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	3 different Nikon CF microscope lenses.

Not all microscope lenses are suitable for photography. Often, they are adjusted to work with an eyepiece lens. Nikon CF microscope lenses has a sufficient correction for chromatic aberration, and they are sharp lenses.

The 3 microscope lenses I've tried are the Nikon CF E 10X, the Nikon CF M 10X and the Nikon CF EPI 5X. The first 2 are finite lenses that have a pipe length on respectively 160mm and 210mm, which indicates the distance from the lens to where you look in the eyepiece when they sit in a microscope.

	Equipment for extreme makrofografering. Nikon CF E 10X microscope lens on camera Nikon D7000. The lens is at a distance of about 15 cm from the film plane.

Finite lenses can be attached to the camera with the use of bellows or extension tubes and the necessary adapters. Here are used a conical RMS thread for 42mm adapter and T2 ring. (Available for purchase on Ebay.)

		Nikon microscope lens CF E Plan 10X LWD.

Nikon microscope objective CF E Plan 10X LWD. E stands for educational, Plan for chromatic level, LWD stand for long working distance. Long working distance is important to get light to the subject. 160 indicates that it is a finite microscope lens, which was adjusted to have a length of pipe in the microscope of 160 mm. When the eyepiece is about 10mm, the lens will sit at a distance of about 150mm from the camera's film plane. This lens is also sharp with a distance of 100 mm. The magnification is then approximately 8X.

	Extrem macro photography. The photo was taken with the above lens. Stacked of 100 images. Illuminated with electronic flash SB-700.

		Nikon CF Plan 5X infinite mikroscope lens.

Nikon CF Plan 5X infinite microscope lens. The infinity symbol / 0 means it is an infinite lens, so it must be mounted on a telephoto lens of 200mm for optimum correction of chromatic aberration. WD stands for working distance. Here it is 22.5 mm. EPI means that the lens is designed for a particular lighting technique. It has no importance, when it is used for photography.

	Extreme macro photo. Eye of the butterfly European Peacock. Taken with Nikon CF Plan 5X infinite microscope lens. Stacked of approximately 100 images.

Focus stacking is a technique that can be used to increase the depth of field in all types of photography.

But especially in extreme macro photography it is a technique that is needed. When shooting with microscope lenses, it is often necessary with more than 100 photos, where focus has shifted slightly for each photo.

If many images are needed, it is necessary to have a macro rail, that the camera can run on. I use a Stack Shot macro rail with a small engine that can be programmed to take the desired number of images with the desired distance.

Special software is used to compose images to get a picture with great depth of field. The good software is Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker. Helicon Focus is quick and easy to work with. Zerene Stacker is slow if there are many images to be "stacked", but in certain situations it can provide clearer images. There is a free program called CombineZP that gives good results. It is also slow if many images are to be "stacked".