MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hello everyone,

I don't know if I have the right to share photos taken in macro photography on the forum? Please let me know if I'm off topic.

In the meantime, I share some macro photos taken with extension rings and a Helios 44-2 lens bought second-hand: We can see in this photo the Helios 44-2 lens with an M42 adapter ring to canon ef mount allowing the lens to be connected to a 31 mm extension ring used to photograph the daisy flower and the dual lighting system led.

Here is the Helios 44-2 lens, the M42 thread adapter ring to Canon ef mount and the extension rings Fleur Marguerite : Sincerely,
FRanck

Here are some other macro shots:
Strawberry : Shrimp : Snail : Dandelion flower : Sincerely,
Frank

Nice detail...

Thank you imkap

start saving up

Hi Frank,
nice photos, my favourite is the last one due to the graphical arrangement. Seen in detail many things show a lot of hidden secrets!

Bob

EYE C U wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:14 pm

start saving up

very nice material !

MicroBob wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:09 pm

Hi Frank,
nice photos, my favourite is the last one due to the graphical arrangement. Seen in detail many things show a lot of hidden secrets!
Bob

Thank you Bob I agree with you.
For curiosity, here is the dandelion seed and its umbrella under the microscope with the 10x objective friendly,
Franck

All nice pics.... if you enjoy seeing the hidden details ; try and find a butterly wing ...often they are on the ground in sheds or greenhouses.
The dandelions in England are still yellow flowers !

moth and butterfly feathers

Hello Chas, hello CU ŒIL ,
Thank you for your feedback and advice.
Sincerely,
Frank

(Maybe this is to remind me !!)
-If you do find a bit of wing to put under the microscope .. put some glue on the slide first....it is very easy (and annoying) to move or lose the wing with some air from your nose !

This one decided to become a hood ornament years ago.

Hello everyone,

Beautiful photos CU EYE. What material did you take them with?

I plan to buy a macro lens. What do you think of this one which is old but which has good positive reviews:
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro DG EX OS HSM
What do you think ?

Sincerely,
Frank

Frank, that lens is quite heavy and has too long a focal length to have on your camera all of the time,
The 35mm efs macro lens weighs less (~200 gms )and has a nice ordinary focal length, I went to one of these after using a longer (60mm) lens. I enjoy it much more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-K0sxNDhU

Moss (from the top of a wall) is also a very interesting thing to look at and try to photograph !

If you want to look at it from the side (using your rail & tripod) then an M42 to RMS adapter disk with a 4x microscope objective, mounted in it, is good.
It should screw into your existing M42 adapter.
They are not expensive.

You can put the adapter+objective on varying amounts of extension tube to alter the magnification.

Nice job Frank! I also enjoy macro photography. Most of what I do is shot on film using extension tubes or lens adapters. I have a Helios 44-2 in M42 mount that I enjoy using. They are very popular for their bokeh. This is about as close as I've gotten with it not using extension tubes.

Wild Sunflower by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

google search el nikkor 50 2.8 enlarger lenses


they are used reversed.. my set up on a helical focuser even closer with a bellows (stacked photo)

Both the M42-to-RMS adapter and the 49mm-macro-lens-reversing-ring for Canon ( I think 49mm is the filter thread on your Helios) can be bought for around 10 euro or less.
If you are looking at used macro lenses... sometimes new 'grey import' lenses are cheaper than used lenses.

For about 20 euros; the M42-to-RMS-cone-adapter is a more attractive way to mount a microscope objective onto the camera (compared to the extension tubes plus M42-RMS disk adapter ). It about the same length as a full set of extension tubes and so reduces the magnification of the objective by about a factor of 2: -The inside of the cone is very reflective and has no baffles, so it needs some matt textured material putting inside or it can give disappointing results.

Frank, a nice indoors/ tabletop setup is to use a horseshoe-stand microscope as a focus rail :
They generally have about 2.5mm of fine-focus travel which is often enough, they have about 5cm of coarse-focus travel, the tubes are about 10cm long and the camera can be clamped higher or lower on the tube.
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13031

The bit of lead sheet under the stage clips is easy to bend too ...so it is very adaptable
Not as capable as EYE CU's setup !! but still very enjoyable.

