenser is 0.55. It came with plan achromats but I've gradually been "upgrading". So far I have been able to put 2X, 4X, and 10X Nikon Plan Apos on it. For 20X I use an Olympus 20/0.70 Plan Apo that I already had (surprisingly little color error, despite the fact that it should really have corrective eyepieces). 40X is still undecided. I have a couple of good plan achromats, and I have been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the images they produce. But would love to put a 40X plan apo on there. First I need to sort out a condenser I like that can make use of the larger NA. Fortunately I can use other Nikon condensers on this scope, but have no desire to get involved with oil immersion on an inverted.

So while I got it quite "complete" (auction item from Univ of Utah) it has been a great stand to "tinker" with.

[Oktagon]

Oktagon,
I'm slowly getting this Diaphot TMD set-up the way I want it. .

That's a great setup you've got. I purchased both stands I use mostly in their basic state and have been adding components. I too love the camera position in ICM-405. Very well thought-through. When I mount camera on the Universal, I use very thick phototube which is "native" ti the microscope. It is about 3" in diameter. I don't have many problems with vibrations. Universal sits on felt feet on a massive desk in my study and ICM-405 sits on a solid desk in my "lab". I use low ISO (50) and long exposures with camera set in "silent" mode, so only electronic focal plane shutter operates. That's the nice thing about 1Dx body.
I also sometimes use microscope flash as a second curtain flash. This way the shutter closes after the sensor is done with data collection. I use this method at work all the time as well with Axioimmager II and Axioobserver. At some point I will have dedicated camera bodies for both of my main scopes at home instead of using my 1Dx which really belongs to my photo bag.

As far as objectives, I have pretty standard set. For regular Zeiss DIN and RMS objectives I have 3.5plan; 10; 25; 40 and 100 Neofluars in multiple copies, 4; 16; 40 and 80 in LD epiplans set with DIC rings, 4, 6.3, 8, 16, 40, 80 and 100 in HD Epiplans in at least 2 copies (my most frequently mounted objectives on Universal due to their versatility) and 10, 20, 40, 63 and 100 Planapochromats. I also have a very nice Meji 2.5 Flat field which I love, another Zeiss 1.25 scanning objective and a very rare 36mm Microluminar low power photomicrography objective which I use occasionally as a straight lens-to-camera system. I don't have Luminars head, but I don't really need it.