ZUFAR 4/350mm quartz fluorite catadioptric lens II

Today more about that Quartz Fluorite catadioptric ZUFAR-2CA f4/350mm anastigmat lens which took me over 10 years to find. It had been developed for the Soviet MARS 2 to 5 missions to planet Mars, was made of synthetic Quartz and Calcium Fluorite (CaF2) crystals to be able to work in UV and also visible light, thus allowing to take images 300-700nm without focus shift.

 

So today a few first test shots using this very special lens, due to lack of the mount which need to be designed and made, just some freelensing shots. "Freelensing" means holding the lens in front of the camera without any mount in between the two (!).

Here some visible light shots, showing how this lens performs. This first one is about 150 meters away:

and the following one about 15 meters:

The lack of chromatic aberration gets easily visible on that golden ball as well as on these shiny stainless steel exhaust pipes.

Now on to reflected UV images (300-400nm), here right out of camera:

and here with whitebalancing applied:

Being able to handheld a f4 350mm lens and shooting in reflected UV (300-400nm) is rather astonishing, a proof how much UV this lens is able to transmit. More about this lens will certainly follow here...

I have written about this lens before HERE


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...
 

Day Lilly - Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision III

Today shots of an attractive summer flower, a creamy yellow Day Lilly - Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as in simulated bee vision using my proprietary XBV filter. Lens was my ZEISS 62mm quartz flourite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f5.6.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych (left to right): Human vison, reflected UV, simulated bee vision:


Most Hemerocallis have a very prominent "dark throat" UV pattern, and that gets nicely visible here, also in simulated bee vision.

I have previously written about that flower HERE
 
Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Day Lilly - Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision II

Today shots of an attractive summer flower, a creamy yellow Day Lilly - Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as in simulated bee vision using my proprietary XBV filter. Lens was my CERCO 94mm quartz flourite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f5.6.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych (left to right): Human vison, reflected UV, simulated bee vision:


Most Hemerocallis have a very prominent "dark throat" UV pattern, and also that gets nicely visible, also in simulated bee vision.

I have previously written about that flower HERE
 
Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Wide angle lens for reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today no flowers shots, but instead testing a f3.5 / 20mm wide angle lens for usefulness in UV and BV, for reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as my XBV filter for simulating bee vision. Light source was sun. All shots were done at about f3.5.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 

Well, its gets obvious that this lens has a useful UV transmittance and is quite sharp also in ultraviolet light.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Enhancing the visibility of fossil tissue structures using UV reflected and UV stimulated visible flourescence photography

A while ago I had the honor to work with Neal Larson on a paper on fossilized cephalopods found in Hajoula, Lebanon. Today it is again about enhancing the visibility of fossil bone and tissue structures using UV reflected and UV stimulated visible fluorescence photography, but as it is some years later, using more modern equipment now. I will also use my remapping technology consisting of a visible image, a reflected UV image and an UV stimulated visible fluorescence image and combine them into multispectral images.

Lens used was my CERCO f4.1 / 94mm quartz fluorite lens, light sources were a modified high power Xenon flash, as well as a NICHIA 365nm Power LED. Target was a fossilized fish from Solnhofen, Germany, approx. 100 Mio years old.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visible light image using UV/IR Cut filter:


Reflected UV image using Baader-U filter (310-390nm): 


UV stimulated visible fluorescence (FL) using Nichia 365nm UV LED:


Combined VIS - FL multispectral image: 


Combined VIS - UV multispectral image::


Combined FL - UV multispectral image::


It gets nicely visible that using UV light photography brings out much more details than normal visible light photography and by doing so, enhances the visibility of preserved bone and tissue structures quite a bit. Combining those different images into falso color multispectral images  enhances the structures even more.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Lichen: UV induced visible fluorescence and reflected UV; ultraviolet photography

Today again about that same Lichen (most likely Xanthoria parietina and Physcia adscendens grown into each other) that I found growing on a broken branch that I have shown in reflected UV and UV induced visible fluorescence. So here a quadriptych of VIS-FL-UV images, just for viewing pleasure and of course also for comparison.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Quadriptych VIS-FL-UV:

Well, it seems that a little broken branch laying in the mud, can have quite some hidden and invisible beauty, that was just waiting to be revealed...

