Copper Inclusions

Copper Included in Quartz

I am becoming more and more disillusioned with this project.  The corrections don't yield good results.  There is still nothing sharp.

Copper Included in Quartz

There seem to be faint rays moving from the outside to some unknown center point.  I am not sure about the corrections.  The corrections in Camera Raw correct for distortion, too.  Since we are looking through the wide angle lens backwards, that may create more, not less distortion.

Another factor may be that the forced shallow DOF, depth of field, may not be enough to connect sharpness from image to image in the stacks.  I may try to go back and reprocess these images to test some of my concerns.

Did I mention that this setup is capable of capturing sharp images, see the ruler from several days ago.

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Spores

Unknown Mushroom Spores at 10.7X

These stacks are not turning out sharp.  They have chromatic aberrations, too.  I am not happy!

Unknown Mushroom Spores at 18.2X

I decided after this shoot that I needed to correct for chromatic aberration.  That is not as simple as it sounds since the lens used for a closeup filter, Sigma 10-20mm, has chromatic aberration but does not register in camera raw.  I must select it.  Another factor may be that we are looking through it backwards.  The Sigma 180mm macro needs little or no correction.  Neither of there images is corrected.

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Macro at 18.2X

Ruler Image with Flash at 11.2X

This was a "less than acceptable stack" captured with flash.  Part of the problem was the inconsistency of the flash but the worse problem was the the camera was not set up with the sensor parallel to the ruler. This demanded a deeper stack.

Shell Camera Setup

I try a lot of things that don't work of which this was one.  I looking for a flat subject but this was not flat.  I thought maybe a part of it would be flat enough.  It was not.

The image below was captured with the Sigma 10mm to 20mm (closeup filter) set at 10mm.  This yielding 18.2X on the sensor.

Unknown Mushroom Spores at f3/5 and 18.2X

This stack was shot with the CamRanger set to step "large."  That is a large step for f/3.5.  Please not the beginnings of vignetting.  The spores are on a microscope slide, therefore it is flat.  I want to try "medium" step and maybe "small", also.

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Macro at 10.7X

Camera Setup Ruler

I spent two days on the solution to yesterday's problem. 

Ruler Image f/5.6

I had no idea that the solution would come from settings on the main lens.

This image was captured with the main lens set at f/5.6.

Ruler Image f/4.5

Ruler Image f/4

You can do a little for vignetting in Adobe Bridge, but I found that f/4 to f/3.5 worked well with the closeup filter (lens) set on 20mm and focused on ∞.  I am still wondering how that affects the size step chosen for CamRanger.  I used "large" on the capture at the right because focus on the main lens must move a lot to focus through a shallow object such the the scale at the right.

I also came to appreciate the Adorama Macro Focusing Rail, not as a nice addition but as a necessity.

Adorama Macro Focusing Rail

 The camera rig is difficult to aim.  I needed the spot light for composition and beginning focus.  My first usable capture (Ruler Image f/4) was a stack using the spot for lighting.  I must remember to set the main lens focusing at the nearest setting since the CamRanger focuses the lens from near to far.  If you have the main lens set at ∞, there is no error massage.  You notice that the focus did not change during the stack run.  My procedure which evolved was:  set the main lens on "near" focus, compose the image, turn the "near/far" dial on the Rail to just before "near."  Fine tune the "right/left" dial and shoot.

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New (to me) Macro Setup

Macro Setup

George Lepp's column in Outdoor Photographer, February 2015 issue, inspired me recently.  It is entitled "Work Around the Weather."  His first suggestion, involving macro photography, suggested photographing butterfly wings using a macro lens with a wide angle lens reversed on the front.  I was on the phone to B&H Photo the next day to order the rings I needed.  I am using a Sigma 180mm macro with a Sigma 10mm to 20mm lens reversed as a closeup filter.

The setup requires lots of light for focusing so I put a small flood light in the cube for focusing.  I use the flash for the actual capture.

Ruler Shot

This capture shows how the image looked before I got it focused.  Notice how the frame is filled.

Ruler Shot

This is way it started looking without my making any setting changes.  I tried it again today and the same thing happened.

I was awake last night thinking about this.  After today's effort, I think that the heat from the flood light it doing something to the diaphragm on the 10mm to 20mm causing it to close and causing the image circle.  I noticed the circle was not the same size in all images.  I think it is the heat.

Has anyone experienced this sort of thing?

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