Mite attacking an aphid

Although the image quality suffers a bit, this is the best photo I have (at present), that shows a mite attacking an aphid. It might already have begun feeding because the aphid is showing the dead bug "folded leg" arrangement usually seen with dead insects.
Taken as one of a series of test images to see if an antique Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectilinear Lens could be used to get macro images. Answer: Yes. Opinion: Probably not worth the effort.

Taken hand-held using an 1891 vintage Bausch & Lomb 4×6 Rapid Rectilinear lens in a Unicum shutter, fitted with a supplemental lens… an internal element salvaged from badly damaged 7x35mm binoculars. Nikon D60, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, Rapid Rectilinear lens shutter left open on "T", with its aperture set at f/64, exposure made with the D60, lighting provided by pop-up flash reflected off foil covered reflector cards on a home-made macro bracket. A small bracket-mounted flashlight (focus-assist), was pre-aimed to illuminate anything close to the point of sharpest focus. The camera was moved forward and backward to focus, with the shutter being fired when the viewfinder image was sharpest. Here’s the set-up:

www.flickr.com/photos/61377404@N08/27110945354/in/datepos…

The depth of field using this configuration is extremely thin, making this particular use of the Rapid Rectilinear VERY impractical.

DSC-6109K

Posted by Small Creatures on 2020-04-25 04:23:43

Tagged: , Bausch & Lomb , Rapid Rectilinear , Aplanat , vintage lens , Unicum , pneumatic shutter , macro , closeup , supplemental lens , antique lens , D60 , Nikon , manual focus , push-pull focus