Initial impressions on MU300 camera.

Continuing the topic on MU1000 camera and due to appearance of questions on microscope AmScope SZ with the "kit" camera MU300 I decided to share some results of using this equipment as is, with the included, bad or good, 3MP camera MU300.

I've uploaded some photos to share:

Cobaltite, 5mm crystal, Hakansboda, Sweden


Gypsum, 1mm xls, Belorechenskoye deposit, Adygea, Russia


Sphalerite/chalcopyrite, 1mm xls, Belorechenskoye deposit, Adygea, Russia


Gypsum, 0.5mm xls, Belorechenskoye deposit, Adygea, Russia


I'm estimating this quality myself as "a bit below average" so I'm going to change camera to something which can make better pics. The main reason is very hard control of colours and contrast (seems like these features are software-controlled)

Enjoy!
Sergey

Hello Sergey,

I wouldn't dismiss the quality of your camera so quickly, without more experimentation. Your images are a good starting point and may only need some refinement in technique. I won't elaborate here, as this has been discussed ad nauseam in an earlier posts. Amscope MU1000 camera - initial impressions

I have used the 1.3MP version of your camera with reasonably good results and have posted images from it in that earlier discussion. You should be able to as good, or better, than those images with your camera. My first impression is that you are not incrementing your stacks properly. Here are the criteria that I use.

1. Take multiple images of the subject at intervals along the optical, or Z, axis.
2. The depth of field for each image must overlap that of the next image.
3. Take enough images such that the total required depth of field is covered.

Number 2 above can be a pivotal issue, and until I adopted a method for accurately measuring the stack increments, I did not get good results.

As for color balance, some practice is necessary. There are manual controls for all of the camera parameters, such as color balance, exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness. These are usually better used than the automatic default settings.

Good luck,
Gene