the difficulty of doing this is multiple fold. firstly is to find the right lens. i don't have a fancy $$$ macro lens that can do 2x 3x magnification. so i use a regular len and then put a reverse lens in front. it work to give some pretty nice magnification, but the image quality is only so so. not very sharp IMHO. the other factor is the super thin depth of field. most of these pics are already taken at f/22, sometimes f/16. pretty much the widest DoF i can achieve already. and even then, it is very very hard to align the cut surface with the focal plane. and then is the cutting of the string itself. these are cut with a very sharp new exacto knife and as you can see the cut surface is still not perfect.
you know the expression, to split hair ? to take this shot it felt exactly like that, literally and figuratively. but i think the hardwork pays off. as for your question, i don't know. i have only tried the red version. i will try the white one next time i order.
Wow kwun, that is an amazing job! You're really splitting hairs here. So it does look like the core is white/clear.
in the ZM62 photo, you can kinda see the outer core weaving like they show in their diagrams. the fact that they can weave such tiny fibers is mind boggling.
ashaway can do it... because they've been in the twine business for ages, starting with fishing line, surgical sutures, etc...
Kwun, that last pic of the Zymax string that you took is very interesting... does it appear that the inner core threads are not as densely packed as we might expect them to be? Could this be a deliberate part of the design, to obtain better power? ...and then I look at the Adidas string composition, which appears almost.... disorderly by comparison!
@ Kwun : Did someone answered your question about who was doing the strings for Adidas? Those pics might help... Great job once again!
i am 99.9% certain who is their OEM. not sure if i am allowed to say though. but if you look at the coating of the Adidas string photo, they have these wide flat fiber wrapping around (vs. woven filament in the Ashaway). you can try to see who has such flat fiber structure in their string design. AFAIK, only one company do that, and they are Japanese.
@ kwun: So when are you going to post pictures of broken Gosen strings? (I hope I'm not putting you into trouble? But I like this kind of Badminton riddle)
i think there are hundreds of strands of filament in the core, but not thousands. it certainly look denser than it is depicted in the diagram above. as for Adidas. i think it has to do with the way i cut the string and also how tightly the core filaments are bounded together
Gad! This stuff is giving me goosebumps! Like looking at something you're not supposed to know existed...
There are many types of badminton people: Casual : "There are different kinds of strings?" Enthusiast: " I wonder what strings are made of?" Die-hard: "What does string look like in a super close-up photo?" Needs to get their priorities straight: "I NEED a picture of every make of string in high def. Right now!" ... This is an interesting thread and kwun has done a great job. But IMHO it's becoming like 'string porn' - too much, too raw, too close.
