Nikon small world

Joel Klein wrote:

https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2022-photomicrography-competition/ant-camponotus

Can I capture this with a z MC105?!

Nahh…

Exactly.

You need three things.

1. A microscope objective or a high power macro lens. A tolerable objective can be had for around $100. High power macro lenses like an old Canon EP-65 (which you can use on non-Canon cameras with an adapter) or a new Laowa 2.5-5x (which you can get for most mounts) will set you back at least $400. I'd go with the objective, because it's cheaper, yet better, if you already have some other stuff you need to use with it).
2. A really big ant. The notes say that image was at 5x magnification. If it was shot on FF, the ant's head would be about 4mm, which means you're dealing with a truly enormous ant, maybe 15-20 mm long. For a smaller ant, you can go with a 10x objective. You're on you own for that.
3. Some way of positioning the ant and camera, and lighting the scene. Generally, this is at some sort of bench setup with a stable base that holds your subject and camera in relation to each other. Lights can be LED reading lights, small "macro flashes, or whatever flash you have handy. A "focusing rail" lets you focus by moving the camera closer to or farther from the subject.

The notes say that particular shot was captured with a 5x microscope objective. There are two kinds of objectives: finite and infinite. Finite objectives capture light from the subject and focus it directly on the sensor, like a regular macro lens, but way more powerful. To use one of those, you just need the right stack of tubes between the objective and your camera.

Infinity objectives are the "new darlings" of microscopy. They capture light from the subject, and send it through the tube as parallel rays that don't focus anywhere (they're said to "focus at infinity"). A second lens, called the "tube lens" then "grabs" that parallel light and focuses it on your sensor. This lens needs to be around 200mm, because the objectives are only designed to produce their rated magnification and their full image size (which is sometimes closer to APS than FF). The tube lens may be a small, cylindrical "optical capsule" that you mount in a tube. The ITL200 (made by Nikon for Thor Labs) is probably the most popular and people use them with many different brands of objectives: Mitutoyo, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, etc.

My usual setup is a finite objective with a Nikon EVIL (aka "mirrorless") and an older Nikon PB-4 bellows. I'm doing some work lately with infinite objectives, using my Nikon 200mm f/4.0 as a "tube lens". It's not ideal in that it's heavy and bulky, but I already have it. Macro is often about using the stuff you already have, creatively.

Still scary…

Absolutely. That's a camponotus ant, aka a "carpenter ant", probably camponotus ligniperda since the photographer is Greek. They won't hurt you directly, but they can wreck your house. That ghastly mouth is built to chew it's way through wood fibers, and the eyes are only used occasionally, since there's no light at all inside a burrow chewed into a dead tree.