Getting Started

Camera with "Tube" Lens

A friend kept telling me I needed to photograph through a microscope.  I resisted the idea because I had already unsuccessfully tried it previously.  I was using macro lenses, 1.4x converter, 2x converter, reversed lens and extention tubes.  With these assessories I was able to get to 1.56x on the sensor.  I was not happy with the results though so I finally determined that I would try using microscope objectives, the front lens on a microscope.  I started reading what I could get my hands on.  I forced my way into discussion groups to get to the people I was sure knew the answers.  I was very kindly told that the most successful photographers including himself were using tube lenses.

 

I thought a tube lens was a hollow configuration of extention tubes.

 

Extention Tubes with an Objective Mounted

 I kind of stumbled into this setup not knowing, at the time, what I was doing.  It's kind of how I learn.  I try something and if I like what I get I continue going in that direction and if I don't like it I try something else.  This one worked to a point.  In the process I had to learn about the different kinds of microscope objectives.  I read the imprinted characters and learned that the front of the objective must be 160mm from the sensor/it is corrected for using a .17mm cover slip.  It is 10x/with a 0.25 effective aperture.  I learned about this from Nikon, Edmond Optics and Zeiss web sites.

 

 

wulfenite_mafimi_durango_mexico_mr_vg3188_9749_9798s2hfc

As you can see I obtained an image which I considered good enough to print at the time.

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Osumilite

Osumilite

This Osumilite sample comes to us from Lane Co., Oregan.  I think it may be Osumilite-(Mg) a rare form of the a rare mineral.

Osumilite

(K,Na)(Fe,Mg)2(Al,Fe)3(Si,Al)12O30  Osumi, Japan is the type locality and it was discovered in 1953.  Osumilite-(Mg) is a hexagonal variant of Osumilite fully approved as a valid species in 2011.  The two species are difficult to distinguish from each other.  

Osumilite

I hope that you can see from the above photo that the mineral is located in a vug.  It's the bottom large mass.

You may remember seeing some of these on my blog previously.  In this shot, the sample is turned an angle which does not lend itself to our seeing the mineral well.

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