Dr. Leonard H. McCoy wrote:
What is the size of the object to be photographed?

~50 micron

1 millimeter = 1,000 microns so if they were closely spaced, 100 of them
could be counted in a screen sized mm wide strip (ballpark scope).


Confirming presence and number will be sufficient.

What type of camera are you using or do you have available?

Have Canon P&S A95 digital.

7.18 x 5.32 mm sensor so the 1mm wide frame would be about 7x.... but
that's not how things are stated in photography, the "7x" in camera
speak is a completely different number, anyways it would be a job for a
microscope mounted camera.

The Nikon Multiphot system
http://www.microscopyu.com/museum/multiphot.html
.... goes up to 40x which means a 24x36mm sensor capturing 40x life size.
1/40th of 36mm is .9mm... round that off to 1mm so that would work for
your purposes with a DSLR, but you don't need to make huge beautiful
prints at that size so probably something much less powerful is needed.

How will the results be viewed? Digital photos to be e-mailed to other
researchers.

Re-reading your original question....

I need to photograph small objects at a distance of 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) from
the lens. I want a magnification of ~50 to 100.

Photomicrography (using microscopes) is limited in the working distance from
the objective; it needs to be 1 inch.

Hmmm, so you need a longer focal length to keep further from the
subject. That is odd because extreme closeups are usually done with
short focal length lenses, like the Multiphot above uses 19mm at 1:40
and 120mm at 1:1. To use longer focal lengths would require a very long
tall bellows.


Photomacrography is limited in the
magnification; typically 10.

I'd like a solution that terminates with filter threads (any size can be
adapted) so I may attach a digicam.

Suggestions?

If there is a better forum in which to ask this question, just point the
way...