Oh boy, am I irked right now. I have just finished 6 hours of work putting together the most challenging blog post I have ever written - with more than sixty individual links and dozens of images supporting a long written piece of original content. And after all that, with no warning, the entire thing was gone - all of it. It was all saved, but now it is all gone. The content was a supplement to the two livestreams I am doing this week and it had turned into a comprehensive shopping guide for new macro photographers. But it is no longer. And I do not have enough time to rewrite the whole thing before my livestream today. This is not the first time this has happened but it is definitely the last. That a website builder with these many resources is not providing some kind of autosave safeguard against this kind of thing is unforgivable in 2024.

So please forgive the brevity of the following piece - it will now have to be reduced to little more than a list of links to items discussed in this week’s livestreams - I simply do not have the time to put the whole article together before the livestream.

Followed on Thursday by…

In each of these live shows I am going to be talking about gear - the gear I use in my lab and the gear a new macro photographer is going to want to have in the field. But the heart of this post was a series of links (affiliate links in the case of Amazon, B&H, and Adorama - which means I could make a small commission if you buy any of the stuff in these links). The idea was that if you just want to get the stuff that I use day in and day out, and have for years, then you can click on the links and get it - no decisions to make. And I am doing this because I have been asked by a bunch of you to do just that. I am really sorry that the piece I had written was lost because it was packed with useful information and context. I will rewrite it when I can, but for now I will just try to get as many of the links included as possible. All the material relating to the Thursday episode of Macro Talk Too will have to be added later as I won’t have the time to get this finished for tonight’s stream. So with no further ado - here are the links. To make sense of them, come to the livestream tonight or watch the recording after 9PM today.

1) insect net - https://amzn.to/3UZZAwr

2) Specimen bottles - small - https://amzn.to/44Kzcdg

3) Ethyl acetate - https://amzn.to/44Fh9F8

4) Isopropyl Alcohol - https://amzn.to/4bwxnTT

5) Ethanol - https://amzn.to/3K0WWA1

6) String - https://amzn.to/3ynayDq

7) small collection cooler - https://amzn.to/4bCXlEQ

8) Nature’s Own dish soap - Biokleen - https://amzn.to/3UEYO6G

9) Tea strainer - https://amzn.to/3UXZyoy

10) Small dry storage boxes https://amzn.to/3V0rLuU

11) Blu Tac - https://amzn.to/3WH55RQ  or white - https://amzn.to/3woUh09

12) Decon90 - https://amzn.to/3WMU0yu

13) Ammonium hydroxide - https://amzn.to/3WBgNNS

14) Phenol - red - 1% - https://amzn.to/44Isy6Z

15) Cellusolve - https://amzn.to/3yiNmpL (2-butyl-cellosolve)

16) Sodium laurel sulphate - https://amzn.to/3wz8uYh

17) CA glue Medium starbond - https://amzn.to/44GYusA

18) Bondic - https://amzn.to/4bEVKyj

19) UV torch - UV beast - https://amzn.to/44IsT9L

20)UV goggles - https://amzn.to/44G3dKZ

21) glass slides - https://amzn.to/3UW7lmS also large and concave - https://amzn.to/3yci5Vi

22) magnifying glass large handheld - https://amzn.to/3WIEwvw on stand - https://amzn.to/3UJcVaS

23) Cheap stereo microscope  - https://amzn.to/3QF5Cjd

24) Cheap digital microscope  - https://amzn.to/44FdqHM

25) Used optical stereo microscope n/a

26) New microscope see above

27) New digital microscope - call me and I will hook you up with my pals at Keyence - all you need is $20,000 or so.

