The Confocal Microscope is used in a wide range of fields including Biomedical sciences, Cells Biology, genetics, Microbiology, Developmental Biology, Spectroscopy, Nanoscience (nanoimaging), and Quantum Optics.

Learn more about what you can do with a standard lens in: Standard Lens Techniques: Using the Point of View to Draw the Viewer In 50mm Portraits, My Style: Creating A Picture of a Memory

We usually describe a lens by its focal length. What does it refer to and how does it affect your images? Find out in this article.

Confocal microscopyPDF

When picking a lens, one of the first things you must decide on is the focal length or focal range that you want. This is because the focal length describes the angle of view, i.e., it tells how much of the scene in front of you the lens can capture.

At 16mm, we can capture the entire façade of the fire station as well as the road and the hedge in the foreground. As the focal length increases, details appear bigger in the frame while more of the foreground and the building is cropped out. 200mm gives us a good close-up of the building name and the crests below it.

Each of the confocal microscopes has its advantages and disadvantages, but they all capture the images by recording the images, and sometimes they can be programmed to get high-density images, especially the Programmed array Microscope and the Spinning disk confocal Microscope.

What is confocal microscopyused for

Ultra-wide-angle lenses take in so much that they are perfect for capturing grand scenes and large objects that are right in front of you, especially in tight spaces where you cannot move further back.

Depending on the scene and your intentions, you might not need to go ultra-wide to frame what you want to show perfectly.

Confocal microscopyprinciple

Lenses are classified as wide-angle, standard, or telephoto depending on their focal lengths. Ultra-wide-angle lenses are a subset of wide-angle lenses, whereas medium telephoto and super telephoto lenses are subsets of telephoto lenses.

Laser scanningconfocal microscopy

Learn more about how to make the most of wide-angle lenses in: Exploring Wide Angle Lenses Part 1: Photo Effects of Wide-Angle Lenses 24mm Closeups: 3 Simple Exercises for Mastering Wide-Angle Perspective

Let’s look at what happens when we shoot at different focal lengths from the same position. Note: For ease of illustration, the angles shown in this article are the horizontal angle of view.

You need a very long focal length to capture a detailed close-up picture of the moon without cropping. The image above was captured at 1600mm using an 800mm lens and a 2x extender.

Disadvantages ofconfocal microscopy

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Learn composition techniques that leverage on the characteristics of different lenses in: Professional Composition Techniques (3): Making Good Use of Lenses

The image of the specimen is formed when the microscope scanner, scans the focused beam across a selected area with the control of two high-speed oscillating mirrors. Their movement is facilitated by galvanometer motors. One mirror moves the beam from left to right on the lateral X-axis while the second mirror translates the beam along the Y-axis. After a scan on the X-axis, the beam moves rapidly back to the starting point to start a new scan, a process known as flyback. No information is collected during the flyback process, therefore the point of focus, which is the area of interest is what is illuminated by the laser scanner.

Getting up close to birds and other wildlife requires a special type of telephoto lens: a super telephoto lens. You may want to combine it with an extender for even further reach.

Confocal microscopydiagram

This focal length is measured when the lens is focused to infinity (far into the distance). This is because when the lens is focused to infinity, light rays enter the lens almost parallel. When focused on a nearby subject, they enter the lens at an angle.

A longer focal length… - Captures less of the scene (= has a narrower angle of view) - Makes distant objects appear bigger (= has a higher magnification)

Also see: Why Is a Super Telephoto Lens Necessary for Sports Photography? What is the difference between a 200mm and 300mm telephoto lens?

The focal length also affects many other aspects of your image, such as perspective and depth of field. To find out more,  see 4 Lens Concepts to Revolutionise Your Photos.

Light entering the lens converges (crosses) on its way to the image sensor. This convergence point is known as the optical centre of the lens and has the sharpest focus. The focal length is the distance between this convergence point and the image sensor.

Due to physics, a lens with a shorter focal length has a wider angle of view, and one with a longer focal length has a narrower angle of view. And that’s how we came to use focal length to describe the angle of view of a lens!

Ultra-wide-angle lenses exaggerate perspective so distances between objects look bigger. When combined with the wide field of view, it can bring out a sense of space.

A standard or “normal” lens gives a perspective that is very close to that of human vision. Most kit lenses are standard zoom lenses. The popular RF50mm f/1.8 STM “nifty fifty” lens is a standard lens on a full-frame camera, whereas the RF28mm f/2.8 STM is a slightly wider standard lens on an APS-C camera.

Confocal microscopyppt

Learn the best ways to create amazing images and videos, share your works with the community and be inspired by our community.

When you look straight ahead with your bare eyes, the field of view in focus is around 50° to 60°. Wide-angle lenses are any lens that gives a field of view wider than that. Ultra-wide-angle lenses are a special kind of wide-angle lens.

Is confocal microscopylightmicroscopy

A shorter focal length… - Captures more of the scene (= has a wider angle of view) - Makes distant objects appear smaller (= has lower magnification)

Any focal length above 135mm full-frame equivalent is considered telephoto. However, 70 to 135mm (full-frame equivalent) is considered short or medium telephoto. These are popular for portrait and product photography due to their natural perspective and comfortable working distance for close-up shots.

Telephoto lenses provide an angle of view that is much narrower than human vision. 70-200mm lenses provide the classic telephoto focal range.

Notice how the buildings don’t appear to converge towards the top. They would on a wide-angle lens due to perspective exaggeration.

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