AC160 Today's challenge-anyone know of a macro lens for 160?

R

Rod Pike

Well-known member
Hi all,
I am tendering for a shoot requiring macro close ups of the tip of a very fine medical needle. (it is so fine you can only see it when the light catches it!) This is in a machine and I can only get within around 12 inches of the action. Does anyone know of a screw in supplimentary lens which would allow almost low res microscopic view? It would need to be able to resolve the hairs on a bees leg (don't ask!). Or imagine a big close-up of a needle going into a skin pore with the ratio of a broom handle in a bucket!

I had such a set some years ago for my Sony VX9000- now long gone. The DOF is of course virtually nothing but it is the tip of the "needle" that will be centre stage.
Cheers!
Rod
 
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I bought a set of these (My camera takes the 67mm version):
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ODS-4-Cl...60514996357?pt=AU_Filters&hash=item53f05e4885

The quality is not all that good, but they were so incredibly cheap I thought I'd try them. I've had much more expensive closeup lenses in the past and they weren't all that much better.

I shot this with them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bkdJYQAD7c

Keep as wide as possible. The picture deteriorates the further you zoom in.

If you want something a bit better quality, there's this sort of thing.:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-...30808106854?pt=AU_Filters&hash=item35bd3c3766
 
Hi Mike,
thanks a lot for that. Your video is brutal when viewed so close! nice work. Tell me, what distance you were away from the target and what dioptres you used. and I notice two distinct magnifications. Was the closer one done in post?
Cheers!
Rod
 
I can't remember for sure now, but I used either the 2 or 4 diopter. The difference is when I zoomed in slightly to get closer. The softness and CA both increase. As I said, they could hardly be called "good", but for 40 bucks, it's a no-brainer. I don't know about the canon one I mentioned or some of the other more expensive ones available now days, but I had a single lens about 20 years ago that cost many times that and it wasn't all that much better. I'll take some stills through them for you later. That will give you a better idea of the quality.
 
All these were taken with my Nikon D90 and 18-105 lens set to 105mm, which would be something like 24mm on the AC160. The sharpness is better at wider settings, but if you can't get too close, you will need to zoom in a bit. If you want to see anything else, video or still, let me know.

Click on these to view the full size version with embedded EXIF.

2 Diopter


4 Diopter


10 Diopter


10 and 4 Diopter
 
Hey thanks so much Mike, I think 10 dioptre is where I need to be. Thanks for the research and data.
Cheers!
Rod
 
The problem is that you have very limited working room.

I just did a video test. I don't have a 160, but my consumer camera has a similar zoom range. This video is closer to what you want to do. I hope it helps.

The distance measurements are from the focal plane, not the front of the lens, so as you can see, you need to be pretty close with 10 diopter, even at 22x zoom.

http://youtu.be/HeFxmzGvlnk
 
Thanks for taking the trouble Mike, much appreciated. From your video I reckon a 10 dioptre will do it. Maybe with a bit of post enlargement.
As this is definitely a point action only, the DOF won't be an issue. I suspect vibration might be a bigger problem! (shoot is in science lab of university, several floors up)

If this job comes off, I will post the results of the macro bit for you and the rest of the forum to view. Thanks also for the links , I am now searching for reasonable quality supplementary macro sets. ( loads in USA but not many in NZ)
Cheers!
Rod
 
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