Using a DSLR
Tony Thomas

Rather than use a microscope, use a digital SLR camera to photograph. By adding, in reverse, a short focal length lens to a longer lens you can get high magnification. The longer the prime lens and the shorter the reversed lens the greater the magnification(I think the formula is long/short = magnification). Thus, a 50mm lens reversed onto a 200mm lens will give x4 magnification.

The image right was taken with a second-hand 50mm lens reversed onto a 105mm lens and is of Mythimna unipuncta, from New Brunswick, Canada.

The reversed lens is used wide open(max aperture) and the prime lens is used to control aperture. In this case, a 50mm lens was at f1.8 and a 105mm lens at f11. As with every macro shot, shallow depth of field is a problem. The Mythimna image comprised of 21 exposures stacked with Helicon Focus.

To get 'microscope level' magnification simply use a low power microscope objective. I use Jessops extension tubes that fit my digital SLR. I cut out a cardboard circle to fit the lens end, then painted the inside of the cardboard black; I then cut a hole in the carboard to hold the lens. For low powerI use just the 21mm tube, and for higher magnification I use all three tubes.

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