Newbie question about macro with DSLR

I wrote:
I plan to take many photos with a small shift, and stitch them
together

Paul Furman writes:
The bellows arrangements which allow this kind of shifting the camera
with the lens held in place aren't cheap, or at least not common for
35mm work.

Thanks for the info, but I won't need one of those. I wrote in my original
posting that I have a precision X-Y stage with microstepping control, so
the camera will be fixed and the sample will move.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
Extension tubes don't change magnification, they just allow you to
focus closer. While that likely was want you meant, there is a
difference.

Thanks very much for that clarification, as that was a point I did not
understand. I don't necessarily need the ability to focus especially
closely, except to the extent that doing so might be necessary for the
magnification I need.

BobW wrote:
It looks like Canon has updated their chart. I was looking at an old copy
(couple years). I would call them and verify that 10.9x number, but it may
be real.

OK, it's definitely worth a call.

However, it's a $1200 lens (plus $80 for the tube).

I'm hoping to be able to rent the lens, but if that's not possible, I'd
be willing to buy it provided that I have some reasonable confidence that it
will do what I need. Confirming Canon's published magnification number
will go a long way toward that.

Thanks!
Eric

Bob Williams wrote:
I don't know what your ultimate goal might be....BUT....
The following option may work for you and it is very inexpensive.
See: http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4220456

Wow! I'd rather just buy optics for use with a good camera, but as
you say, it is amazingly inexpensive. I think I'll have to buy one of
those even if it doesn't help with this particular project!

Thanks,
Eric

Joseph Meehan wrote:
I don't think you are going to get what you want with a macro
lens. This calls for a micro lens

This is the first I've heard of a "micro lens", so I did a Google search.
I did turn up one page saying that a micro lens was necessary for 10x or
higher magnification, but all the product pages I found were for Nikon
Micro-Nikkor lenses, and the specifications for those seemed comparable
to other vendors' macro lenses.

After a bit more searching, I found references to the discontinued
Raynox CM-3500 macro/closeup lens set, which includes 6x, 12x, and 24x
lenses:
http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/egindex.htm

Apparently these are intended for use with telephoto lenses. If I can
find a set, perhaps this might do what I want? I'm not sure.

Thanks!
Eric

Randy Berbaum wrote:
So your need of making .5 to 1 mm full frame would be almost impossible and
so badly formed that you may get only a few clear pixels in the center of
the image.

If "few" was as much as 1% of the total image area (10% linear on each axis),
that might be enough, since my X-Y stage has very good resolution. (I don't
have the numbers handy to quote a specific resolution figure).

But if you really only mean a few pixels, you're correct that it won't be
useful.

Thanks,
Eric

Eric Smith wrote:
Randy Berbaum wrote:
So your need of making .5 to 1 mm full frame would be almost impossible and
so badly formed that you may get only a few clear pixels in the center of
the image.

If "few" was as much as 1% of the total image area (10% linear on each axis),
that might be enough, since my X-Y stage has very good resolution. (I don't
have the numbers handy to quote a specific resolution figure).

But if you really only mean a few pixels, you're correct that it won't be
useful.

Thanks,
Eric

What are you going to photograph?

Remember that lenses are available at 20x magnification that will
resolve .5 micron ... that is, 1000 line pairs per mm.

You may not need that. If you don't, the (fixed focus) lens from a $50 teensy
surveillance camera, used backwards, may work fine.

Doug McDonald

Paul Furman writes:
On the other hand, how much detail do you need?

I'd like to resolve details with a minimum feature size of 3 microns.
That's how I came up with the requirement to magnify 1 mm of the subject
to full-frame of a 10MP camera.

I would eventually like to produce very large prints, e.g. a 60 inch
wide print of a 10 mm wide subject, using something like an HP Designjet
8000 or 9000 series printer, but my initial objective is just to produce
files for viewing on a computer. Those would be about 10,000 pixels on a
side (300MB uncompressed at 24 bits per pixel).

Thanks,
Eric

Doug McDonald wrote:
The OP needs a microscope objective. With a good one flat field is
no problem. He needs a 20 or 40x one for best results. I am assuming
a truly flat subject where no depth of field is needed.

I think the surface of the subject should be flat to within better than
2 microns. What may be tricky is leveling it relative to the camera.

If I buy an objective lens for a microscope, do you have any recommendations
as to mounting it? How do I determine how far from the sensor it should be
mounted? (Maybe I need to go back to school to study optics!)

he just need the objective
and some sort of illumination system. Olympus makes, or at least used to make,
the best equipment for this.

I've looked at the Olympus site, and am somewhat lost. If it's not too
much trouble, can you give me any more specific idea as to what I'm looking
for?

Thanks!
Eric

Eric Smith wrote:
This is the first I've heard of a "micro lens", so I did a Google search.
I did turn up one page saying that a micro lens was necessary for 10x or
higher magnification, but all the product pages I found were for Nikon
Micro-Nikkor lenses, and the specifications for those seemed comparable
to other vendors' macro lenses.

Yeah, for whatever reason Nikon calls "Micro" what everyone else calls
"Macro".

After a bit more searching, I found references to the discontinued
Raynox CM-3500 macro/closeup lens set, which includes 6x, 12x, and 24x
lenses:
http://www.raynox.co.jp/english/egindex.htm

That page opens a whole slew of product, not sure which on in particular
you are referring to. Anyway, I suppose those are those add-on lenses,
that you screw into the the filter threads.

Apparently these are intended for use with telephoto lenses.

The screw-on type can be used with any lens, not only telephoto.

If I can
find a set, perhaps this might do what I want? I'm not sure.

They are available from many different manufacturers for little money.
However I doubt that you will find any that will give you any decent
picture quality at the magnification you are looking for.

jue