P. pomaceus Weevil @ 12x

Hey guys !

 

Here i have my first attempt at a stack using my 10x Microscope Objective and Bellows at full stretch.

For this image i used my regular setup, at movements of probably 1 micrometer i suppose but i can't tell since i use a cog motor to move the insect...

This image was seriously hard to get. My first attempt went to dust, as while i was stacking the images i realized i had jumped in focus from one part of its nose to another. Back to the stacker it was...

 

The next day i gave it another shot. All in all, i stacked one set of images ( 290 images ), then stacked another 40 or so to get the bit i missed second time round to do some retouching on the head and compound eye.

For lighting i also retouched, mostly Dmap in this case as Pmax was slightly too over bright, exposing the metallic surface too much.

 

The stack took all in all about 4 hours, 3 of them waiting for Zerene Stacker to stack them all which does take some time.

 

There are some images of him below on a blade of grass, his body length at around 7mm and head length at maybe 2-3mm so the 10x really was necessary.

 

Of course, i'm not over excited by the image, but it's my first go with the 10x so it will do for now. I think at this magnification, alignment is very important indeed for sharpness and lighting, and one slip can send the whole stack into a never ending mess.

 

There is still a bit of detail in the full sized image so click here to view; www.flickr.com/photos/sequentialmacro/7164804325/sizes/k/...

 

As always, advice is welcomed, but only suggest things that will help if you have had experience with a 10x, as they work much differently than a normal lens and have extremely thin DoF, thus a LOT of images being needed :D

Done