dkCambridgeshire Posted December 6, 2011 Share #1 Posted December 6, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Q&D Experiment with Leica X1 plus Leitz ELPRO VIIa close up lens fitted to KIWI filter holder tube. Straight JPEG with no post processing. ISO100 , f9, 1/10 sec; illumination via 3 x IKEA 'JANSJÖ' lamps - subject on copy stand above black velvet background on baseboard; camera set to aperture priority. Fossil is 6 inches long and 5 inches wide. So far I'm quite pleased with the X1's close up performance when used with ELPRO close up lenses. This is the apparatus used for the photo: dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here Polished ammonite fossil section. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wda Posted December 6, 2011 Share #2 Posted December 6, 2011 This is remarkably good, Dunk and the result of a thinking scientist I have a feeling you will be going further with this experiment. If so, please keep us posted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted December 6, 2011 This is remarkably good, Dunk and the result of a thinking scientist I have a feeling you will be going further with this experiment. If so, please keep us posted. Thank you David - Yes I plan to go a bit further - The calcite deposits in the buoyancy chambers need a bit of highlighting via fibre optics and use of a circular polarising filter should eliminate the reflections .. and needs a bit of post processing to improve the overall quality. I started out earlier this afternoon taking pix of a nautilus shell using a new 'darkbox' for transillumination but the box proved to be too small - thus reverted to frontal lighting on this specimen instead. This is the first time i've used these IKEA lamps and I'm not sure of their colour temperature ie whether can mix fiber optic tungsten light with them. But for the £9.99 cost (each lamp) they are a very cost effective means of providing swan neck lamps for close up photography provided a tripod or copy stand is used. They are not powerful lamps thus need longish shutter speeds. Snoots over the lamp heads should provide more directional light; the lamps do not get too hot so paper snooots should suffice. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share #4 Posted December 7, 2011 Taken again to improve framing, and the illumination of the calcite deposits in the buoyancy chambers. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted December 9, 2011 The Elpro VIIa (1.66 diopter) and VIIb (0.75 diopter) close up lenses were designed for use with the 90mm, 100mm and 135mm Leica R lenses. The Elpros are probably not really suitable for use with the 24mm lens but they do enable sufficient extra magnification / closer focus to make this a worthwhile exercise. When combined together, the Elpros VIIA and VIIb also work as a pair with the 24mm but one was sufficient to fill the frame with this specimen. The reason I tried this exercise was to try and obtain some close-up photos outside the X1's designed 'rather meager' close focus range and thus extend the usefulness of camera. The increased magnification is not great but it is enough for fossils of this size which otherwise would not fill the frame - and the X1 is a very easy camera to use. The image sharpness has proved sufficient to make an excellent 15" x 10" print - and is probably sufficient for further enlargement. dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave.gt Posted December 11, 2011 Share #6 Posted December 11, 2011 Very nice, Dunk! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Allsopp Posted December 11, 2011 Share #7 Posted December 11, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for this useful information. One thing puzzles me, what part does you anorak play in this? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted December 11, 2011 Thanks for this useful information. One thing puzzles me, what part does you anorak play in this? It covers the stainless steel pedal bin which was used to 'elevate' the Ikea lamp . But later I substituted a cardboard box Ikea lamps used with Leica X1 by s4sargent, on Flickr Ikea lamps used with Leica X1 by s4sargent, on Flickr And the 6x6 loupe is used on top of the camera's monitor screen an aid to composition - and it helps define the edges of the frame when using a black background. The fossil was too close to the top of the frame in the first photo because the black frame edges were indistinct when looking at the monitor with the naked eye. With the loupe, the edges are more distinct. Best wishes dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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