Micro-Optik

Just when I start feeling smug that I've been good about writing posts, I blink and then a month vanishes.  This is my first clue that I've been busy.

I don't share a whole lot from my day job, as I rely on doing enough other interesting things to generate blog content.  However, I'm breaking that pattern today.


Optik

What you see here is mostly the result of me having a new toy to play with tool to work with, a stunning 5x macro lens.  The object you're looking at is about 4mm in diameter and is the lens assembly that is the heart of the ninja-eyeglasses we make. To make the scale clear: the letters you see under the lens, "c-e-n-t-s," are readily visible on the nickel in your pocket.

Photo geeks: when working at high magnifications, your exposure is driven by effective aperture. It goes like this: effective aperture = aperture * (1 + magnification). In the non-macro world, we have little magnification and thus, effective aperture ~= aperture. At 5x, however...

The above photo was made at f/16 to keep the depth-of-field from being non-existent. Thus, effective aperture is 16*(1+5)=f/96. As such, even at ISO 800, I've got two full-power flashes about 6 inches away from the subject, and that's what it took to get a good exposure.

[/photogeek]

In other news, my racing season kicks off in 3 weeks and I'm super-excited to re-enter the competitive arena. I've got a big schedule lined up for this year, and that means that this space will soon be filled with race reports and photos of hot chicks in spandex.

I'll keep bouts of inactivity here to a minimum in the future, hopefully keeping all seven of my regular readers entertained.

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