Rube Goldberg 2.75x macro photography rig

My Rube Goldberg 4-5x macro photography rig can be configured as both a 2.75x and 4-5x magnification macro photography rig. This blog post will focus on the 2.75x configuration.

The first two photos show the 3-D printed plastic lens adapter with the middle segment removed. A Reakway 4-5x microscope objective is screwed into the front of the adapter and the adapter/”lens” combo is mounted on my Fujifilm X-T3 mirrorless camera.

Photo focused on body of Fujifilm X-T3 mirrorless camera.

Photo focused on Reakway 4-5x microscope objective.

A recent blog post featured handheld test shots using the macro rig configured for 4-5x magnification. One of those shots shows the word “Liberty” on a penny, that is, a 1-cent coin in U.S. currency. Remember, the actual size of the word on the coin is approximately 5 mm in length.

A copper penny photographed at 4-5x magnification.

The same penny was photographed at 2.75x using the “crop” configuration of the lens adapter. The camera was handheld, like the 4-5x test shot shown above. Notice how much more of the coin is visible at 2.75x versus 4-5x magnification.

A copper penny photographed at 2.75x magnification.

The last image is a focus-stacked composite of four photos that were shot with the camera mounted on a tripod.

Focus-stacked composite image of four photos at 2.75 magnification.

What are the take-aways?

I own two macro lenses capable of 1-5x magnification: a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens; and a Laowa 25mm Ultra Macro lens.

The current retail price of the Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens is $1,049.00. It weighs 1.56 pounds (710 g).

The current retail price of the Laowa 25mm Ultra Macro lens is $399.00. The Laowa macro lens is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Canon MP-E 65mm. It weighs 14.11 ounces (400 g).

The 4x microscope objectives from AmScope and Reakway cost ~$25.00 each. (Remember, you need to buy only one objective.) The weight of the “lenses” isn’t listed in their specifications, but they are relatively lightweight. The 3-D printed plastic lens adapter cost $50.00 including $35.00 for the adapter itself and $15.00 handling and shipping from New Zealand. The plastic adapter feels nearly weightless.

For me, the single biggest take-away is for ~$75 I was able to buy an extreme macro photo rig that takes photos that are as good or better quality than comparable macro lenses that cost hundreds of dollars more!

And as a big fan of lightweight camera gear for use in the field, I’m far more likely to carry one of the Rube Goldberg rigs with me than either of its bigger and heavier counterparts.

Related Resources

• Rube Goldberg 4-5x macro photography rig, a blog post by Walter Sanford.
• 5x magnification, another blog post by Walter Sanford.
• Macro Photography with a $20 Microscope Lens, by Micael Widell (9:37). Micael’s video (and related resources in the show notes) piqued my interest in macro photography using microscope objectives.
• Microscope adapter for 4x macro photography with Sony E/FE, Canon EF/EF-S, Nikon F, Nikon Z, Fuji X, M4/3, M42 cameras, by thenickdude.
• Microscope adapter for 4x macro photography, by Sherlock Photography.
• 4X Plan Achromatic Objective Lens with Knurled Ring [AmScope]
• CE, Top quality 4x Plan Microscope achromatic Objective lens, Biological Microscope Lens parts (DIN160/0.1mm) [AliExpress]

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Rube Goldberg 4-5x macro photography rig

By now you might be wondering “What does your Rube Goldberg 4-5x macro photography rig look like?”

The first photo shows an AmScope 4x microscope objective mounted on a plastic lens adapter designed and 3-D printed by Nicholas Sherlock.

AmScope 4x microscope objective mounted on “lens” adapter.

The next photo shows a close-up view of the AmScope 4x microscope objective.

AmScope 4x microscope objective mounted on “lens” adapter.

The next two photos show the plastic lens adapter and microscope objective mounted on my Fujifilm X-T3 mirrorless camera. A Fujifilm 11mm extension tube is mounted between the camera body and lens adapter. More about that in a follow-up blog post.

