>Has any of you experience in taking photos of micro shells with a digital
>camera and in enlarging the specimen with the digital zoom after having taken
>it at high definition? Would it be enough for taking photos of less than 1 cm
>specimens with a 5 Mpixel camera?

Use mechanical zoom. You'll LOSE detail with electronic zoom.

>I also use a scanner to photograph all my shells. The only problem I
>have is with shells
>less than about 3mm (which don't show as much definition as I'd
>like) and large bulky
>shells over about 100mm (which tend to distort in the areas farther
>away from the scanner
>bed). Oh, and very shiny shells, such as cowries and olives end up
>with a arc or glare
>across them that could be eliminated with a camera...I can't
>determine how to avoid that
>with a scanner!

If scanning, try different orientations on the platen... you'll get
different lighting directions. A 600dpi scanner like my old MicroTek
Scanmaker E6 won't do small shells... not nearly enough resolution
(solid & reliable, though!). A 2cm shell is too small.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
64 (3) 473-8863
<[log in to unmask]>
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut
I want your sinistral gastropods!