Focus Stacking

[Hack]

The ether I plan to use in the ether in the aersol cans that you can buy in an auto parts store for starting a motor. One dap on a cotton swap should do.

Or just make a ham sandwich - whenever I go canoeing, and pack a few ham sandwiches for lunch, the bees always want to eat, too.

Hack.

 

[Overread]

Interesting - I've never had bees come after my ham sandwiches - might be I've not been close enough to any whilst eating or that its a difference in bee species.

Also to add to NateS point regarding diffraction it might help to know that (as far as I know) most methods that allow you to increase the magnification of the lens (extension tubes - close up lens attachments; reverse mounting; the MPE 65mm macro lens) also result in changing the actual maximum aperture of the lens setup.

This is something that happens with regular macro lenses as they approach 1:1 - something that Canon camera bodies don't report but Nikon ones do - with most f2.8 macro lenses becoming f5.6 lenses by 1:1. Increasing the magnification further again reduces the aperture so even if its not reported through the camera body the actual aperture is getting smaller and smaller. This is part of the reason that you have to keep selecting a wider and wider aperture as the magnification increases if you want to preserve image quality.

You can see this in effect in this test I did here:
MPE 65mm test shot series - a set on Flickr

This test is also the best way to get a idea of any high magnification setup - its simple and quick to do and gives you an idea of how well you setup performs at varying apertures - since the specific aperture that is the "best" to use will depened upon the lens setup; camera body; photographers own standards and also the output medium of the shot itself

 

[Hack]

Fantastic test on the Canon MPE 65mm macro, got to start saving.

The geared Manfrotto head, I assume it was the Junior 410. I've been looking into one. What are your thoughts on how well it does what it is supposed to do?

Hack

 

[Overread]

The head itself is a great performer and the smooth precise control on each axis is fantastic for macro work and it will take a good weight of camera and lens without any dipping or such problems.

The only part of it that does, sadly, underperform a little is the quick release plate, or rather the rubber grip upon the plate. Sadly I have found that it can be prone to let a camera setup slip around the screw mount. Unfortunatly its not a regular manfrotto quick release plate, so there are few adaptors/alternate designs on the market.

It's a minor weakness and might only be a problem because the quick release does not hold well with the focusing rail I use, and I've already considered using a welder to stick a better plate onto the regular plate.

 

[Hack]

Wow, that Canon MPE 65mm macro is expensive. Thanks for letting me know about the geared head. I read a lot of good reviews for it

I played around with my Canon 100 mm Macro lens, all thee of my extension tubes and the Canon 1.4 TC and soon realized that I wish I had a geared head.

Hack