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Techniques for Collectorsmicroscope

7th Nov 2009 13:04 UTCRobert A Santee

Hi everybody i need some help here i am looking to buy a economical microscope that i can screw in a camera lens,also some help on a cheap camera lens thanks.Question i have a older microscope and it seems that the slide bar does not go high enough to focus the micro, are there different heights on different microscope that can do that i am only using 10x lens this is new to me just started micro mounting thanks.PS i forgot this what kind of camera lens can i put on the microscope to take pictures using the computer or just a lens that i can put on and use the computer

7th Nov 2009 14:33 UTCDonald Peck

Robert,

First, welcome to micromounting. It is an entirely different world!

As to your microscope. What do you have? If you are looking to buy a new one, in what price range? You might want to take a look at the website absoluteclarity.com . You can get a good discussion of what to look for. His Meiji scopes are expensive, but top quality. He also sells refurbished scopes. Most importantly, he is absolutely reliable.

Your problem with not enough room beneath the objectives is unusual. Are you trying to look at large pieces (5 cm and up) or small ones?

As to photography. You either need a trinocular scope, or a camera adapter to fit one of the oculars. And connecting to your computer may or may not be possible, depending upon what camera you have. Connection is definitely desirable, so you can see the image and focus it before taking the pic.

Don

7th Nov 2009 14:50 UTCRobert Simonoff

Hi Robert,

For the height problem, I have seen pole mounted microscopes used, such as: Pole Mounted Scope. The scope body moves up and down on the pole.

As for photographing your micros, I have tried a few things and have seen some tricks at our local micromount symposium. I have a CCD camera that actually fits into a third "eyepiece" of the scope. Then the camera hooks up to a computer. Trinocular microscope with CCD Camera. Unfortunately, possibly because of the camera quality, I have not been excited about the results so far.

Another trick is to use a tripod and actually set it up to the camera lens looks down into a 10x wide field eyepiece. You need to use manual focus and play with the aperture a bit, but the pictures can come out with a little work.

Someone at our micromount club did a variant on that trick, but used PVC pipes to build a mount for the camera.

Another person at our local club uses an adapter for his camera. He removes the camera lens, attaches the adapter to his camera, mounts the adapter (with camera attached) into the scope's trinocular port and then takes his pictures. His website is: http://www.jakeslagle.com/

Hope that helps!

10th Nov 2009 15:30 UTCAlysson Rowan Expert

Traditionally, a T-Mount microscope adapter is used with an SLR or an interchangeable lens video camera. These have an MF-42 thread (which doesn't fit an M42 lens mount thread!) at one end and a sleeve that fits over the eyepiece tube - and will accept a standard eyepiece inserted after fitting.

You will need both the microscope adapter AND a T-mount adapter to suit your camera.

This is the better option, but a little ingenuity, PVC and glue can produce an excellent slip-on mount for a high-resolution webcam type camera.

Fixed frame microscopes can give problems with "large" specimens at low magnification, the solution is either to use a stand-mounted microscope as Bob suggests, or to use a boom-mounted instrument (it looks like an anglepoise stand with a microscope instead of a lamp).

My own is an ancient inspection microscope which is a good description to use when searching the for-sale ads.

28th Nov 2009 08:38 UTCRay Hill Expert

If economics are an issue, a good binocular, can be used with an adapter milled up for you , maybe by a friend

or a local metal shop teacher...it would have to slide smoothly into the tube with a reasonably snug fit, and at

the camera end, fit smoothly around the outer ring of the point and shoot , allowing some room for the telescoping

lens to move into the tube adapter for focussing. Ty Balacko took some pictures with a very simple rig using an

inexpensive small megapixel camera and his pics were published and are all available on his mindat page...so

high tech and expensive aren't always needed, BUT, I always recommend that you try and spend a bit of time

staring through a microscope before buying it, as your eyes are way more valuable than the scope and eye strain

can be an issue with poor lenses, and since every body seems to adapt differently to different lenses, this may be very

helpful in the long run. I for one, would rather save for a year and make do with a loupe, to get a better quality

optics microscope, than to go for something NOW and regret it down the line. Lighting is key, so also, try if

you can, to get good quality light, that somewhat approximates natural light in spectrum, since this will ultimately

yield the most natural pics

I am so glad to see you venturing into micromounting Robert. Welcome.

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