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.

Tags: BoG Photo Studio, Broad-winged Damselflies, Family Calopterygidae, gear talk, photomicrograpy