Kit for the DB120EB illuminator

Kit for reflected light, dark field, and grazing light

The kit is composed of the black Spacer ring for ventilation, the reflector cone, the two cones used for grazing light, and the glass object holder.

The kit has been designed to be able to expand the characteristics of the DB120EB illuminator, thanks to the considerable power it has, it is possible to have illumination in the Dark Field and a grazing light with such power to allow the reduced shutter
speeds. Depending on the model of the controller used with the DB120EB, different gradations of the effects can be obtained, being able to control the different LED strips separately allows greater variability of the lighting.

The reflector cone is inserted inside the DB120EB illuminator, it can be used with the diffuser screen for soft images or without for a more evident effect.
The ventilation ring must always be used, otherwise, the DB120EB illuminator could be damaged due to the increase in temperature.

The use of the kit is very simple, in the darkfield configuration the light comes only from below, inclined so as not to hit the lens, the cone is white on the outside to improve the luminous efficiency and black inside to guarantee a perfect black background. The grazing light is obtained by placing one of the two white cones on the glass, two of different sizes and with different effects are provided, to be chosen with tests, to keep in mind that the smaller ring has a higher light output.

Diffused light

For diffuse light imaging, I used a dome whose diameter was optimized for Mitutoyo lenses. For spider photos, the dome is completely white inside, whereas, for images of the small gastropod, I inserted a black mask covering half of the internal surface to create a shadow effect and give the subject volume.

Grazing light

With these small subjects, I’ve used, to obtain grazing light, the small 60mm diameter cone. The light is sharpened and the relief in the gastropod is enhanced.

Darkfield configuration

In dark field photography, light reaches the subject at a steep angle, and this technique is used to highlight the edges of the subject, which is illuminated against a dark background (hence the name). The upper side of the subject is darkened; instead, the border and thin spider setae are highlighted, as visible in the two subjects. The possibility of using different levels of LEDs  in the DB120EB allows for different lighting effects.

Here are the images, respectively acquired with diffuser, grazing light, and darkfield: