Looking at my objectives they are labeled, for example, "Plan 40X/0.65 160/.17". I read that to mean it is a Plan Achromat with a 40X magnification and an N.A. of .65, but what the heck is a "160/.17"?? George, I'll be pretty busy for the next couple of days, and I hope/presume some other people wi...

George, I've looked over your previous posts, and I see a huge range of subject, method, and equipment. I also see a lot of really good images. But I can guess that you're wrestling with that new Reichert (sp?) Stereo Star Zoom, especially if you're comparing against Charlie's images ;-) So... Can y...

Hah! I accidentally left the rotated image on my monitor overnight, and when I got up this morning, it no longer looked weird to me. In fact now I like it better than the original, despite that the hole still looks like it's in a vertical wall of dirt and I know it wasn't. Seems like another one of ...

=D> =D> =D> Words fail me. These images are just too good to compliment adequately in text and emoticons. Wow! I notice once again that these metallic scales are curved and do not have serrated tips -- very different structure from the usual flat wing scales. In your experience is this typical, or a...

Mike & Ken, I tried rotating the image 90 degrees and it just looked weird -- like the hole was in a vertical wall of dirt. I like it better the way Hendrik presented it. Hendrik, welcome aboard! I have the same type lens, and I have noticed that mine systematically shifts focus as it stops down, so...

Ken, I think I figured out what's going on -- you know what the flowers actually look like, and we other viewers don't! So we're all lark-happy because the flowers look like flowers (of some kind) and we can see details in the wasps, but meanwhile you're bothered because the flowers in the pictures ...

Yes, swallowtail. Exactly which kind, I don't have much clue. This coloration is typical of the first couple of instars (molts) of all the North American Papilio . In most groups, later molts change the coloration to solid green or to stripes of black with green/yellow/orange/pink, depending on the ...

Beautiful shot =D> I especially like the position of the male's legs -- kind of a Superman-in-flight sort of posture! The focus & DOF seem perfect. Black bugs and bright flowers are always difficult, but if you're unhappy with this exposure, I'd say that your standards are really Really high, 'cuz t...

Yes, eliminating CA is definitely a second-order improvement, far less important than improving DOF by using Helicon Focus or CombineZ5. It used to be, I did not notice CA so much. Then when I started to realize that it could be removed, I noticed it more and more. Now I routinely check for and remo...

That new scope looks pretty promising! But sorry, I don't know that particular model. With the metallic colors of the Buprestid Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae ), it's hard to know what's real and what's an artifact. I think a lot of the colors in this image are the beetle, but around the antennae ...

Very nice! For computer processing, you might also take a look at the free program PTLens ( http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/ ). It does a good job of removing chromatic aberration, such as around the beetle's antennae. For this particular image, I got good results with red-cyan correction of -0.0055 a...

A search showed that one popular name for craneflies is "daddy long leg". True, but be aware that "daddy-long-legs" is used more often for some spiders and spider-like things called harvestmen. (English is so confusing!) Interesting side note: I just did a quick Google search on "daddy-long-legs" t...

gunn, Sorry for the late comments -- I don't visit this forum as often as I should. Looking at the larger crops, I think it's clear that one problem is exactly where the lens is focused. In image #1 (IMG_5884), the hair is sharp at the left edge of the crop (at the subject's temple)and it's fuzzy in...

Your victim looks like a "crane fly" (Diptera:Tipulidae).

I agree, it is a great photo!

--Rik

Hmm, and sucking something up, from the looks of it!

What all do you folks walk on, down there?

--Rik