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UltravioletPhotography

Hello!


hmillner

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Hello to everyone...

I am new to UV and became interested through some research when i found that flowers I was studying had strong reactions under UV torches.

So, I am now trying to study nectar guides in small (<1cm) orchid flowers which up till now i have been researching via focus stacking macrophotography.

If anyone is interested - i can post one or two pics.

 

At the moment I am trying to get some basic equipment together, I already have an El-nikkor 50mm 2.8 lens, bellows and adaptor rings.

The next thing i really need is a camera for adapting to UV

I intend to buy a Nikon DSLR second hand, but want to make I buy a suitable model to start with.

My main concern is getting images that are high defintion, so for this reason I have been looking at the D3200 model. This has 24 megapixels and live view, which is necessary for me.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks in advance

 

 

Helen

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Hello Helen and welcome to our website. We hope you enjoy it!

 

Bjørn and I have a strong interest in botanical UV-signatures and would enjoy seeing your work. We have both an informal UV section and a formal botanical section for posting such work. Or there is the Techniques & Tests section for initial experiments.

 

One of the 24-megapixel cameras would be very good for detail work. Sony or Nikon or Panasonic models have all been used successfully.

 

One consideration for you is how your EL Nikkor 50/2.8 and your camera of choice get along.

  • First: Each lens and each camera have a flange focal distance which must match for infinity focus capability. Given that you will work close-up and on bellows, this ability to focus at a long distance is most likely much less important to you.

  • Second: Most cameras will not auto-meter with an adapted lens or a lens on bellows. This is may or may not be a drawback to you. (I don't know your level of photographic experience.) Live View helps with this, so again this may not be an important factor. But some Live Views do not show the actual exposure being seen by the camera.

It was not clear from your post whether you are interested in reflected UV photography or the Visible fluorescence induced by shining a UV light source onto the flower? If it is reflected UV photography, then you will probably need a broader UV light source than a UV-LED torch can provide for best results. This means looking for some type of UV flash or Xenon lamp. If it is fluorescence photography, then your UV torch will work well if it has a peak around 365 nm.

 

In our reference section you can find our Stickies which have a lot of info about various topics: http://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/forum/38-indexes-lists-stickies-and-references/

 

Also see this post which contains Tag Searches for posts about specific topics like UV lighting, filters, lenses and so forth: http://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/1596-index-tag-searches/

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My usual field camera for hand-held UV work is the Nikon D3200 modified to have a Baader U filter inside. Combined with the Coastal Optics 60 mm f/4 APO lens and a SB-140 flash, I can get excellent quality UV records. I prefer the 60/4 lens for this kind of operation as allows a better balance and working distance with the SB-140 than say the UV-Nikkor 105 mm f/4. Before I changed over to the D3200, a Nikon D40X served the same purpose. For studio work a broad-band Nikon D600 or the D3200 is employed. With the D600, I need to mount the Baader filter in front of the lens (or sometimes to the rear, for photomacrography) and a UV torch (Nichia UV LED) is required for focusing illumination. UV light source is studio flash(es) with uncoated Xenon tube.

 

When I need UV video, a modified Panasonic GH-2 is useful. For this camera, I either use the Coastal 60 lens, or any of the 35/3.5 "Kuribayashi" clones floating around. The Baader U then is mounted inside the lens mount adapter for the m43 camera. The GH2 allows almost perfect UV w/b in-camera, a feat that the Nikons cannot achieve, but its dynamic range and image quality is lower. Besides, being mirrorless there is no direct optical finder and this is a disadvantage as an EVF requires sufficient UV levels in order to focus the camera in UV unless again the UV torch is used, which for hand-held field work is quite impractical. If you employ a tripod in the field, almost any camera can be used, however, the operational speed is greatly reduced. Thus there are pros and cons to every approach.

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First of all thank you for the replies.

I have enjoyed looking at the orchid pics, and they have certainly given me food for thought.

The role of the conical cells is very interesting - I really do need to study some more of them under the microscope.

I am now waiting (a bit impatiently) for a suitable D3200 to come up on the second hand market. There were plenty a few weeks ago, but not now when I actually intend to buy one!

I tried to upload images, but was asked for the image URL. How do i go about this as I don't keep any pics publically accessible on places like Flikr etc ??

Many thanks

Helen

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Use the "Full Edit" mode to allow you to browse for pictures on your local machine. Select, wait for the file to upload so you see its thumbnail, then click "Add to post".

 

Do note the image will be inserted at the current point of the cursor in the post. If you got it placed wrong, just move the image reference to the correct position.

 

If you want to add images from an external server, use the little thumbnail icon, and put the URL in the text box that pops up.

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Helen, two good places to look for used camera bodies in the US are at LensRentals.com and Keh.com. I don't know if you are US based, but I think they both do ship to Europe.

 

When using the "Reply to this topic" box, the "More Reply Options" button brings up the full editor.

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