3-D printed plastic “lens” adapter mounted on Fujifilm X-T3 camera.

A close-up view of the Reakway 4x microscope objective is shown below.

Reakway 4x microscope objective mounted on the “lens” adapter.

Similar microscope objectives

Did you notice two similar microscope objectives are shown in the preceding photos? I decided to buy both of the “lenses” recommended by Nick Sherman — since they are priced so affordably I was curious to see whether one works better than the other. As far as I can tell during limited testing, both microscope objectives perform equally well.

One objective has a smooth barrel …

Photo Credit: AmScope.

The other one has a knurled barrel.

Photo Credit: AliExpress / Reakway.

The lenses are recessed from both ends of the barrel, providing protection against scratching the glass. [Photo Credits: AliExpress / Reakway.]

Both objectives have similar information printed on the barrel.

What does “Plan” mean?

A plan (or planar) objective corrects better for color and spherical aberration than either the semi-plan or the achromatic objective. Plan objectives have a flat field about the center 95% of the image. They also often have larger working distances. Source Credit: What is the difference among achromatic, semi-plan, and plan objectives? Celestron, LLC.

What do the numbers mean?

Microscope objective lenses will often have four numbers engraved on the barrel in a 2×2 array. The upper left number is the magnification factor of the objective. For example, 4x, … The upper right number is the numerical aperture of the objective. For example 0.10, … The lower right number (if given) refers to the thickness of the glass cover slip (in millimeters) assumed by the lens designer for best performance of the objective. Example: 0.17. The lower left number is the tube length in millimeters.

Sometimes objectives have a color ring to aid in identifying the magnification: black (1x), brown (2x), red (4x), …

Source Credit: What do the numbers on the barrel of the microscope objective mean? What about the letters DIN and JIS? Celestron, LLC.

I love the little plastic bottles that are used for storing microscope objectives safely.

Photo Credit: AliExpress / Reakway.

“Crop” configuration

The 3-D printed plastic lens adapter that I bought for my Fujifilm X-Series cameras is comprised of three parts that screw together. Nick Sherlock calls this version the “crop design.”

Photo credit: Nicholas Sherlock Photography.

The crop design is for Sony E, Canon EF-S, Micro Four Thirds, Fujifilm X, or Nikon F crop cameras (or full-frame cameras which have been switched to crop mode) which has a segment of tube you can remove to shorten the tube.

For objectives which cast a big enough image circle, removing this middle tube allows you to reduce the magnification and focus at a greater distance (for the 4x objective I tested this reduced magnification from 4x to 2.75x, and increased working distance from about 28 to 31mm).

Source Credit: Microscope adapter for 4x macro photography with Sony E/FE, Canon EF/EF-S, Nikon F, Nikon Z, Fuji X, M4/3, M42 cameras, by thenickdude.

My Rube Goldberg 4-5x macro photography rig is even more Rube Goldergier than I realized when I bought it. As it turns out, the rig can be configured as both a 2.75x and 4-5x magnification macro photography rig. Very clever design, Nick Sherlock!

I tested the “crop” configuration and am pleased to report it works as advertised. My first impression is 2.75x magnification should prove to be more practical for use in the field than 4-5x. More later in a follow-up blog post.

Related Resources

• Macro Photography with a $20 Microscope Lens, by Micael Widell (9:37). Micael’s video (and related resources in the show notes) piqued my interest in macro photography using microscope objectives.
• Microscope adapter for 4x macro photography with Sony E/FE, Canon EF/EF-S, Nikon F, Nikon Z, Fuji X, M4/3, M42 cameras, by thenickdude.
• Microscope adapter for 4x macro photography, by Sherlock Photography.
• 4X Plan Achromatic Objective Lens with Knurled Ring [AmScope]
• CE, Top quality 4x Plan Microscope achromatic Objective lens, Biological Microscope Lens parts (DIN160/0.1mm) [AliExpress]
• What is the difference among achromatic, semi-plan, and plan objectives? Celestron, LLC.
• What do the numbers on the barrel of the microscope objective mean? What about the letters DIN and JIS? Celestron, LLC.

