diff --git a/src/cryojax/data/_relion/_starfile_reading.py b/src/cryojax/data/_relion/_starfile_reading.py
index 85ba217f..451b933a 100644
--- a/src/cryojax/data/_relion/_starfile_reading.py
+++ b/src/cryojax/data/_relion/_starfile_reading.py
@@ -389,6 +389,10 @@ def _get_image_stack(
             )
             # ... relion convention starts indexing at 1, not 0
             particle_index = np.asarray(relion_particle_index, dtype=int) - 1
+
+            with mrcfile.mmap(path_to_image_stack, mode="r", permissive=True) as mrc:
+                image_stack = np.asarray(mrc.data[particle_index])  # type: ignore
+
         elif isinstance(image_stack_index_and_name_series_or_str, pd.Series):
             # In this block, the user most likely used fancy indexing, like
             # `dataset = RelionDataset(...); particle_stack = dataset[1:10]`
@@ -398,39 +402,56 @@ def _get_image_stack(
             image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe = (
                 image_stack_index_and_name_series.str.split("@", expand=True)
             )
-            # ... get a pandas.Series for each the index and the filename
-            relion_particle_index, image_stack_filename = [
-                image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe[column]
-                for column in image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe.columns
-            ]
-            # ... multiple filenames in the same STAR file is not supported with
-            # fancy indexing
-            if image_stack_filename.nunique() != 1:
-                raise ValueError(
-                    "Found multiple image stack filenames when reading "
-                    "STAR file rows. This is most likely because you tried to "
-                    "use fancy indexing with multiple image stack filenames "
-                    "in the same STAR file. If a STAR file refers to multiple image "
-                    "stack filenames, fancy indexing is not supported. For example, "
-                    "this will raise an error: `dataset = RelionDataset(...); "
-                    "particle_stack = dataset[1:10]`."
-                )
-            # ... create full path to the image stack
+
+            # ... check dtype and shape of images
             path_to_image_stack = pathlib.Path(
                 self.path_to_relion_project,
-                np.asarray(image_stack_filename, dtype=object)[0],
+                np.asarray(image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe[1], dtype=object)[0],
             )
-            # ... relion convention starts indexing at 1, not 0
-            particle_index = np.asarray(relion_particle_index.astype(int), dtype=int) - 1
+
+            with mrcfile.mmap(path_to_image_stack, mode="r", permissive=True) as mrc:
+                tmp_image = np.asarray(mrc.data[0])
+                dtype = tmp_image.dtype
+                image_shape = tmp_image.shape
+
+            # ... allocate memory for stack
+            image_stack = np.empty(
+                (len(image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe), *image_shape), dtype=dtype
+            )
+
+            # ... get unique mrc files
+            unique_mrc_files = image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe[1].unique()
+
+            # ... load images to image_stack
+            counter = 0  # need to keep count of how many particles have been loaded
+            for unique_mrc in unique_mrc_files:
+                # ... get the indices for this particular mrc file
+                indices_in_mrc = image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe[1] == unique_mrc
+
+                # ... relion convention starts indexing at 1, not 0
+                particle_index = (
+                    image_stack_index_and_name_dataframe[indices_in_mrc][0].values.astype(
+                        int
+                    )
+                    - 1
+                )
+
+                with mrcfile.mmap(
+                    pathlib.Path(self.path_to_relion_project, unique_mrc),
+                    mode="r",
+                    permissive=True,
+                ) as mrc:
+                    image_stack[counter : counter + len(particle_index)] = np.asarray(
+                        mrc.data[particle_index]
+                    )
+                counter += len(particle_index)
+
         else:
             raise IOError(
                 "Could not read `rlnImageName` in STAR file for `RelionDataset` "
                 f"index equal to {index}."
             )
 
-        with mrcfile.mmap(path_to_image_stack, mode="r", permissive=True) as mrc:
-            image_stack = np.asarray(mrc.data[particle_index])  # type: ignore
-
         return jnp.asarray(image_stack, device=device)
 
 
@@ -521,7 +542,7 @@ def __getitem__(
         if not isinstance(filament_index, (int, Int[np.ndarray, ""])):  # type: ignore
             raise IndexError(
                 "When indexing a `HelicalRelionDataset`, only "
-                f"python or numpy-like integer indices are supported, such as "
+                f"python or numpy-like integer particle_index are supported, such as "
                 "`helical_particle_stack = helical_dataset[3]`. "
                 f"Got index {filament_index} of type {type(filament_index)}."
             )
@@ -532,12 +553,12 @@ def __getitem__(
                 f"bounds! The number of filaments in the dataset is {self.n_filaments}, "
                 f"but you tried to access the index {filament_index}."
             )
-        # Get the particle stack indices corresponding to this filament
+        # Get the particle stack particle_index corresponding to this filament
         particle_data_blocks_at_filament = self.get_data_blocks_at_filament_index(
             filament_index
         )
         particle_indices = np.asarray(particle_data_blocks_at_filament.index, dtype=int)
-        # Access the particle stack at these indices
+        # Access the particle stack at these particle_index
         dataset = self.dataset[particle_indices]
         return dataset