28) Ultrasonic cleaner - https://amzn.to/3yrgV8q

29) Paint brushes - every size and type - https://amzn.to/4dyfHZr - extra fine - https://amzn.to/4bE621I

30) Filter paper - medium - https://amzn.to/3wALoAw

31) Filter paper - fast - https://amzn.to/3WBvJLW

32) Q-tips - non-shedding - https://amzn.to/4dGpk8o

33) Mouse pad - https://amzn.to/3wwaZdX

34) insect pins - 00 - https://amzn.to/4ajrkAu, size 1 - https://amzn.to/4ajrkAu

35) Map pins - for positioning - https://amzn.to/44HdCGo - EVA block - https://amzn.to/4bxPOa6

36) Nalgene bottles and jars - https://amzn.to/44JOeju

37) Glass beakers, flasks https://amzn.to/3QMxSRb and https://amzn.to/4bFamxF

38) Alcohol lamp - https://amzn.to/3UEjOKQ

39) Fire extinguisher - two big ones - https://amzn.to/3UJkeiS

40) Ether - can’t buy

41) PERC - perchoroethylene - Brakleen red - https://amzn.to/3WYRpC3

42) fine tweezers and scissors - hardened tweezer - https://amzn.to/3K5VfRO, long #11 - https://amzn.to/4agbpml - Real iris scissors - https://amzn.to/44GlHel

43) Wet/dry sandpaper - mini sanding block - https://amzn.to/4bDhlHq

44) Double sided tape - Nanotape - https://amzn.to/3UGLQFx - Scotch - https://amzn.to/4apVrpU

45) Note Pads - https://amzn.to/3UZsvR8

46) Watch glasses - https://amzn.to/3QK1mPQ or Petri dishes - glass - these are best - https://amzn.to/3wzd7BA

47) Blower - two nozzle - https://amzn.to/4beEjET

48) Live insect mover case - 2-pck - https://amzn.to/4bhnZDo

49)  Bug breeder boxes for live insects 10-pck - https://amzn.to/44Gk1l6

50)Digital HDMI camera for microscope - 4K - https://amzn.to/3WBCVHW

51) Monitor for 52) - 20” - Dell - excellent - https://amzn.to/3JXgJR4

52)At least 2 insect Feld guides, preferably all of them - Nat Wildlife Fed - https://amzn.to/3yk88oU, Kaufman - https://amzn.to/4bhoXzw, Wasps - https://amzn.to/3K23FKc, beetles - https://amzn.to/3QJfxV8, bees - https://amzn.to/4bf5DD2, Princeton - https://amzn.to/44JkoLL, Caterpilars - https://amzn.to/3UYmggi

53) Lockbox or safe - “garage cabinet” - https://amzn.to/3wGGhPa

54) scalpel blades #11 and #15 - https://amzn.to/3QIRqpw

55) Musuo Black 100cc - https://amzn.to/44FqoVW

56) Quad hands pro - https://amzn.to/3JXhUQu

67) LED panel LM 75 or similar. Like this from G2 - https://amzn.to/3WBKA9a

68) Kroil penetrant - 8oz - https://amzn.to/3V9YcaJ

Hopefully all of these suggestions will make more sense when I can explain the purpose for each item, which will happen this evening during Macro Talk on May14, 2024.

Macro Talk Too - Thursday May 16, 2024

The idea was that I would lay out these three camera systems and talk about the features a macro photographer should be looking for in a system, but it really didn’t make that much sense doing it that way. So I have switched things up and in the discussion I focus on what actually matters for macro and then identify products that actually have those features and capabilities. It was a fast-paced discussion that covered a lot of ground and I am not going to re-write the transcript of the whole discussion - you can listen to the recording for that, but what I will do is add links for everything I discussed in the video. These are a blend of Adorama, B&H, and Amazon links and I hope they are helpful…

The Nikon Z-50 - a compact but full-featured digital camera - well suited for macro work - available at B&H - https://bhpho.to/3UNqvdg

The next exciting camera we looked at was the Canon R6 -

and the lens that I would put on it -

And at the top of the stack…

Matched to the FE 90mm f/2.8

Next we looked at several tripods in each of the three price ranges - there is so much to choose from but I decided on the following four winners -

We need a way to carry all this stuff out into nature - here are my top three bag choices.

Next I covered the other stuff that you will need in that bag. Stuff like

Not wanting to leave out the wonderful Olympus OM-1, we talked about its unique capabilities and advanced features.

Which left me with only a few remaining accessories worthy of mention -

This more linking than I have done in all my other posts combined - They will never be concentrated like this in the normal flow of things - but when all we are talking about is gear, this is what happens. I like the B&H links that also display recommended bits and pieces based on your selection - very clever. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this week’s streams and found the gear information useful, enjoyable, or both. Thanks for watching!