I have a considerable experience in macro-
and close-up photography of
shells and fossils (over 30 years) and take all pictures for the illustrations
in my own scientific publications. In practical
terms, this experience amounts to several hundreds of photographs published
in international scientific journals and books, and several tens of
thousands of photographs in my personal archive, which I use continuously as
a source of observations and illustrations for my
scientific research. I
also used to do my own B&W darkroom work until 2000,
when I switched to digital photography.
Besides my use of photography in research, I have an interest in macro- and
nature photography, especially birds.
These
pages are based on my personal experience. Some of them
deal with technique, and much of it applies both to film and digital
photography. A set of these pages provides my personal impressions on some of
the
pieces of equipment I own and use. My impressions are based on a substantial use
of these items, although I do not claim to use all their features, or even to
make an optimal use of them. In fact, it is entirely possible that I am using
some of these items in ways never intended by their designers. My purpose with
these pages is not to make comparisons with other equipment,
and especially with other camera brands. At present, I only use Nikon DSLRs and Micro 4/3 Panasonic and Olympus cameras, and lenses and accessories that work with these. Therefore, the
contents of this site are heavily Nikon- and Micro 4/3-centric. If you are
looking for reviews of other brands, or of the latest models of cameras and
lenses, you will be better off checking some of the biggest photography web
sites.
I
started this section of my web site in the summer of 2006, and will be adding
pages as my time permits. Therefore, please feel free to re-visit my web site
now and then.
At the beginning of 2011, I published a book entitled Digital photography for science: close-up photography, macrophotography and photomacrography (follow the above link for more information). The contents of this book are obviously related to many of the pages linked below,
but the book provides a more detailed, integrated and updated coverage of these subjects. It also concentrates on technique and methods, while many of the pages listed below are mainly tests and reviews of equipment. The book contains also chapters on setting up a laboratory for scientific photography, a discussion of professional scenarios in which scientific photography is carried out, as well as detailed discussions on the construction or modification of special photographic equipment.
This book has taken much of my free time during the past two years, and updates to this web have been much less frequent than in the past. I also tried to avoid the duplication of contents between book and web site. However, plenty of information not suitable for the book (e.g., new tests and reviews of equipment), will continue to be added to this web site.
This is a list of equipment I own and use (and some of the equipment
I used in the past, especially cameras). Follow the available links to see a brief description
of the items, and my impressions based on use in practical situations. I will
add links
as my time permits.
Cameras (including old ones I no
longer have or use) Olympus OM-D E-M5 Panasonic G3 (modified for
IR+VIS+UV)
Nikon D300s
Nikon D200 Nikon D70s (modified for
IR+VIS+UV) (also used for test and other test), and its performance
Nikon Coolpix 7900
Nikon Coolpix 5700
Nikon Coolpix 950
Olympus OM-2n
Olympus OM-10
Pentax ES-II
Pentax Spotmatic SPII Condor 1
Finite microscope objectives (used/tried for photomacrography) Nikon Plan 2x 0.05
Nikon U 5x 0.1 (microscope objective with a diaphragm)
Nikon E Plan 10x 0.25 LWD 160/- Nikon M 40x 0.5 ELWD
Nikon M 20x 0.5 ELWD
Zeiss Epiplan HD 8x 0.2
Zeiss Epiplan HD 16x 0.35 Lomo 9X 0.20 (microscope objective with a diaphragm)
Infinity microscope objectives (used/tried for photomacrography)
Nikon CF Plan 5x 0.13 ∞/0 EPI
Nikon CF Plan 10x 0.30 ∞/0 EPI
Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 2x 0.055
Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 5x 0.14
Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 10x 0.28
Mitutoyo M Plan Apo 20x 0.42
Macroscopes, microscopes and accessories (except objectives) Mitutoyo FS-60 (modified for focus stacking) Homemade autonomous focus stacker Wild/Leica Photomacroscope M420 Zeiss Tessovar (photomacrographic zoom system)
Zeiss Photomicroscope I
Nikon UW trinocular head
Nikon W trinocular head
Leitz Galen III stand
Zeiss stereomicroscope III
Leitz Aristophot III stand Custom macrophotography stand - my current favorite
LM microscope photo relay lens
Nikon CF PL 4X MPC microscope photo relay lens
Olympus PE 2.5x microscope photo relay lens
Other camera supports
IFF 90 cm repro stand
Manfrotto #131DDB accessory arm
Manfrotto mini hydrostatic arm
Manfrotto gooseneck arm
Manfrotto clamp
The following items are odds-and-ends related to photographic technique and
equipment.
Literature and resources Old literature -
This page makes electronic copies of several old manuals and booklets available for download. They describe photographic (especially Nikon and Nippon Kogaku) and microscope equipment, some of which is reviewed on my site. I moved this section to a separate page, since it keeps growing. Photography resources - A short list of the web sites and books on photomacrography and/or Nikon equipment that I find most useful.
Copyright (c) Enrico Savazzi, 1990 -
. This page was created
in 2006
, last updated
April 22, 2013
(last update refers to any change of contents, styling and/or web host)
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