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.
Tags: BoG Photo Studio, gear talk, photomicrograpy
walter sanford's photoblog 
October 25, 2022 at 4:37 am |
Very interesting to see this all but not immediately my intension to work with it. I keep it by classic macro and detail photograpy. But anyway thanks for the info. Always good to know it excists.