Yesterday's Iris seed photo was an experiment in macro photography (or is it micro?). The iris seed pod is a little over one inch long and a third of an inch in diameter. Cut open it reveals four rows of tiny seeds, perhaps a dozen or more per row, nestled like orange slices.

The Canon A70 doesn't get in quite as close as the Nikon 775 I used to use. The A70 usually needs to be two to three inches away in macro mode. At two inches away all of the seeds and quite a bit of surrounding area are visible, detail is so-so.

I don't have a macro lens for the camera but I do have a bunch of lenses for the telescope. With a fair bit of jerry-rigging you can sometimes get them to work. In this case I used a 40mm Plossl from Scopetronix. The bottom (chrome section) screws off which allows the camera lens to match up closer with the scope lens.

At first I tried the t-adaptor on the lens, which attaches the 40mm eyepiece to an adaptor on the camera. This doesn't bring the lenses close enough and there's way to much vignetting. Screwing off the bottom and using it in the other direction provides for a wider range of focus. Unfortunately, it isn't a mechanical connection so the chance of movement and blur is greater.

To improve the technique one could devise a cradle to hold the telescope lens in front of the camera lens. Then the whole assembly could be on a tripod for stability. Another improvement would be adding a spot or ring light (LEDs?). As it is the lens gets close enough that it blocks off some of the natural light.

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