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

How to measure magnification

The magnification of any macro photography rig can be determined by using the rig to photograph a metric ruler such as the one shown below.

Plastic 15 cm (6″) ruler from the Natl. Science Teachers Assn. (NSTA).

The following photograph was taken using an AmScope 4x microscope objective mounted on my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera with a plastic lens adapter designed and 3-D printed by Nicholas Sherlock. Notice that only a tiny part of the ruler is shown in this “full frame” (uncropped) macro photo!

Segment of an NSTA metric ruler.

The formula for magnification is as follows.

length of camera sensor, in mm / #mm visible in photo frame

Both measurements must be expressed in the same units in order for the units to cancel during division.

The APS-C digital sensor featured in the Fujifilm X-T3 is 23.5 mm long. The annotated image shows 5.35 mm of the small plastic ruler is visible in the photo frame.

23.5 mm / 5.35 mm = ~4.4x

The actual magnification of the AmScope 4x microscope objective is greater than 4x due to the design of the lens adapter.

What are the take-aways?

As a result of photographing the ruler, subject selection should be easier. Now I know ~5 mm is the size limit for subjects to fit entirely within the photo frame. That’s actionable intel.

Related Resource: How to Calculate Your Camera’s Magnification in Macro Photography, by Stewart Wood (12:02).

Tech Tips

The “Ruler Tool” in Adobe Photoshop was used to measure the length (in pixels) of 5 mm along the double-headed red arrow superimposed on the plastic ruler shown above. That value was used to set a “Custom Scale” for the ruler, in millimeters. (See Setting a Custom Scale and Measuring in Photoshop for more step-by-step instructions.)

Select the “Ruler Tool.” From the Menu bar, select Image / Analysis / Set Measurement Scale. 60s ‘shop: Using the ruler tool to measure distances in Photoshop CC, by Photoshop for the Scientist (1:00) provides a clear and concise explanation of how it’s done.

Then the “Custom Scale” for the “Ruler Tool” was used to measure the entire length along the ruler that’s visible in the photo frame: 5.35 mm.

Post Update

“Photopea” is a free Web-based clone of Adobe Photoshop — Photopea doesn’t do everything Photoshop does but it can be used to measure length (in pixels) using its version of a ruler tool.

Right-click on the “Eyedropper Tool” — located in the left sidebar of the main window — and select the “Ruler Tool.” Click and drag a line segment; record the length of the line, in pixels. Click the “Clear” button (optional) and repeat the same process for more line segments, as needed.

As far as I know, the Photopea “Ruler Tool” doesn’t allow the user to set a custom scale. No problem. Make measurements similar to mine and set up a proportion of two similar ratios.

x mm / 5 mm = #pixels for photo frame / #pixels for 5 mm

Solve for x by cross-multiplying and dividing.

x mm = #pixels for photo frame x 5 mm / #pixels for 5 mm

Remember that similar units above and below the dividing line cancel (pixels, in this case) so the final answer is in millimeters (mm).

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

5x magnification

What does 5x magnification look like?

The following photos are test shots that were taken using an AmScope 4x microscope objective mounted on my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera with a plastic lens adapter designed and 3-D printed by Nicholas Sherlock. The actual magnification of the “lens” is between 4x and 5x due to the design of the adapter. The aperture of the lens is fixed, somewhere between f/4 and f/5.

All of the photos …

• were shot handheld (not recommended for this camera rig), except for the last two that were shot using a tripod. A single external flash unit was used to light each photo.
• are “one-offs,” meaning they aren’t focus-stacked. At a magnification of 5x the depth of field is extremely shallow. The net result is little of each photo will appear to be acceptably in focus.
• are “full frame” (6240 × 4160 pixels), meaning they are uncropped.
• are unedited JPG files, straight out of the camera.

