Extreme Macro Coin Photography

Looks good to me, if you want the 'o' than crop it a bit closer.

I'm sure Ray will be by shortly and give you a better way.

way better then anything I could hope to do.

The image I attached has already been cropped quite a bit. The photo is in sharp focus; the fuzziness in the photo posted is from resolution loss. Stacking will only help if depth of field limitations only allow part of the image to be in focus.

I don't want to use a microscope; I'm looking for a lens configuration to use on my DSLR. I'm fairly confident the Canon MP-E 65mm macro will work, but it's pricy. I'm wondering if there's a way to use extension tubes or bellows with some type of lens to shoot at more magnification than the approx. 2X I'm currently getting.

Once you start using a good extreme macro lens (like a microscope objective or hi-mag bellows lens) at high magnification, stacking is definitely needed to get the sharpest image. Here's a closeup pic taken with the Mitutoyo 10X/0.28 Plan APO microscope objective (requires a tube lens, and not just a bellows):

Complete APSC frame -



Enlarged crop -



The Zerene Stacker tables say that the DOF is only about 7 microns with NA of 0.28, so you'd probably want a stack increment of 5 microns to be in perfect focus.

Hi JMT,

IMO the best solution for what you're trying to do is a microscope objective with focus stacking, but most objectives have a limited mag range, so you need to decide the range you need and if you would need to get two or more objectives. There are a limited few objectives which can do well across a wide range though, as well as bellows lenses like the 35MP mentioned by pepactonius above. The 35MP is expensive but has wide coverage and is one of the best choices around for 2-4x.

One possible solution is to buy an "infinite" objective and mount it to the front of your 150mm lens. This has the advantage of not needing to change much in your system except to add the objective to the front when you want to take a high mag shot. The disadvantage is that the mags are even more fixed than with "finite" objectives which use extension to adjust magnification, but if you are happy with the results it's a more convenient way to go.

I recently did a comparison of some of these methods and published the results here:

http://www.macrocoins.com/variety-image-compo.html

My Sigma 150mm lens uses 62mm filters; do I look for a 62mm "infinite" objective? Sorry for the beginner type questions; I'm obviously green to this stuff.

Infinite objectives are easily available on ebay.

Here's an example of a 4x infinite made for AmScope:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AmScope-A4...401058342813

That objective will give you about 3x magnification using your 150mm lens. The normal focal length for infinite objectives is 200mm, so a 150mm will give 150/200 or 75% of the rated magnification. Note that I have not tested that objective so can't specifically recommend it, just showing it as an example. It is probably OK, and while not cheap, the risk is fairly low. 3x will be lower magnification than what is shown on the page I linked, but will still give a workable result that can be cropped to desired FOV.

If you are thinking of going "finite route", then I have a question...does your 150mm have a tripod mount, or are you mounting camera to the copy stand. Your answer will determine if a bellows or extension + helicoid is more appropriate for your system.

For lighting, an Angel Eyes ringlight might work well with the objective. You may need to remove the trim ring from the objective, or perhaps not. They make a 40mm diameter ringlight that works with a 12V DC supply. I use them extensively for my work.