However, I dont think the single clamp would take a heavy macro lens or an old-glass camera lens on a full length extension tubes.

Adjustable stage, eBay. Metric.
Not stupidly expensive in the scale of these things.
Mount at 90° the rotate becomes tilt.
Doesn't need to be 4 way for macro but would allow control for stacking.
Standard camera thread mount in the centre.

Chas wrote: ↑

Sun May 01, 2022 8:32 am

Frank, a nice indoors/ tabletop setup is to use a horseshoe-stand microscope as a focus rail :
They generally have about 2.5mm of fine-focus travel which is often enough, they have about 5cm of coarse-focus travel, the tubes are about 10cm long and the camera can be clamped higher or lower on the tube.
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13031

The bit of lead sheet under the stage clips is easy to bend too ...so it is very adaptable

Lead sheet under stage clip simple1.jpg

Not as capable as EYE CU's setup !! but still very enjoyable.

However, I dont think the single clamp would take a heavy macro lens or an old-glass camera lens on a full length extension tubes.

I had a similar idea, found an abused Reichert microscope (or 3/4 of a microscope) Just didn't pick it up yet...

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for all these great tips!

Here is a bumblebee, I think, but I'm not sure.
The shooting : The Bumblebee : Frank

Frank, it is very hard to get any detail from a black bumbleebee (all that shiny black hair) so you have done well.
If you want to test a microscope objective mounted on the extension tubes; cut a (slightly less than) 2cm square hole in a bit of cardboard, screw the objective (~4x) into the hole, and then tape the cardboard onto the front of your tubes.
I have just done this and I realise that one of the advantages of the cone-shaped adapter is that the camera's inbuilt flash will fire over the top of the objective and onto the subject, but with the disk-shaped adapter on extension tubes it is blocked.

that thing looks like a cross between a fly and a spider..wth

Hello everyone,

Chas wrote: ↑

Mon May 02, 2022 1:39 pm

I realise that one of the advantages of the cone-shaped adapter is that the camera's inbuilt flash will fire over the top of the objective and onto the subject, but with the disk-shaped adapter on extension tubes it is blocked.

Indeed: excellent. it is very appreciable.

EYE C U wrote: ↑

Tue May 03, 2022 3:50 pm

that thing looks like a cross between a fly and a spider..wth

Friendships,
Frank

Progress if I can upload from my old PC.
From 2009 with a canon Superzoom SX20 if I recall correctly.
IWC watch balance.
The owner tried to regulate but hooked up the overcoil balance sping.
Not perfect but it's easier to make than bend back a second time without breaking it.
Spares can be not happening.
I did resort to a Vision Mantis as it can take a while to get it into shape with tweezers.
The cotton fibre on the centre collet hasn't uploaded very well.

Hello everyone,

Beautiful clear photos Philippe.

Still in the field of watchmaking, here is my watch taken with a Canon 5D MkII and a Sigma 105 macro (I "erased" the mark of the watch in Photoshop) : (Stacked from 18 frames all taken at f5.6. You can see some stacking artifacts )

Sincerely,
Frank

fdupre wrote: ↑

Tue May 10, 2022 9:45 am

Hello everyone,

Beautiful clear photos Philippe.

Still in the field of watchmaking, here is my watch taken with a Canon 5D MkII and a Sigma 105 macro (I "erased" the mark of the watch in Photoshop) :

montre_sigmaMH.jpg

(Stacked from 18 frames all taken at f5.6. You can see some stacking artifacts )

Sincerely,
Frank

Talking of Ti**ot.
I got a task for someone whos father gave the Seastar to a Watchmaker they were both outlived by the watch.
Luckily it was only the complete balance assembly missing/30 ish components.
Heart transplant from a dodgy refurb in india Seastar and the watch lives on.
I had to keep reference images for customers who didn't believe it could be broken,after all it was working fine up untill it stopped.

A drop of clock oil. It's intended not to migrate.
There is a moment sometimes when it sits on the surface.
It took a few goes to time it at the moment.
My daughter had to press the button because it was for her to enter a photo competition.
Got a mention,
There was something unmemorable that won.
7115 unread emails on my computer, been switched off for a few years.
No point opening them now either.

Nice pictures....