Hi y'all, and here are a couple photos.

[mike_c]

Some of you might remember me-- I'm an old time DUer. I don't come around often anymore. I have politics fatigue. I do like to post a photo or two every now and then because DU was one of the first places where I began sharing pics with others. My partner has been having some health issues, making it hard for me/us to travel for landscape photography, which is my passion, so I've been focusing on macro photography at home. Here's a couple of recent images. These specimens are 50-60 years old, a bit worse for wear, but I have them because I maintain a university entomology teaching collection and I like to photograph them before I toss them when they're in bad shape. I hope you enjoy them.

[jpak]

1. Hey hey

[mike_c]

2. Yup, howdy!

[wyn borkins]

3. Amazing Imagery - Thanks For Sharing (N/T)

[Hekate]

4. I remember you. Those are some gorgeous bugs.

My youngest brother is also “Mike C”

[Hamlette]

5. love, be well

[MFM008]

6. any bees? Ladybugs?

butterflies? Great photo.

[mike_c]

10. afraid not, but they will come NT

[HAB911]

7. beautiful work!

[AndyS]

8. Exceptionally good work.

I assume focus stacking to get that much depth of field. When I work with deceased insects they are pretty much beat up but then I usually find them on the ground and not in a curated collection!

[mike_c]

11. yep, focus stacked NT

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Hey, mike_c! Welcome back, however briefly.

I remember you and your work! These are just great shots.

Love the tiny, clear details and the shapes too.

Thanks so much!

[mike_c]

12. thank you! NT

[Grumpy Old Guy]

13. Amazing photos.

Thanks for sharing them.

[Gato Moteado]

14. beautiful stacks!

i haven't done any stacking in a few years but i'm about to get started again. i was using helicon focus software. to build my stacks, i have used the post focus function of my lumix cameras (fastest way to build a stack but you have to extract the frames from a 4k video) and with a motorized rail using my nikon gear (this is slower, and not good for live subjects, but you can use optics with extreme magnification and your stacking frames are higher res than with the other option i use). for lighting, i have experimented with all kinds of DIY diffusion.

so, a few questions:

1. what camera and lens do you use for high magnification stacking?
2. how do you build stacks (manual rail, motorized rail, handheld, etc)?
3. what kind of lighting and diffusion are you using?
4. what software do you use for stitching the stack together?

since i'm starting over, i'm interested in learning how other people are doing this.

[mike_c]

15. hi Gato Moteado

Last edited Sun Oct 17, 2021, 04:29 AM - Edit history (2)

Sorry for not replying earlier but I only visit DU infrequently these days.

Camera and lens: pretty much all my stacking is done with a Nikon D7200 that lives on my stacking setup pretty permanently. I also use a Nikon PB-4 bellows and plain old extension tubes.

I use a variety of lenses, mainly: 1) Tokina macro 100mm f2.8 ATX PRO, with and without Raynox DCR-150 and DCR-250 diopters added (it offers nice reach and working distance for 1:1-ish macros);

2) one of my favorite lenses for macro work is an El Nikkor 50mm f2.8 N enlarger lens, mounted in reverse on the front bellows board; this is a killer macro lens from the 1970s with incredible flat field and sharpness, and manual aperture control; mounting it requires a reversing ring and some other adapters. I use a Nikon BR-3 ring and a circular polarizer on the outer (backwards) lens threads as a sort of lens hood. The rear lens element is VERY close to the rear focal plane so some physical and optical separation is a good idea. This lens is awesome. Buy this lens. There were bunches manufactured. Their price has crept upward as demand has increased, but in the $100-ish range this is still one of the best bargains in macro photography. A Raynox diopter is nearly as expensive. Did I mention that this lens is life changing?

3) a Nikon 50mm f1.8 D lens-- it's an old, fully manual lens with a manual aperture ring that makes it ideal on the bellows (no electronic connection or auto focus/aperture), mounted either forward or reversed.

All of these can be paired with Raynox diopters, although I don't often use them except on the Tokina 100mm, which provides exceptional reach and working distance on the crop sensor D7200. I also use the DCR-150 as an infinity corrected microscope objective tube lens but I'm not presently sharing any of those images because I'm still pretty new to that level of magnification.

I'm using a WeMacro motorized rail and currently do only studio macro photography. I use the convertible vertical/horizontal stand they sell with stuff like a micro-adjustable specimen stage, or occasionally a heavy duty tripod. The stand is absolutely bomb proof on a sturdy table on my concrete floor slab, so minimal vibrations with normal precautions. I also use a variety of other X-Y alignment tools as necessary. I really like the WeMacro automated rail.

I use Helicon Remote for tethered shooting with a laptop computer, most often at 50 micron or 100 micron step intervals for insect photos. I use Helicon Focus for merging the stacks most of the time, but I'm also experimenting with Zerene Stacker for some additional touch up capabilities. That jury is still out.

I use a bunch of different lighting options. I have two flat panel LED lights that I use for continuous light, which is useful for setting up the stacks. I generally leave those on for shooting, but add two or three speed lite flashes as well, so I shoot at the camera's synch speed. I use a variety of diffusers. The LED panels have frosted flat diffusion panels. I use cheap soft boxes on the speed lights and tracing paper light tunnel diffusion over the specimens. Lighting is often the most difficult part of setting up insect stacks. It's way too easy to blow out the highlights.

I use Helicon Focus for stacking and retouching, but I'm beginning to experiment with Zerene Stacker based on the salivating reviews from Allen Walls. I stitch in Photoshop and use post processing like Topaz Labs and Nik for image refinement.

Sorry for the long response! I hope this helps!

[Gato Moteado]

16. great stuff!

thanks for taking the time to write that. you use a lot of the same gear i use. i cut my teeth on stacking with the lumix GH4 but have done most of my work with my D7200 and an assortment of lenses (both forward and reverse mounted, with and without tubes), including old manual nikkor lenses (like 50mm f/1.4 and 24mm f/2.8) and several enlarger lenses. i've got the stackshot motorized rail:
https://cognisys-inc.com/stackshot-macro-rail-package.html

i also have used helicon for stacking and have considered trying zerene.

the biggest challenges for me, with shooting insects, and the like, have been:

1. shooting live bugs that are moving around (slow stacking is impossible and this is where the post focus 4K functionality of lumix M4/3 cameras really shines)

2. making dead bugs not look so dead

3. controlling hot spots from flash or LED panel (i've made countless DIY diffusers)

4. avoiding the haze that appears around the edges of a subject, usually in an area with a lot of hair

so, i put stacking aside for a few years and i'm just trying to get back into it....i have to relearn the best apertures to shoot with (depending on which optics and magnification are being used) and which step intervals, to get the sharpest results.

here are a longhorn beetle and a rothschilia lebeau larva (both live) that were shot with my lumix GH4 and olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro using the post focus functionality:





here's a honey bee i shot (dead) with the d7200, a reverse mounted nikkor 24mm f/2.8 lens and the stackshot rail



here is more info from the honey bee shot:

1) Subject : honey bee (shot post-mortem)
2) Camera : nikon D7200
3) Lens : reverse mounted 24mm 2.8 nikkor lens
4) Magnification: approx 2.4:1
5) Settings: iso200, 1/200, f5.6
6) Stack # : 150 images stacked in Helicon Focus
7) Lighting : 2 off-camera flashes
8) Location : Austin, TX
9) Editing in LR/PS

[mike_c]

17. wow, awesome images

I feel your pain about stacking live insects.