sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

When the temperature hits 100-F plus, it's a good time to play indoors so why not catch a fly and stage it for a focused stacking session?

This is a 10X magnification view of the antenna of a green bottle fly. The optic used for the camera is a Mitutoyo 10X M Plan APO microscope objective mounted on extension tubes utilizing a Raynox DCR-150 as the required tube lens. Illumination was provided with an LED soft panel light and a piece of vellum tracing paper fashioned as a cone mounted on the end of the objective covering the specimen.

309 separate images were taken at a distance of 3 microns each and processed in Zerene Stacker to produce the image posted.

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Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Fantastic Image!!!

EnglishBrenda Loc: Kent, England

Super image Gary.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Manglesphoto, Thanks for viewing.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Brenda. I appreciate your viewing and reply.

Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL

So that’s what I can do when it is 100. Just not as expertly. Thank you for sharing.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

A fantastic image, Sippy!

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Mark. I cannot over-express the importance of flocking the internal surfaces as well as any exposed surfaces of adapters when it comes to the use of higher magnification optics.

The hot spell created the need to play indoors, so with nothing to do and all day to do it, I disassembled the extension tube, adapters, and the Raynox tube lens. I blacked out any internal part that was exposed (I had done this already and this was more of a touchup).

I found that the Raynox DCR-150 used as the tube lens has a thin rim around the glass so I surgically cut flocking to cover over it. I did a light test several times until there was nothing visible when looking through the assembly but a crisp circle of light in a sea of darkness.

This image of the fly antenna is a result of that labor.