I recently got a digital stereoscope. Not a digital microscope, this one is more for seeing microscopic items in upright orientation. That is, up is up, and left is left as you see it in a stereoscope, unlike traditional microscopes. Same principle applies for telescopes (inverted images) and binoculars (upright images).

Anyway, one of the more subtle drawbacks of using a digital stereoscope as opposed to a really powerful macro lens on you camera is the lack of F-stop adjustments. That means that you as a photographer will be constrained more than you would like in depth of field.

In this photo of the edge of a leaf, I think it works pretty well with the dark open space below, and the leaf veins fading out of focus above. Generally though, I see you really have to work with the narrow depth of field with a stereoscope.

And as mentioned above, the same thing exists in the world of telescopes. We usually use astronomical telescopes without stopping down the aperture. Combined with the fact that most astronomical objects are at infinity, we usually don’t even consider depth of field for astrophotography.

I’m planning on writing a blog to more fully discuss the differences between optics for photography and astronomy soon!