Macro Movies

I mentioned using a web cam at the beginning of the article, and even showed the eyepiece attached to an Apple iSight. While not as high resolution or mobile as a point and shoot camera, the iSight (and other webcams) can be used to take macro movies.

There’s a handy application on the Mac called iVeZeen. It provides additional control over the iSight (brightness, sharpness, focus, color) and other convenient features, like motion detect recording. I used it here to boost brightness a bit and for fine focus control.

The iSight attaches easily to an eyepiece. It doesn’t have zoom control so you will see a little bit of vignetting. For the movie below I attached a 25mm eyepiece to the iSight and attached it to the bottom of a tripod. This was positioned over an old pocket watch with its back removed. The rotating wheel in the center is slightly larger in diameter than the eraser on top of a pencil.

«Magnification and Aperture

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Conclusion»