The first photo shows a small part of a “granite” countertop. The word granite appears in quotes because the countertop might be made of some type of synthetic material.

The next photo shows the left eye of the “Made in the Shade” toy monkey, one of my favorite studio models.

The following photo shows part of a Metro SmartTrip fare card.

The next two photos show a penny, that is, a 1-cent coin in U.S. currency.

The next photo shows the last two digits of a 1996 quarter, that is, a 25-cent coin in U.S. currency.

The last two photos show part of an exuvia from Family Calopterygidae (Broad-winged Damselflies). The ventral side of the head is shown in both photos. The first photo is focused on the eye; the second photo is focused on the prementum.

The specimen was collected by Cindy Haddon Andrews on 03 September 2022 along the James River, near the Maidens Boat Landing in Powhatan County, Virginia USA.

Tech Tips

I talked about “manual” and “automatic” lens adapters in my last blog post. In order to use a manual lens adapter such as either my Laowa EOS-FX or the plastic adapter designed by Nick Sherlock, my Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera must be set so that “Shoot Without Lens” is on. This enables shutter release when the camera “thinks” no lens is attached.

Press the “Menu/OK” button / select SET UP (wrench icon located in the left sidebar) / choose BUTTON/DIAL SETTING / select SHOOT WITHOUT LENS (ON).

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Connections

I’m not as dumb as I look, you know. (I have a face for blogging, not vlogging.) But I am a little slow sometimes. For example, I was slow to make the connection between the size and shape of two lens adapters I own.

When I bought the Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro lens for Canon EOS cameras, I also bought a Laowa Lens Mount Adapter for Canon EF lenses to Fuji X Series cameras. I remember thinking the adapter is oddly shaped and wondered why it wasn’t designed to be shorter/thinner.

That was before I purchased the Fringer EF-FX Pro II lens mount adapter (Canon EF lenses – Fuji X Series cameras).

The following photo shows two Canon EF to Fujifilm X Series lens adapters: the Laowa EOS-FX (shown left); and the Fringer EF-FX Pro II (shown right).

Canon EF to Fujifilm X-Series lens adapters.

Notice the two lens adapters are the same diameter and thickness (26.3 mm): the former is due to the Canon EF mount (top) and Fujifilm X Mount (bottom); the latter is due to something called flange focal distance (FFD).

The 17.7 mm FFD of my Fujifilm X Series digital cameras combines with the 26.3 mm thickness of the lens adapters (shown above), resulting in an FFD of 44 mm — exactly the right FFD for Canon lenses to work properly on a Fujiflm X Series camera body!

The Backstory

The Laowa lens adapter is manual; the Fringer lens adapter is automatic. The former doesn’t feature electronic contacts that enable auto focus, etc.; the latter does.

Soon after I bought the Laowa lens adapter I used it to mount a Canon EF 100mm macro lens on my Fujifilm X-T3 camera. Although the adapter worked to connect the lens and camera, the experiment was a failure because the Canon macro lens doesn’t have a ring for setting aperture manually, and the Laowa lens adapter doesn’t have electronic contacts that enable a camera to set the aperture of the lens. Same problem with my Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens.

Enter the Fringer lens adapter.

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Reasoning for resident Roseate

Parts of my last blog post are like the title and abstract for a research paper.

At this point I think it’s reasonable to conclude I was right in 2015 — there is a small, resident, reproducing population of Roseate Skimmer at the park. Source Credit: Breaking news: More Roseate Skimmer spotted at Huntley Meadows Park, by Walter Sanford.

In this blog post, I will provide some of the reasoning that makes my conclusion reasonable.

Probability

First and foremost, ask yourself the obvious question: What are the odds Roseate Skimmer dragonfly (Orthemis ferruginea) migrated to the same park four times during the past eight years? Highly improbable, in my strong opinion.

