I purchased a new confocal microscope a few months ago, and with it I got a dedicated microscope camera. It is meant to be computer controlled as usual in microscopy and images looked quite nice, but perhaps a little lack lustre in overall appearance. I ascribed this to the "mere" 6 MPix provided by the CCD camera and not to my own incompetence in operating the system
Whatever the reasons might be, I soon was tempted to upgrade to a more modern camera with 18 MPix CMOS sensor. A substantial 73% increase in resolving power made for better image quality, no doubt about that.
Oh well. I suddenly had another camera "free" for experimentation and quickly found that my old 28mm f/1.8 Ultra-Micro-Nikkor suited it perfectly. An Arca-type plate was added using the ever-present Araldite Epoxy Glue, and now I had a nice set-up for use on a spare Novoflex Macro Stand.
Thus, at virtually no additional cost, I have another capable close-up system. The current configuration provides around 1:3 reproduction which is fine for overview of plant details. An example below, this is the floating-leaved rosette of a flowering Water-starwort
Callitriche sp. I'm still working on the final ID as the sample is atypical.
The nice aspect of the matter is I can have the unit sitting there, unobtrusively, in a corner of my studio, until a close-up is required.
Ultra-Micro-Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8, 23 frames stacked. Scale steps are 1mm.
