MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I am purchasing my first microscope soon and I am purchasing one with a trinocular dedicated for a camera. My goal is to use software pretty heavily for video recording and even viewing the subjects without straining my eyes through the eyepieces all the time.

The problem is, I have a Mac and I am not able to find any good products that have decent software for Mac. I found one camera/software combo (the link will be below), but the software only has image capture on Mac. The software on windows has all sorts of cool features like time lapse, etc. but not on Mac for some reason.

My main goal is to be able to record clear video and it would be a big plus if I could have a ruler somewhere on the video recording showing the length of a micrometer for comparison (Like a bar that says "this is how long a micrometer is" to reference the subject).

I'm not trying to spend a great deal of money, maybe 100 euros/dollars or less. Any tips?




https://www.microscope.com/microscope-c ... era-1.html

My goal is to use software pretty heavily for video recording and even viewing the subjects without straining my eyes through the eyepieces all the time.

Depending on what you are videoing you may find that viewing through the eyepieces is more convenient.

Make sure you at least setup the microscope using the eyepieces before switching to a screen to record, that will ensure correct setup.

If you find you are straining your eyes you may want to make sure you have set up the binocular head correctly.


One option would be to use a DSLR to record video - it gives better resolution - and then use video editing software.

iMovie works well and is fairly easy to use.

I find Adobe After Effects to be overkill and is way too complicated for casual use.


Another option is to run Windows on your Mac: https://www.howtogeek.com/187359/5-ways ... -on-a-mac/

By the way, anyone got a free focus stacking software for Mac users ?

Glycolyse wrote:By the way, anyone got a free focus stacking software for Mac users ?

No, but I'm using HeliconFocus on a 1 month free trial on my mac and it works very well for me. I will purchase it when the period ends. Good luck.

Might be that a lot of the PC software would run on a Mac using something like Parallels and a recent Microsoft OS. Might cost a couple hundred just to get that up - and there could be limitations - but if someone has a speedy Mac with lots of RAM etc. - it's cheaper than buying another computer and a quick switch between Mac & PC operating systems.

geo_man wrote:

Glycolyse wrote:By the way, anyone got a free focus stacking software for Mac users ?

No, but I'm using HeliconFocus on a 1 month free trial on my mac and it works very well for me. I will purchase it when the period ends. Good luck.

Equally ... Zerene Stacker is good, and reasonably priced.
http://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker/docs/purchasing

MichaelG.

Try this website:- http://www.touptek.com/download/showdow ... g=en&id=28
At least it has video recording and there is a version for the Mac

I have recently tried the updated ToupLite software and, within its limitations, it seems fine.
... Nowhere near as extensive as ToupView for Windows though.

Motic's 'Images Plus' packages [2 and 3] are also good.

MichaelG.
.

Choice between ToupTek and Motic will depend upon which camera you intend to use !!

Hi BrantleyIV
Did you get sorted for video software for your Mac?
If not look here:https://www.canon-europe.com/support/co ... 20(64-bit)
Versions for Mac OS 10.14 to Mac OSX 10.5
Allows you to capture images and video from a canon camera to computer for later editing.

Thank you @r

Roldorf wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:00 pm

Hi BrantleyIV
Did you get sorted for video software for your Mac?
If not look here:https://www.canon-europe.com/support/co ... 20(64-bit)
Versions for Mac OS 10.14 to Mac OSX 10.5
Allows you to capture images and video from a canon camera to computer for later editing.

Thank you, I will take a look!

BrantleyIV wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 26, 2019 7:56 pm

it would be a big plus if I could have a ruler somewhere on the video recording showing the length of a micrometer for comparison (Like a bar that says "this is how long a micrometer is" to reference the subject).

That requires shots of a calibration slide, e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/181606099624