Adult Flight Period

Long flight season but often most common in fall. Source Credit: Paulson, Dennis (2011-12-19). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East (Princeton Field Guides) (Kindle Location 9347). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.

Did you notice every sighting of Roseate Skimmer at Huntley Meadows Park, located in Fairfax County, Virginia USA, occurred during the month of September?

• 10 September 2014 – Walter Sanford (observed only)
• 23 September 2015 – Walter Sanford (photo)
• 29 September 2019 – Howard Wu (photo)
• 15 September 2022 – Lindsay Davis Loyd and Scot Magnotta (photo)

Mike Boatwright, my good friend and an odonate expert, searched the Dragonfly Society of the Americas Odonata Central records database and discovered a similar pattern.

• The earliest date in South Carolina is July 04 with most records in August to October.
• All North Carolina records are late August to September.
• Only two (2) Maryland records in July and August.

Lacking a larger database of sightings that can be used to determine the adult flight period for Roseate Skimmer at Huntley Meadows Park, it appears late-August to September is a good time to look for this rare species.

Why hasn’t the species been spotted more often at HMP?

That’s a good question, with several possible answers.

Roseate Skimmer is a “mudder,” meaning its preferred habitat seems to be ponds where there are mud flats.

Habitat: Very broad habitat tolerance, prefers mud bottoms for larval habitat. Source Credit: Paulson, Dennis (2011-12-19). Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East (Princeton Field Guides) (Kindle Locations 9354-9355). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.

Now ask yourself another question: How many people visit Huntley Meadows Park and spend a lot of time looking carefully at mud flats? I think most people are drawn to the green spaces in the park.

But that’s just part of the problem. Huntley Meadows Park is huge (nearly 1,500 acres) and there are a lot of mud flats throughout the park, including many in places that are mostly inaccessible and/or off-limits to the public. This is especially true during late-summer and early-fall when the water level in the central wetland area tends to be lower than at other times of year.

And it’s almost certainly true that fewer odonate enthusiasts, including me, visit the park as often as they did before the park became overcrowded with photographers who block the boardwalk at prime locations where Roseate Skimmer might be spotted. Fewer odonate hunters searching for relatively few individual specimens at a time of year when there is a lot of suitable habitat is not a formula for success!

First confirmed sighting of a female Roseate Skimmer

The female and male Roseate Skimmer dragonflies that were spotted by Lindsay Davis Loyd and Scot Magnotta are a game-changer. The Roseates were observed perched relatively close to each other. If the pair hadn’t mated already then it’s likely they did — mating is the primary goal of adult odonates. So there are almost certainly Roseate Skimmer eggs in the water at Huntley Meadows Park. If the larvae (nymphs) overwinter successfully, then the beat goes on.

Opposing viewpoints

Equally reasonable opposing viewpoints are invited and welcome.

Until proven otherwise, I will continue to contend there is a resident population of Roseate Skimmer at Huntley Meadows Park.

There are many experienced odonate hunters who live in Northern Virginia. I think it would be great if we could mobilize a group to systematically search the park for Roseate Skimmer next year.

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

 

Breaking news: More Roseate Skimmer spotted at Huntley Meadows Park

Post Update (as of 03 October 2022)

Lindsay Davis Loyd and Scot Magnotta spotted one adult male and one adult female Roseate Skimmer dragonfly (Orthemis ferruginea) on 15 September 2022 at Huntley Meadows Park. This is the first confirmed sighting of a female Roseate Skimmer at Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

At this point I think it’s reasonable to conclude I was right in 2015 — there is a small, resident, reproducing population of Roseate Skimmer at the park.

Related Resources

• Reasoning for resident Roseate, a blog post by Walter Sanford, published on 07 October 2022.
• Roseate Skimmer dragonfly (male), a blog post by Walter Sanford, published on 26 September 2015.

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.