Third level detail - the first baby steps of an ambitious project…

[antonroland]

Hello All

So I am getting ready to take a deeper look at my own prints in terms of possible variance in Level 3 detail.

At this point I am very much finding ways how to do it and gathering raw data. Also mostly discovering ways of how NOT to do it..

Any comments / encouragement / critique highly welcomed.

[antonroland]

19 JUNE 2025.jpg

15 JULY 2025.jpg

[antonroland]

So, broadly the plan is this…

Since it is generally accepted that the epidermal friction ridge skin renews itself in around 30 days, I am planning to take my own prints roughly every 30 days.

I started on 19 June and had the first repeat yesterday 15 July.

I am focusing on my thumbs for now and I am finding a lot of practicalities I can improve on. A4 copier paper is NOT as smooth as one would hope for and lighting it can also be a challenge given the close working distance of most macro lenses.

Happy days refining the collection of raw data…

[antonroland]

Another interesting challenge identified…

Using a Nikon D700, which is a lovely camera, I am finding that 12Mp images might not give me the desired degree of enlargement AND the image quality I wish to obtain so now I am exploring 2400dpi tiff scans on an Epson V750 flatbed scanner.

The lens at my disposal is Nikon’s very capable nano-coated 60mm f/2,8 macro 1:1.

The problem here is that the lens at 1:1 is about 3-4 cm / 1,5 - 1,75 inches away from the subject matter.

This makes it almost impossible to light the print properly without showing paper surface detail.

Maybe a Canon 5D Mk4 and a 100mm macro lens will solve this in a number of ways but let’s first see what the scans give me.

Oh well, who said getting there is half the fun?