Best Macro EOS 30D For Gemstone 10x Photos

Any suggestions for a Macro lens for a Canon EOS 30D Macro lens to take close up (at least 10x) photos of gemstones? It needs to be able to show very detailed images to show flaws in the gemstones that are viewable under a 10x loop but not necessarily seen by naked eye. I have been looking at the Canon 100m 2.8 but not sure if that would be the right one and would like some suggestions before I spend this much money. Also would I need one of the round flashes that goes around the end of the lens or is that necessary? I have also looked at the screw on macro "extension tubes" that supposedly are a cheap way for close ups and do not affect image quality, do they work? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

10x on the image capture? the closest anyone comes to having a lens for that is the MP-E65, which goes to 5:1. Alternatively, use a regular lens reversed on a bellows. You're going to be looking at about 11-12x the focal length extension and woring distance of just over the focal length (from the lens' nodal point, so actual distance will be less). If you're content to just have a final print magnification of 10x, however, most macros will do fine; shoot at 1:1 and enlarge to about an 8x10 or so print.

Hello tristay,

There is a Macro section on this board and I suggest you also seek advice there.

Anyway, to photograph flaws in gemstones, I think you'll need to attach the camera to a low magnification microscope - I doubt a macro lens on bellows (to obtain a larger magnification) will be a good enough solution.

Whatever way you'll do it, CombineZ-m is a free program that will let you stack images taken at different focusing depths. You will be able to show all the flaws detected in a gemstone at various depths on a single picture.

http://www.hadleyweb.p​wp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZ​5/combinez5.htm

EDIT:: I know I'm a slow typer, no need to remind me of that, Jon

I don't know exactly what 10x is, but judging from a 14x loupe that I have, the Canon MP-E 65mm will get you close to there.


I think the images in this thread illustrate the amount of detail this lens can produce. The bugs are probably less than 3mm long.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=426478

Sorry but I am not familiar with the lingo, what do you mean by "reversed on bellows"? I am wanting the image close to a 10x loupe that a jeweler uses. 10x means "ten times magnification". I don't have $900 to spend so I need other options. Do the inexpensive Macro expansion lenses work (have to hassle with screwing them on and off, is that the only draw back)? Thank you for your help guys and gals! How close will the Canon 100m 2.8 get and is it a good all around lens plus macro? What exactly does say "3/4.5" mean in a lens description? I know AF is "auto focus" but the numbers are throwing me and I can't seem to find out from the manufacturers website. I guess I am should know this but I am kinda new and have just purchased the camera with standard lense. I still have my old Maxxum non digital, just recently went digital.

I guess you mean the image on your screen or print should have a 10x magnification.
Lenses like the 100mm deliver 1:1 magnification. This means that the object photographed has the same size on the sensor as in reality. The sensor is 22.5 x 15.0 mm. The resolution should enable you to enable you to print in A4 = 297 x 210 mm. So you will get more than 10x magnification. So the 100m (or other 1:1 macro) should work. Does that make any sens

This is a set of macro bellows

The closer you get to the subject the larger its image on sensor/film.

But any normal lens will be able to focus only to a predetermined minimal distance, which is not short enough to obtain large images on sensor. Macro tubes or bellows, mounted between lens and camera body (without any optics of their own), are just hollow spacers meant to increase the lens-sensor distance as that's required to focus at shorter lens-subject distances.

The ability to focus at closer subject distances is so achieved. But a normal lens is not designed to yield a sharp picture with the subject very close in front and the sensor far behind - the opposite relationship is expected. So you mount the lens reversed to suit the way it was intended to work to get all the sharpness the lens is capable of.

www.gemprint.com

Tristay, I think you're barking up the wrong tree by asking for 10X magnification. As Sebastien said, you get lots of magnification when you view the shot, either as a print or on the screen.

A 1X macro lens will fill the 22.5 mm sensor with an object that's 22.5 mm wide. That's 3504 pixels for the width of the picture.

When I view that on my screen it gets magnified: my 19 inch monitor is 14 inches across and I've got my video card set to 1280 pixels width.

So the full screen width of 14 inches shows only 1280 pixels of the whole 3504 pixel image. The whole image, scrolling across my screen, is 38.325 inches wide.

So the original 22.5 mm (0.886 inch) shot is 38.325 inches wide on the screen, for an overall magnification of 43.26 X.

That's from a 1 X macro shot.

-js

Gemprint.com???? What am I supposed to see there?

There are microscope adapters for cameras.

tristay,
You can get true 10X with a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 set on 5x and a 2xTC with a Full Frame camera. However you will loose some sharpness with this setup. If using a 1.6 DSLR like a 30D you can probably get a FOV of 10x with a 1.4xTC and MP-E 65 f/2.8 at 5x.
Another option is using a micro scope with an adapter like gasrocks suggested.

In the macro world, '10X' refers to the reproduction ratio of actual size vs. size on sensor/film, whereas '10X' in the jeweler's loupe refers to the area magnification vs. real size.

So if you photographed something at 1:1 reproduction, then magnified it by 3.2X (linear magnification) to a final print of 47mm x 71mm, that achieves the same thing as a 10x jeweler's loupe!

Wilt,
Yes.. that was an excellent description
I got hung up on the 10x macro and didn't even think about the print or for that matter monitor display in my answer