Bugs on film

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Bryan
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Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Bugs on film

#1 Post by Bryan » Sat May 16, 2020 6:29 pm

For the shot below I modified a lens board on a 4X5 press camera to adapt to my Leitz MIKAS microscope adapter. The MIKAS is designed to adapt a Leica 35mm rangefinder camera to a microscope but it’s easy to make modifications for just about any camera including digital. With the bellows on the press camera I can move the camera up and down to effectively zoom in and out to fit the image into view better. It’s quite a setup, I have to put the microscope close to floor level to see the ground glass of the camera to focus. The camera is supported by a tripod that can be racked up and down for extending the bellows. The reason for making 4X5 negatives is to use them to make contact prints.


This is a pig louse from an antique microscope slide. I used a 10x objective and a 4x projection eyepiece.
ImagePig Louse by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

DonSchaeffer
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Re: Bugs on film

#2 Post by DonSchaeffer » Sat May 16, 2020 6:54 pm

neat

Bryan
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Re: Bugs on film

#3 Post by Bryan » Sat May 16, 2020 6:59 pm

These slide mounts are too large to fit the whole insect into the field of view, even with my stereo scope. I shot these on 35mm black and white film using a Leica III rangefinder camera attached to a Leitz Focaslide, extension tubes and a Leitz Elmar 50mm lens. The Focaslide has a ground glass for focusing, once the image is focused the camera is slid over to take the photo. All of these mounts are antique slides in my collection.

ImageLeptis Scolopacea by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

ImageWater Scorpion by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

ImageEarwig by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

This is the setup I used to photograph them, with enough extension tubes it’s essentially a microscope.
ImageLeica III with Leitz Focaslide and Elmar 5cm f/3.5 lens by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Bryan
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Re: Bugs on film

#4 Post by Bryan » Sat May 16, 2020 7:09 pm

This is the 4X5 camera atached to the top of my Leitz SM microscope.
P6161182+.JPG
P6161182+.JPG (76.13 KiB) Viewed 2647 times

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75RR
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Re: Bugs on film

#5 Post by 75RR » Sat May 16, 2020 7:29 pm

Like the look of your Leica III and the focusing on the Focaslide is pretty nifty.

I will probably end up with something like your setup on the Leitz SM with the 4x5 camera if the vibrations from my Olympus E-P2 (as I expect they will) prove troublesome when I try Direct Projection.
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

Bryan
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:31 pm

Re: Bugs on film

#6 Post by Bryan » Sat May 16, 2020 8:10 pm

75RR wrote:
Sat May 16, 2020 7:29 pm
Like the look of your Leica III and the focusing on the Focaslide is pretty nifty.

I will probably end up with something like your setup on the Leitz SM with the 4x5 camera if the vibrations from my Olympus E-P2 (as I expect they will) prove troublesome when I try Direct Projection.
The way I avoid camera shake, especially with the 4x5 camera, is by using a darkroom enlarger timer. I plug the microscope light into the enlarger timer, open the shutter, hit the enlarger timer then close the shutter. This has to be done in a fairly dark room to avoid unwanted light from above and works best for longer exposures. It works good for me since I use a slow film and dim down the iris on the microscope to increase the depth of field. I think the shot of the pig louse was about 15 seconds. With black and white film there's a lot of latitude so not much difference between 15 seconds and 30 seconds, that would only increase it by one f/stop.

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75RR
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Re: Bugs on film

#7 Post by 75RR » Sat May 16, 2020 8:35 pm

Bryan wrote:
Sat May 16, 2020 8:10 pm
75RR wrote:
Sat May 16, 2020 7:29 pm
Like the look of your Leica III and the focusing on the Focaslide is pretty nifty.

I will probably end up with something like your setup on the Leitz SM with the 4x5 camera if the vibrations from my Olympus E-P2 (as I expect they will) prove troublesome when I try Direct Projection.
The way I avoid camera shake, especially with the 4x5 camera, is by using a darkroom enlarger timer. I plug the microscope light into the enlarger timer, open the shutter, hit the enlarger timer then close the shutter. This has to be done in a fairly dark room to avoid unwanted light from above and works best for longer exposures. It works good for me since I use a slow film and dim down the iris on the microscope to increase the depth of field. I think the shot of the pig louse was about 15 seconds. With black and white film there's a lot of latitude so not much difference between 15 seconds and 30 seconds, that would only increase it by one f/stop.
That would work for some subjects but unfortunately not for live diatoms or indeed live anything.

I would have the camera on the tripod as I do now and just have the bellows making contact with the microscope's phototube.

In effect just a flexible dust and light excluder.
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

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