One Competition & Two New Lenses
/Greetings all!
Another busy week is underway and the Macro Fundamentals project passes the 20% mark. This week we finish our exploration of lenses with a discussion of “the Limits of Resolution” and launch into a short but important section covering sensors and cameras. Here is a link to the first stream, on Tuesday at 8pm - https://youtube.com/live/avtJLkCcQ_0?feature=share
I am going to move quickly through this material so that we can maximize the time available for lighting. But before we get there I want to make sure that we cover the key contributions of Rayleigh, Abbe, and Nyquist - understanding the discoveries of these three pioneers will pave the way for a solid grasp on everything that follows. Here is your link to the second stream of the week, https://youtube.com/live/AWoPauZZvBQ?feature=share
This coming Saturday is the first “non-Pzoom” weekend of the month so we will be having an unusually early AfterStack. Believe it or not, this is our 47th episode! I have not spoken with Bud about this episode, but I am comfortable reminding you to bring an image or two that you would like to have some post-processing help with. To join this free event follow the link in this invitation - Allan Walls is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: AfterStack 47
Time: Sep 5, 2026 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6916802815?pwd=TS9tZi9ZL1NXeVUvOUF4eTg5YjdlZz09&omn=85334209691
Meeting chat link
https://us02web.zoom.us/launch/jc/85334209691
Meeting ID: 691 680 2815
Passcode: 678122
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• 6916802815@zoomcrc.com
Join instructions
https://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/85334209691/invitations?signature=tkcaj3RzLZZccSKpQ_PJYgeRsfA9btkKo_FU7R2-Pbg
You might be thinking that is shaping up to be a very gentle week for the channel, but that could not be farther from the truth. Behind the scenes this week I will judging the August competition with Ralf Richter. When that is done we will have to record, edit, and publish the video (in which we discuss the results).
This seems like a good time to announce the competition theme for September. The theme is “It’s Alive!” and unsurprisingly, your subject should be small and living. Would you like some further guidance? A Boeing 737? Nope - that is both large and not five - try again. How about a paperclip? Nope. The size works but the paperclip is not a living thing. How about a llama? Nope - you fixed the “living” part but were way over on the size limit. Wow, this is hard, let me think ….. a tadpole? Perfect! Both alive and little, your portrait of a tadpole is 100% acceptable. Also acceptable would be a bean sprout, a bed bug, a daphnia, or a black widow spider. Make your photograph interesting, surprising, educational, or humorous and you will be well on your way. Make it a well lit and expertly composed and you may well find yourself in the top 10! Small and alive - that is your mission.
When not working on the competition I need to complete a rigorous testing protocol for the two new LAOWA ultra macro, high-magnification Aksen lenses, before recording, editing, and publishing my video review of the equipment. You will want to watch the video if you have any interest in high magnification imaging but are less interested in having to lay out a small fortune for objectives, tube lenses, and other high-end gear. The results surprised me and they may well do the same for you. In the video I am also going to explain the testing process and share with you what I have learned about testing a lens that is unique in its design and operation. It is very difficult to make comparisons between two optical instruments when one of them represents a completely novel approach to capturing an image. There are no comparable instruments on the consumer market, as far as I know, and that means we have to come up with test protocols that take into account the features of the new system. Lights may have to be repositioned, apertures opened, ISOs tweaked, or shutter speeds adjusted as the test lenses are changed. There is quite a bit of experimentation required to come up with tests that are truly reliable. At the end of the day, though, we end up comparing the best images that we can get from both lens systems. And this is not a quick or simple process. My AI content management project is going slow but only because I am holding off on releasing it until I have completed my Macro Fundamentals series, ensuring that the content referenced by the AI will be current, accurate, and complete. This week we be up to chapter 13 of 50. Great progress, I think!
There is much to be done and little time in which to do it, so I had better get cracking…