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Negative Space used by Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy): UV ultraviolet photography

Today about Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy), which makes use of a very interesting concept: Negative Space. I made those shots at Herrmashof Park, Weinheim, Germany using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots in UV were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight was used as light source.

[click on image to see a larger one]







The most interesting part, aside that soft focus effect was for me, how this California Poppy uses its pitch black petals (in UV) to make its anthers stand out brightly against that dark background by massively increasing contrast. To help attract pollinators? I would guess so...


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Gazania rigens: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography III

Today a set of shots with a Gazania rigens flower that I have shot previously with a quartz-fluorite lens now using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees, so as to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight as light source and "contra lucem".

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.

Part II is HERE

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Gazania: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography II

Today a set of shots with a different Gazania rigens flower that I have shot previously with a quartz-fluorite lens now using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees, so as to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight as light source on my balcony with some glass mirror effect.

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.

Part I is HERE and part III is HERE

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...


More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Thistle: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography

Today a set of shots of a Thistle flower from Herrmashof Park, Weinheim, Germany using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots in UV were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight was used as light source.

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Rudbeckia triloba: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography

Today a set of shots with a Rudbeckia triloba flower using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots in UV were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight was used as light source.

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Gazania rigens: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography

Today a set of shots with a Gazania rigens flower that I have shot previously with a quartz-fluorite lens now using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees, so as to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight as light source.

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.

Part II is HERE and part III is HERE

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Gazania hybride: human vision vs simulated bee vison; reflected UV ultraviolet photography III

Today about a creamy white Gazania, that when it just opens up, has some yellowish petal color that gets lost after a day. Here shown in its multispectral representation. I took some outside shots using sunlight in normal human vision VIS, in UV using the Baader-U and Jupiter-U filter, as well as in simulated bee vision using my XBV2, XBV3 and XBV6 filters respectively.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visual shot:


Simulated bee vision using XBV3 filter:


Simulated bee vision using XBV2 filter:


Simulated bee vision using XBV6 filter:


UV using Baader-U filter:


UV using Jupiter-U filter:


And here a polyptych of them all:


Quite interesting how this new filtering technique makes the very different UV reflectance of the petals visible.


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Gazania yellow hybride: human vision vs simulated bee vison; reflected UV ultraviolet photography

Today about a yellow Gazania flower I had posted about it studio shots before, so here again it is in multispectral representation. I took some shots outside in normal human vision VIS, in UV using the Baader-U, as well as in simulated bee vision using my XBV2, XBV3 and the XBV6 filters respectively using sunlight.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visual shot:


Simulated bee vision using XBV3 filter:


Simulated bee vision using XBV2 filter:


Simulated bee vision using XBV6 filter:


UV using Baader-U filter:


Quite interesting how this new filtering technique makes the very different reflectance of the petal visible. A bit different than the Xenon flash shots as it was evening sunlight though.


Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos

Rudbeckia hirta: human vision vs simulated bee vison; reflected UV ultraviolet photography V

Well today I modified my high power flash for even more UV output. So a few test shots using as target a R. hirta as I have shown before in its multispectral representation. I took some shots in normal human vision VIS, in UV using the Baader-U, my all proprietary filters Jupiter-U and Saturn-U (300-350nm) filter, as well as in simulated bee and butterfly vision using my XBV2, XBV3 and XBV6 filter respectively.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visual shot - human vision: Simulated butterfly vision using XBV3 filter: Simulated butterfly vision using XBV2 filter: Simulated bee vision using XBV6 filter: UV using Baader-U filter: UV using Jupiter-U filter: UV using Saturn-U (300-350nm) filter: IR (basically) as it was shot using only a ND filter: About all Rudbeckias and also this R. hirta have a very prominent, otherwise invisible "bullseye pattern" which gets nicely visible in UV (around 360nm) and bee vision (BV). Since leafs (petals were leafs one) reflect from 700-750nm onwards, that pattern is also invisible in IR.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos