Fitting digital camera onto microscope.

Red-Green would use duct tape.

However, I suspect there may be a more eloquent way. A quick search doesn't seem to pull up anything on the company you listed, but the barrel is probably a standard size and I would bet there are adapters you can buy.

Thanks for that! I don't know what Red-Green is about but, in deperation I tried the digi' straight down the tube (without duck tape) and got a half resonable image albeit slightly out of focus. It took a bit of doing and I'm concerned about repeatability!

I wish more people would come back with some constructive ideas!

Leica and their subsidiaries cover most of the manufacturers. They may have even bought out your manufacture. Maybe they have an eyepiece just for that application although they will probably suggest a new microscope with a top mounted port for the purpose that will enable you to observe and focus as you record, which you will eventually wonder how you ever lived without one.

Nice idea Jaguar! I absolutely agree. The trouble is that I haven't got that much dosh to spare.

The other thing is that there probably isn't a supplier in Tasmania and the Bass Straight jacks the price up. To borrow an expression from the film Six Days and Seven Nights, "It's an island darling. If you didn't bring it, it 'ain't here!"

Probably the easiest way is to make an adaptor on a lathe that attaches your digital camera to the microscope eyepiece. The considerations for this are that the eyepoint of the eyepiece must be close to the iris of the camera, or you will get vignetting. The eyepoint of the eyepice is where all the rays from the tube, focus to a point in space. You can locate this point by holding a piece of paper above the eyepiece and moving the paper up and down until the circle of light from the microscope is minimum diameter. The distance from that plane to the top of the eypiece is called the eyepoint. If your camera can be mounted so that this point is close to the camera's iris, you can proceed and make the adaptor. If the eyepoint is too low(which it often is) you need to get a high eyepoint eyepiece for the microscope. This type of eyepiece is made for people who wear glasses while looking through the microscope. This should get your eyepoint high enough to use this adaptor technique. There are other methods, but this is the simplest.

Hi,

we use a LEICA Periplan eyepiece attached to a Nikon Coolpix 950 or 4500 (pretty old I know but still available). You can without any additional equipment directly screw the two one atop the other and this works beautifully.This is used with a Leica microscope but this can be changed to any other type.

When to get photos of small objects with a better depth of field (diamond grit after brazing) I used the coolpix with a microscope eyepiece attached by simple adhesive tape so that the objects to be imaged can be positioned to be in the focus plane, projecting the image towards infinity and using the Coolpix to image this.

This arrangement is much simpler (no microscope necessary) and the autofocus is working better.

I recently looked to a better resolution of the camera and got a recommendation to use the Canon powershot 630 with a suitable adaptor that is readily available.

RHABE

All former posts gave you some very valuable advice. The Nikon Coolpix cameras mentioned have a screw mount on the lens which does not extend. Therefore all sorts of contraptions (including homemade ones) can be easily mounted.

You can also examine www.eagleeyeuk.com or ask for their advice. They are very cooperative and not too expensive (compared to Leica's Leitz...). I have been using their couplers with a Coolpix 4500 and various lenses for quite some time.

Ther are lots of adapters available. Try eBay. Or, your own digital camera at the microscopes eyepiece for afocal imaging. Or, contact Kodak.

Bobguz

You can get ccd cameras that fit straight onto eyepiece tubes. Why don't you search on globalspec, most companies are on there. I know our company does them as well at www.prior.com

If you want to go real cheap, ccd's can be 2 or 3 hundred dollars, you can attempt eyepiece projection. Just take the eye relief cap of the eyepiece and physically hover the digital camera over the eyepiece until you get a sharp image on your lcd screen. You could find that lens to lens contact gives very good results. I use this technique to take photo's through my telescope and believe it or not it works remarkably well.

Depending on the correction in your objective a number of eyepiece camera combinations will work. I use Mark Simmons' adapter at $199. The mine is http://marksimmons.org/adapters/adapter.html and a Nikon CoolPix 995. Mark usually has eyepieces for most if not all corrections on hand and is candid about the limitations of them all. I have used Mark's eyepiece beside the best eyepieces Zeiss & Leitz make/made and the compare very well. If I were doing it over I would get a CoolPix 900 or CoolPix 5000 as they have less problems with Artifacts from the lens in the image with 995 & 4500 www.couger.com/microscope/shootout/shootout.html. They will cost $100 to 200 dollars used. The articulated head and 28 mm filter ring are important. If you get a camera with a large lens the adapter will be expensive.

I would pick the CoolPix 990 as it use regular AA batteries and all the later models use dedicated batteries. It has plenty of resolution for work on a microscope. You also need a remote control and AC power battery replacer.

Good Luck

Gordon

Gordon Couger
www.science-info.net
www.couger.com/microscope/links/gclinks.html

I have used a small camera that fits right into the ocular and connects to the computer via USB.

It is Premiere model MA88 for about $100 US.

Nice gadget, have you got any pictures you can show us here?

Sorry, I just left home for three weeks training and the camera and scope are at home (used it for a prior job).

I will keep this post and will add if I can.

Thanks!! ss

Yes, please pop a picture to us. It sounds just the job!

I am interested in this topic because I am attempting to get an image directly onto the camera chip of a AUS$30 web cam. The lens screws off and the chip is there for receiving the image of 1.3 MPixels

I hope to fix it at the primary focus of my 30 cm diameter 150 cm focal length astronomical telescope.

I have also been thinking of putting it a the focal plane of my monocular microscope. However I have found that for the camera type I purchase, the lens will focus down to a few mm and give quite good magnified images (5X-10X). That may be all you need.

It is a USB device and stills can be captured in photoshop. I use it in the close focus applications, mounted on an electronic vernier as a sort of travelling microscope for measurind distance. I also use it to ensure that a moving object (gantry of a linear accelerator) has returned to its original position by taking a photo before and after and adding the pictures in Image stacker

Hallo

These days theer are eye piece cameras are available in markete fot microphotography you can replace your eye piece of monocular microscope with the camera nad for this type of camera you dont required any type of adaptor and you can get image direct on your PC's screen nad then you can capture & save that one

Sanjeev Kumar

Hi Guest, thanks for your responce (and everyone elses).

Would you, by chance, know of any make or model of what you discribe? It sounds ideal!

Hi Beej50,

Isn't that what Post #13s link shows? It replaces the eyepiece with the camera and has a USB for $100. For a 640 x 480 res, it doesn't sound too bad for the money.

However, it may only be USB1 and they don't say anything about software...

Just a thought.

Mike

Try here: http://www.zarfenterprises.com/

Also, search for photomicrography on the Web. You'll probably turn up just what you need.

better still...photomicrography AND accessories

There is a small very inexpensive solution called Digital Blue QX5 Microscope. It is basically a toy, but has options for 10X, 60X and 200X. I works with your PC and the photos taken can be stored or sent directly via e-mail. It can take short video clips too! Costs are around $100. A distant friend...

It is my understanding that Canon's FD lenses have an adaptor to do exactly that. Of course the problem then is that you have an adaptor-to-lens to-another adaptor for the FD lens to fit onto an EOS mount. Talk about stopping down!

'Not sure if this has any relevance but I recently acquired a ZSMC USB PC camera for about $12. I tried putting it behind my binoculars and got it to work (the camera has manual focus). I wish my laptop was working so I can use it outside.

Using the same idea, I think you can put this on your microscope too. You'll need a stand to hold it in place but that shouldn't be too difficult.

Most small lens, 28 mm filter size or so, with zoom will work with a microscope. If you are magnifying over 100x 2 mega pixels gets all the information there is to get in the image. At 1,000x 640x480 is more than enough.

If you want to be free of a computer A Nikon Coolpix with an articulated head or screen is awfully handy. I can't stress that enough.

Gordon

Hi there,

Could you please email me at boutique772003@yahoo.com and tell me how to turn on the lights to the camera you mention in your post? I bought one and it has six little lights that don't appear to turn on.

Thanks!

Sorry, I don't reply to personal emails. The webcam that I'm using has a light sensor at the top. If the light levels are dim or if you cover it with your finger, the lights should come on.

If you need drivers or other ideas, here's a link:

http://www.google.com.ph/search?hl=tl&q=zsmc+usb&meta=

I don't know if you know www.telescope.com they have microscope accessories and a camera that's describe as:

Bring any microscope into the digital age and see your bugs on screen! Digital Microscope Eyepiece (for S400 Microscope) in stock

#56756

$89.95 Of course there are more expensive cameras in catalog. Carlos A. Donadio Mechanical Eng.

Wow! Thats perfect! Thanks so much. I'm onto them right now!