Macro and camera format

[Galah]

Recently I have been trying to photograph a small round seed pod at about 1:1 with my Olympus OM1 and 50mm Macro with extension rings. I put the lens on f/22 which is probably an actual f/45 or so at 1:1. The 8x10 proofs I made aren't impressively sharp, and I think I have eliminated camera/subject motion as a cause.

Effective Aperture=Nominal Aperture x (magnification +1)

So, in your case (above) EA=22(1+1)=44

[Nathan Potter]

The Z stacking is superior but as David points out this is an analogue site, so instead the OP could use a psuedo stacking technique developed long before digital shenanigans. That would be all analogue scanning photomicrography. The idea is simple and obvious but devilishly difficult to execute. The trick is to illuminate the subject with a sheet of light of a thickness equal to approximately the depth of field of the lens while simultaneously focusing the lens at that illuminated sheet. The subject is then moved thru the sheet of light while the shutter is open, exposing the entire subject during its transit thru the plane of best focus and illumination. Since the shutter is open during the extended exposure time (typically 10 to 30 sec.) the room needs to be darkened to avoid extraneous light fogging the film. The key advantage is that if the plane of light can be made as thin as the depth of field of the lens at a moderate aperture - say f/8 or 11 - pretty decent resolution can be realized over a large distance. The subject needs to be translated thru the focus plane at a uniform velocity to avoid banding of the lighting uniformity. One can use either a stepper motor or even gravity thru a dashpot connection for translation. I have done this in a vertical setup with translation in Zaxis and dual slit illuminators horizontally positioned in an X and Y plane. Lots of setup here but it gets the job done with superlative results.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.