Photography at NPL- Stacked Image Troubleshooting

Camera and Lenses:

Power to the camera

Make sure power cord is in good condition. At the end that goes into the battery slot in the camera, there is a 90° bend that can fray and short out.
Check the surge suppressor- if it gets switched off, none of the equipment will work.
Verify that the door to the battery compartment is shut all the way.
If left on, but unused, the camera will 'sleep'. Pressing the shutter part way will wake it.

Issues with the lens

the Lens should be fully locked into place. An unlocked lens won't work, and is at risk for falling on the floor.
a polarizing filter is normally on the 100mm lens. This will lead to less light getting in, so adjust shutter speed (or unscrew the filter and put it in it's case)
When using Helicon Remote, the distance scale (A) must be set at 0.31m-infinity, and the focus mode (B) must be set to MF (manual focus).

Camera Body Settings

there are many other setting available with these cameras. For stacked photography, they are not used.

Helicon Remote

if there is no communication between the camera and the software, check the USB cable for loose connections.
if the lens won't move both directions, check the distance scale toggle on the camera lens. It must be set to 0.31-infinity.
you can control how many 'steps' the directional buttons go. Under the File menu, select Preferences. Choose Shooting/Cannon. Size of focusing steps is either big or small. A specimen that takes 7 'big' steps can take 40 or more 'small' steps.
the auto-focus button is not used for stacked photography. Turning it on has no affect.
high contrast lines shown in the 'Live Preview' will appear slightly ragged or wavy. This is a phantom affect- the output image has none of these features.

Using Helicon Remote software