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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Equipment, set-ups and techniques » Set-ups for Photography
Photo#163526
Focus adjustment / specimen handling
Copyright © 2008 Jay Barnes

Focus adjustment / specimen handling
Part of the setup I used for an ant-part photo.

Hind leg of an ant is attached with super-glue to a single strand of wire which is later curved into the desired position. Entire bundle is then clipped to an old microscope focusing stage, where it can be raised or lowered with the fine focus adjustment between photographs.

Two flashes (currently pulled back) are used for photos. The fiber-optic light guides are used to view the specimen between shots.

The background here is a white sheet of paper about 4-5" from the specimen.
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Contributed by Jay Barnes on 2 January, 2008 - 12:30am
Last updated 18 March, 2009 - 3:39pm

Neat--sources for stages?
Very good idea. Do you have any hints on obtaining an old microscope stage?
… Cotinis, 2 January, 2008 - 10:09am login or register to post comments

 
Patrick...
Some users at photomacrography2.net have been talking up this milling table from Proxxon, which appears to be a really nice rig. Inexpensive too. (<$100)

Looks like Tony just bought one, shown here.

Here's another one in action.
… Jay Barnes, 22 January, 2008 - 11:45pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks
Just wish I'd thought of it sooner, like before I bought the RRS rail.

I found this one on eBay for $20 plus $20 shipping. Pricey to ship since it was (and still is) attached to the very heavy base. I may have gotten pretty lucky, as the fine focus movement is very consistent and the stage seems to raise/lower with little to no sideways "slop".

You could try starting here (hope that link works) and searching for "base", "stage", etc. You definitely want something from a "real" microscope with fine focus adjustment. The base from my SZ40, for example, might work for image stacks, but it would be difficult to get consistent distance intervals. The "fine focus" knob allows me to be fairly sloppy between exposures.
… Jay Barnes, 2 January, 2008 - 5:34pm login or register to post comments

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