Advise on a digial camera

[Pat Thielen]

Hello all,

I just bought a C&A Scientific model Premier SMZ-07 stereo scope. What is really nice about it, besides the zooming ability and 45x magnification (my current scope on goes to 20x), is that it is trinocular. So, I get to mount a camera to it. Yay! What I'm wondering is what digital camera do you all recommend? I don't think I can mount my Nikon to it as I don't believe it has the necessary adapters. So, barring that (maybe I'm wrong), I would need to get a digital camera for it. Amscope makes a 10 MP camera (Amscope MU1000) that should fit it for $215.00 but I'm not sure of the image quality. So, I'd love to hear suggestions from people far more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than I am. Or, perhaps someone knows how to mount my Nikon to it -- I'm not sure what the size is of the camera mount; it is standard (23mm, 30mm or 30.5mm).

Any help and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Pat Thielen]

Sorry -- I think I posted this in the wrong forum. If it can be moved over to the camera forum that would be awesome.

On Amazon, I did find this universal mount for Nikon cameras:
AmScope CA-NIK-SLR Nikon SLR / D-SLR Camera Adapter for Microscopes

It costs around $90.00 and has a 2x lens so it probable won't fill the field on my full frame d810 camera. However, it is something that would work to mount my camera to the stereoscope. I'm wondering if anyone else makes such an adapter but with better build quality and lens? Perhaps even with the less than stellar built-in lens I would get better quality with my Nikon than I would with a digital microscope camera.

Any thoughts?

Thanks much!

[JimT]

Pat, I have an Amscope adapter for a Canon but mine is APS-C and it is for my compound scope. I expect it would work with a full frame but you may get vignetting. Your Nikon will take much better images than a tiny sensor and Amazon is very good at "Not satisfied" returns.

I would say give it a try and let us know how it works out.

JimT

[zzffnn]

........

On Amazon, I did find this universal mount for Nikon cameras:
AmScope CA-NIK-SLR Nikon SLR / D-SLR Camera Adapter for Microscopes

It costs around $90.00 and has a 2x lens so it probable won't fill the field on my full frame d810 camera.......

Pat,

You Nikon full frame camera should work better than most USB cameras.

2x eyepiece relay lens sounds like it should fill full frame. Microscope eyepiece image is around 23-30 mm, which is about the size of a micro 4/3 sensor and 1/2 of a full frame sensor (crop factor for micro4/3 is 2x, while 1x for full frame). APSC, as in JimT's case, has a crop factor of around 1.6x.

Most common microscope eyepiece tube diameter is around 23 mm or 30mm. Likely 30mm for your stereo scope.

You would get better image quality, by using a common 2x, 4x or 10x compound objective/scope and reflected light, though. This should remain true until you get a very high end stereo scope, with highly corrected CMO apo objectives.

[Pat Thielen]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll probable get the thing from Amazon and see what kind of results I can obtain with my Nikon. I am a bit dubious of the lens quality of the adaptor so it probably won't be the last one I get. But so far its been the only one I've found so far. I'll keep you updated as to how it works out.

I received the stereo scope today and got it put together. It seems to have very nice optics; I took a quick look at some dust I collected from my vacuum cleaner -- It was very cool seeing the dust. carpet fibers, etc. with such clarity. Stereo scopes are actually really cool. The one thing I don't like so much about the scope is the light is rather weak. It is a halogen light (I forget the wattage) but it has trouble illuminating objects once you zoom in to 45x. I would have much rather had a powerful LED light for brighter illumination. If it is too bright I can always adjust that -- It is a bit more troublesome to adjust for too little light. And the other thing is there doesn't seem to be a way to tighten in the eyepieces; they seem to just drop into the scope but there are no screws to secure them in. Not really a big deal, but I'd feel better if the eyepieces were better secured. Having said that, I quite like it and I look forward to experimenting with it. I may have to expand my "lab" as I've asked my friends to send me small insects and things to look at with it.

If anyone has any further suggestions I'd be most happy to hear them! It does sound like attaching my Nikon to the scope is the best way to go so I'll look into that. I'm just afraid my choices are rather limited.

Thanks much!

[Pat Thielen]

........

On Amazon, I did find this universal mount for Nikon cameras:
AmScope CA-NIK-SLR Nikon SLR / D-SLR Camera Adapter for Microscopes

It costs around $90.00 and has a 2x lens so it probable won't fill the field on my full frame d810 camera.......

Pat,

You Nikon full frame camera should work better than most USB cameras.

2x eyepiece relay lens sounds like it should fill full frame. Microscope eyepiece image is around 23-30 mm, which is about the size of a micro 4/3 sensor and 1/2 of a full frame sensor (crop factor for micro4/3 is 2x, while 1x for full frame). APSC, as in JimT's case, has a crop factor of around 1.6x.

Most common microscope eyepiece tube diameter is around 23 mm or 30mm. Likely 30mm for your stereo scope.

You would get better image quality, by using a common 2x, 4x or 10x compound objective/scope and reflected light, though. This should remain true until you get a very high end stereo scope, with highly corrected CMO apo objectives.

Thanks for the info! So, what you're saying is basically use my compound microscope as a stereo scope. This does make sense -- What type of lighting would you recommend? I would need some small but very bright lights in order to illuminate the subject and allow my camera to take the photos.

[zzffnn]

I use these small and VERY bright LED headlights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SW ... UTF8&psc=1

Just take off their straps, use diffusion and put them on clamp gooseneck.

[Pat Thielen]

I use these small and VERY bright LED headlights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SW ... UTF8&psc=1

Just take off their straps, use diffusion and put them on clamp gooseneck.

Very cool -- I think I'll give it a try. Just like using studio lighting for portraits! I wonder if these could be used for photographing very small things, such as protozoa or even bacteria. I would love to see reflected light photos of them as well.

Thanks much for all your help!

[zzffnn]

I wonder if these could be used for photographing very small things, such as protozoa or even bacteria. I would love to see reflected light photos of them as well.

Those light may work for protists > 300 microns, such as big Paramecia. Resolution will be low for protists. It would be hard to impossible to use them for bacteria, unless you have epi ( through-objective) light apparatus.