Cool amoeba

[Sauerkraut]

Still using my cell phone so not worthy of posting in the Pics/Video section, but here is a really interesting amoeba discovered today while playing with phase contrast. The long black tube was completely retracted at times. Sample is from a fresh water pond. Possibly looks like Dinamoeba (guessing renamed since) from Ward's Freshwater Biology, minus the 'fishing pole.' There also seemed to be temporary smaller black tubes around the posterior at times.

A good camera is on my 'to buy' list, still.

[Wes]

Still using my cell phone so not worthy of posting in the Pics/Video section

I disagree, I think it would fit perfectly. Contrast is sharp and nice, there is no chromatic aberration, lots of internal detail, bonus diatom, overall great photo! It looks like your camera does a bit of sharpening (unless you did).

The long black tube was completely retracted at times.

Could be some sort of bacteria, no? I regularly find extremely long rod-shaped bacteria.

What camera are you eyeing? I bought a basic Canon 50D some months ago (based on price and suitability for photomicrography) and while it can't shoot video (well it can but I have to add some firmware upgrades) its ok for entry level.

[Sauerkraut]

Thanks Wes. Still, there's much more room for improvement over my hand wavering above the 23mm eyepiece. The phase contrast is exciting tho. I like the method a lot.

That black tube was being slowly extended and retracted out from the amoeba and it happened multiple times. Internal structure of it was visible on some occasions inside the amoeba. Perhaps it was some kind of bacteria straw or maybe bacteria 'fly paper' of sorts? I'd love to know what that thing was and attempted to place the amoeba into my aquarium so hopefully we meet again someday.

I'm slowly working on a photo set up for the Optiphot and just picked up a 2.5x photo relay lens (gave up on a 2.0x for now since they appear to be rare and expensive). For the camera, I've been looking at the Canon SL2 or SL3 but am open to other possibilities. I'm hoping to shoot video - missed out on capturing two ciliates in the midst of conjugation yesterday. It would be nice to capture and share things like that. What do you think of those choices?

Then unfortunately, I have have to buy a Windows-based laptop because it appears as if adequate processing/stacking software is not readily available for Apple products. Do you have any recommendations of minimum processor speed or other critical specs of a laptop?

Thank you.

Heather

[Sauerkraut]

Here's a raw/uncropped image that better shows the internal structure. To me it looks like it makes a large loop inside the organism.

[Wes]

Thanks Wes. Still, there's much more room for improvement over my hand wavering above the 23mm eyepiece. The phase contrast is exciting tho. I like the method a lot.

That black tube was being slowly extended and retracted out from the amoeba and it happened multiple times. Internal structure of it was visible on some occasions inside the amoeba. Perhaps it was some kind of bacteria straw or maybe bacteria 'fly paper' of sorts? I'd love to know what that thing was and attempted to place the amoeba into my aquarium so hopefully we meet again someday.

I'm slowly working on a photo set up for the Optiphot and just picked up a 2.5x photo relay lens (gave up on a 2.0x for now since they appear to be rare and expensive). For the camera, I've been looking at the Canon SL2 or SL3 but am open to other possibilities. I'm hoping to shoot video - missed out on capturing two ciliates in the midst of conjugation yesterday. It would be nice to capture and share things like that. What do you think of those choices?

Then unfortunately, I have have to buy a Windows-based laptop because it appears as if adequate processing/stacking software is not readily available for Apple products. Do you have any recommendations of minimum processor speed or other critical specs of a laptop?

Thank you.

Heather

I am very new to this whole thing so I can't comment with any degree of authority on photomicrography. You may want to make a dedicated thread or ask the folks over at photomicrography.net as often there are hidden issues that are a big problem for our type of subjects. For example Canon 60D has some sort of shutter vibration issue and its absolute dogsh*t for microscopic images (according to someone more knowledgeable in this area that I am, no offense to 60D users). 750D and 760D have a sensor issue manifested in horizontal pixel banding in uniform backgrounds whereas older XXX models do not. There are threads floating around that have extensive info on the suitability of different camera models for microscopy related purposes. Thats how I chose the 50D (it was second hand with shutter count of 2000 when I bought it).

w

[Wes]

For the amoeba you could check here https://www.arcella.nl/ and here http://www.penard.de/Key/

[Sauerkraut]

Thanks for the great amoeba links, Wes.

Do you use Live View to control vibration issues? The SL2 has Live View but I'm not seeing anything for electronic front curtain shutter in the manual. Some posts suggests the SL2 has it but I'll check the photog sites as you suggest.

[Wes]

Do you use Live View to control vibration issues?

I only shoot in Live View. The best way I found was to use USB tethering, focus on the specimen, lift the mouse of the table, wait a few seconds for all vibrations to subside and then take the shot. Lately I've been lazy and don't use the computer but set a timer for the shutter (2 to 10 seconds) which works great for static objects like diatoms etc and not so much for living, moving stuff but eventually you get a good shot (a wireless shutter release would be better tho).

[Sauerkraut]

Thanks, Wes. Much appreciated.

[mintakax]

I just saw this cool amoeba Heather-- Did you have any luck IDing it using Ferry's site (arcella.nl)? I've spent countless hours on that site in the last 6 weeks.

[Sauerkraut]

Possibly Korotnevella genus but there's no information on the long 'fishing pole.' It doesn't seem like a pseudopodia, based on the visible internal retracting structure. Maybe it's uncharacterized - a new or undescribed species?

The SEMs on that site of the Korotnovella species are amazing. There's so much more surface detail than I expected.

Edit: Here's another possible explanation. Today while looking at a slide, I found very similar looking amoebas without the fishing pole, but also saw many long filamentous worms(?) swimming in the water. One even briefly stuck to an amoeba. Perhaps the images show a symbiotic or parasitic arrangement?

[mintakax]

Possibly Korotnevella genus but there's no information on the long 'fishing pole.' It doesn't seem like a pseudopodia, based on the visible internal retracting structure. Maybe it's uncharacterized - a new or undescribed species?

The SEMs on that site of the Korotnovella species are amazing. There's so much more surface detail than I expected.

Edit: Here's another possible explanation. Today while looking at a slide, I found very similar looking amoebas without the fishing pole, but also saw many long filamentous worms(?) swimming in the water. One even briefly stuck to an amoeba. Perhaps the images show a symbiotic or parasitic arrangement?

I must be getting slightly more educated, because that is the species I was going to suggest ! However, I'm batting less than 50% so I'm a bit insecure about suggesting anything . I think that sometimes these creatures take on some baggage so you might be correct about the worm.
How is your camera shopping going ?

[Sauerkraut]

I'm sure you are getting good at IDing amoebas. You seem dedicated and patient.

On the camera - can't decide. New or used. Full frame or APS-C. People here are delusional about pricing on their used cameras, at least on craigslist, but the right deal will come.