Magnify

I was curious to know how one is to take a specimen and take a picture of it with such a great magnification as you would see in a loupe or in a microscope? Do you have to have a special camera or some special attachment? I used to own a 7.1 pixel [Face find] Kodak camera. It was a good camera but anyway any good sugestions? I neeeeed a good camera! Thank you if you can help.
Aaron M.

I simply place my loupe in front of the camera lens, then depress the shutter half way to focus.
I find that i I focus on the piece with my eye, then move the camera to where my face was, it actually works, and here is an example.
This is a gold nugget I found in the desert near the Artillery Range in Central Nevada.
The nugget is less than 3 mm long.
My camera is a 6 megapixel Samsung S630. It only cost a hundred dollars, but it does a good job at this.

Corie M

Sorry, but that loupe and camera combination does not a good photo make.

There are two ways to photograph tiny things. Camera with a bellows system or camera mounted on a microscope.

Sad fact is that to do it right remains a giant, expensive, pain in the ass. Anybody can achieve a nice fuzzy underexposed photomicrograph, like you see in R&M,but to get it crisp, bright, with the correct colors... you spend years of effort and multiple thousands of dollars.

Tim Jokela Jr
tjokela@execulink.com

You are absolutely correct, Tim. It's unfortunate, but true.
I know my photos will never make the 'Photo Of The Day' here on Mindat!
That doesn't bother me, and at least I can get close enough for possible identification purposes. I did find out that while it does a good job on magnification, the loupe somehow makes everything look like copper.... oh well, when I can find a job, maybe I'll get a good camera, too!

Corie Mattar