| My Nikon F1 configured for highest magnification. I use three extension rings, a macro lens and a telephoto lens mounted backwards. High magnification means small appeture so two flashes are essential. I use a standard flash (F1) and a slave flash (F2) triggered by the primary flash. Typically I mount the slave flash above the micro-aquarium or tank (on the glass cover) and the primary flash to the side. Photographing from several angles avoids capturing unintentional reflections from a flash tube. |
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| Components: camera (C), cable trigger for shutter (T), telephoto lens
(L1), macro lens (L2), extension rings (E1,E2 @ 2x, E3 @ 1.5X), Tripod
base (B), and adapter ring (R). The adapter ring is a metal ring
threaded on both sides which joins the (reversed) telephoto to the macro
lens.
Extension rings are an inexpensive alternative to a bellows for high magnification. A good tripod (not shown) is essential. I position my tripod and micro-aquarium to set the focus using a piece of paper in the center of the aquarium before I fill it or move fish. |
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| A micro-aquarium may be fabricated with microscope slides and aquarium sealant. For high magnification photographs of eggs and wigglers a slide with a concave well will do. The micro-aquarium should be as thin as possible to keep the subject within the depth of field of the camera. |
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| A micro-aquarium defined by a single layer glass spacer is thick enough for very small free swimming fry. As the fry grow, additional glass spacers are required. For small fish the glass may be sealed on edge producing a cell up to one inch in depth. |
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| Small fry are easily transfered to the micro-aquarium using a medicine dropper.
For larger fry (and a thicker micro-aquarium) a small net will work. The easist way to
return the subject to the growout tank is by emersing the entire microquarium in the tank
and letting the fry swim out.
With no reflecting material behind the micro-aquarium, a dark background image is obtained. |
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| How does one determine the right exposure time and f-stop? Ok, I guess I should say something about this. In the future I will post some of the simple equations one can use to calculate the exposure corrections as a function of magnification. However, I must confess I never used those equations myself. I determined the correct exposures by trial and error. The procedure is as follows. Shoot lots and lots of film at different exposures, different angles, and with different lighting conditions. Process the film somewhere cheap. Keep the good shots. |
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