Hypotrich Ciliate is having lunch

[daruosha]

Today I went to the same aquarium shop again and after showing some pictures and videos from previous samples, they enthusiastically offered me 8 more samples and asked me to see what creatures are in the water samples.

One of their samples was something they called "Algae Bloom". I centrifuged 15ml of the sample for 10 minutes at 3500 RPM and after removing 14ml of the supernatant, carefully took a drop from precipitated residue. Here is what one of the shots I captured with my DSLR.


40x NA 0.65 - Condenser aperture fully open - Oblique disc diameter 17mm - Canon EOS 50D

My DSLR pictures are crap, I'm very disappointed. I don't know why, but they are soft and suffer from serious lack of sharpness, despite making it para-focal with eyepieces and everything I've done, they are blurry and soft. (I use mirror lockup and 2sec delay timer as well).

I hope you like the pictures, more is to come

PS: To be honest, my pictures are very bad compared to what other members regularly post on the forum. I feel embarrassed. Do you have any suggestion or recommendation?

[MicroBob]

Hi Daroush,
to me the image looks fairly typical, perhaps the colour of the algae is a bit subdued. The algae are probably Selenastrum, sometimes used as food for fish larvae.
Your camera is fine for this application. Do you use the right silent mode and release from live view? You also might check whether focussing over the camera screen is more precise.

Bob

[einman]

I don't believe that is a Coleps. It is however a very good photo.

Here is an old video I made of Coleps eating.

[daruosha]

I don't believe that is a Coleps. It is however a very good photo.

Here is an old video I made of Coleps eating.

Nice video. Background music suits it too.

What do think it is?

[KD Arvidsson]

Great photo Daruosha. //KD

[daruosha]

Hi Daroush,
to me the image looks fairly typical, perhaps the colour of the algae is a bit subdued. The algae are probably Selenastrum, sometimes used as food for fish larvae.
Your camera is fine for this application. Do you use the right silent mode and release from live view? You also might check whether focussing over the camera screen is more precise.

Bob

Yes, They are indeed Selenastrum. Confirmed by aquarium shop man.

I found why my DSLR images were horrible. There was a protective plastic film inside the reduction lens. I mean literally INSIDE the lens.

I took it apart, removed the plastic film and after that pictures look MUCH MUCH better (of course).

I do photography for more than 10 years and I'm quite familiar with my cameras (I have a 5D III too and it had the same bad image quality on microscope too (D'oh), my reduction lens only covers APC-C form factor though) and I knew something was wrong outside the camera.

[daruosha]

Great photo Daruosha. //KD

Thank you KD.

[MicroBob]

There was a protective plastic film inside the reduction lens.

Funny error! A kind of intelligence test. Think about how many people will already have thrown away these reduction lenses as they didn't find the hidden problem.

[75RR]

Think about how many people will already have thrown away these reduction lenses as they didn't find the hidden problem.

Perhaps there is something to be said in favor of reading instructions after all. ;)

[daruosha]

Think about how many people will already have thrown away these reduction lenses as they didn't find the hidden problem.

Perhaps there is something to be said in favor of reading instructions after all.

This is the adapter: no branding, no name, Chinesium look, no manual




I have to find a better adapter. Can I project the photo eyepiece image directly on camera sensor?

[75RR]

Can I project the photo eyepiece image directly on camera sensor?

Yes you can. You will need to raise the eyepiece a few mm for it to work.

These are the spacers I used when I did that. They are made from electrical wall pipes - they are a perfect fit.

Sizes are: 2.5mm, 5mm, 1mm and 2mm

That gives me plenty of combinations to play around with.

[Bruce Taylor]

What do think it is?

It is a hypotrich ciliate. We only see a few of its somatic cirri, and the cell is somewhat compressed, so identification below subclass isn't possible.

[daruosha]

What do think it is?

It is a hypotrich ciliate. We only see a few of its somatic cirri, and the cell is somewhat compressed, so identification below subclass isn't possible.

Huge thanks Bruce.