Thorlabs’ SM2 fits Nikon lenses
Posted in Hardware
Fun fact for the day: ThorLabs’ SM2 lens tube standard screws right onto the front end of Nikon’s SLR lenses. Other manufacturers probably use the same threading, I just haven’t tried them.
I don’t know if this is by design or not, but it makes coupling 35mm SLR lenses into optical setups fairly straightforward. I’m using it for a tandem lens macroscope. In the picture above I used ThorLabs part SM3A2. BTW, they also sell some F-mount adapters for connecting to the other side of the lens.
May I ask which combination of objectives you used and how did you connect them to the intrinsic camera?
Cheers,
f.
No objectives, just f-mount camera lenses. I use a 135 mm + 50 mm, or a 135 mm + 85 mm in a tandem (face-to-face) lens macroscope configuration. I bought an f-mount adapter for my camera, from the manufacturer.
More info here:
http://labrigger.com/blog/2010/07/06/intrinsic-imaging-tips/
http://labrigger.com/blog/2012/02/16/intrinsic-imaging-on-the-cheap/comment-page-1/
Just to be clear, I use the ThorLabs SM3A2 piece on either side of my custom filter slider. So I actually run screws through the flange. Still, it’s handy. It saved me a bit of machining.
Would you have an idea about the minimal lens aperture required for intrinsic signal imaging in mouse cortex? Is the 1.2 f-number limit given by Grinvald et al. in their technical report for 50mm lenses applicable in this prep? I would assume you can compensate for decreased light amount by turning up the illumination, but depth of field might be a problem for, say, a 50mm/2.3 lens… Any insights?
Thanks for the great blog!
zp
2.3 should work fine too.