MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Hi all

I recently bought a CANON EOS 4000D with the sole purpose of using it for photomicrography. I've been searching all around the forum and came to the conclusion that this camera would be the best suited for a beginner. The only thing still left for me to do right now is to find the right adapter for it. I've seen some posts about it being difficult to find the right adapter for the right microscope, and I don't like taking risks. So i'm writing this post to see what the community has to say! The manufacturer of my microscope (Euromex) lists a specific adapter that should be compatible with my scope (https://www.optics-pro.com/camera-adapt ... n-/p,53926) , it's rather expensive but I wouldn't mind giving that much money to an adapter if it works as desired. Should I give the adapter a try? Other suggestions are also welcome!

Forigve me for the possible spelling and grammar mistakes, english is not my native language.

Thanks in advance!
SVdB

The one they're recommensing there is a generic 2x adapter, not necessarily something well matched to your system. These are available for a third of that price on eBay.
That said I am not sure I would take that approach. You can get good results by picking up a 40mm pancake lens and shooting through a normal viewing eyepiece with it focused at infinity. The tricky part of this one is the mechanical adaptation to hold the lens right above an eyepiece, which varies from scope to scope, but I like it in these instances because if you ever upgrade your scope the 40mm lens can move to your other system, or if you have a different adapter on that one you still have a nice usable 40mm lens. There are other approaches too, like trying photo eyepieces from other brands, but this can be a tricky process to match your objectives, depending.

You would also need the T2 ring for which they want 31.90 euros plus shipping!
Again, much cheaper on ebay.
This thread may be helpful:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8504

Thanks Scarodactyl, I might give that a try. Does the method with the pancake lens work for all kinds of eyepieces, or do you need a specific one?

I also bought a T2 ring from another seller at halve the price of the Euromex one + free shipping!

See Here for a 2x adaptor:

https://www.amscope.com/canon-slr-dslr- ... copes.html

Also sold on Amazon (same price)

Cellusome wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:38 pm

Thanks Scarodactyl, I might give that a try. Does the method with the pancake lens work for all kinds of eyepieces, or do you need a specific one?

It should work with any viewing eyepiece with a sufficiently high eye point (ie, not one that you have to get your eyeball right up to to see). One advantage to this is that it includes any additional optical corrections that might happen in the eyepiece--that isn't really done anymore on more modern systems (that's not to say that systems with eyepiece corrections are bad of course, as many great classics do use them) but many of the Chinese ones are based on older designs.

I think this is also the same adapter, though I could be wrong https://www.ebay.com/itm/AmScope-Canon- ... 2872531465
I generally wouldn't recommend this one, it seems to have pretty variable quality from system to system and I am not 100% sure how good it is even at its best.

edit: this one came up while I was searching for cheaper 2x adapters. I have never heard of it before but it sure looks fancy, and has some good reviews elsewhere https://www.ebay.com/itm/VariMag-II-for ... 4609073727

If your system has any corrections in the eyepieces you'll likely see limited returns from this type of system, even good ones, as they are generally trying to be as neutral as possible.

I'm really interested in that Varimag II adapter you showed me Scarodactyl. But I don't have any experience with ebay whatsoever, should this seller be trusted? If I could get it for half the retail price, it would be a steal. I'm leaning more to buying an actual adapter than the pancake lens at the moment, probably because of the ease of use and because I don't have any plans to upgrade my scope in the near future. EDIT: since I have a finite corrected system, it still might be better to go for the afocal route

I also tried imaging through the eyepiece with a standard 18-55 mm lens, but had some severe discoloring visible. I guess that will be fixed by using a pancake lens?

Thanks for the replies everyone, I really appreciate it.
Siebe Vdb

I've had good results with the 40mm pancake on my Leitz system (necessary because of the eyepiece corrections--their official system actually works the same way, with a lens over an eyepiece). I haven't tried a zoom lens for that before, though one thing is to be sure it is focused to infinity.

I havem't bought from this seller before, but he has good feedback. eBay in general has pretty strong buyer protections but nothing is ever a 100% guarantee.

I'll be trying it with a pancake lens first. Do you use a normal tripod to hold the camera in place above the eyepiece?

EDIT: Been looking around the forum and found that a manual pancake lens works better than an electronic one, is the difference significant? I was planning on buying the CANON EF 40mm pancake lens. One slight problem with the lens I have right now is that there is no indicator for infinity. Is it possible to achieve infinity even without the indicator?

I used an electronic one on mine, it worked great. You just keep turning it and it stops at infinity as far as I can tell.

Cellusome wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2020 8:51 am

I'll be trying it with a pancake lens first. Do you use a normal tripod to hold the camera in place above the eyepiece?

EDIT: Been looking around the forum and found that a manual pancake lens works better than an electronic one, is the difference significant? I was planning on buying the CANON EF 40mm pancake lens. One slight problem with the lens I have right now is that there is no indicator for infinity. Is it possible to achieve infinity even without the indicator?

One advantage of manual camera lenses is the ability of foolproof focusing at infinity without having to turn on the camera and point it at a far away object. I have used an electronic EOS-M 15-45mm zoom for a long time. I operated the camera to focus at a distant object, then wrapped the focusing ring (which has no manual action whatsoever) with cellotape, to prevent changes of focus. I later switched to an old manual prime camera lens, on which the distance is easily set to infinity irrespective of the camera status.

I think that the advantage of the pancake lens (vs a non-pancake lens of the same focal length, e.g. 40mm) is the relative easiness of having the image created by the eyepiece enter the camera lens (crudely speaking). This depends on both components: sufficiently high eye point of the microscope eyepiece and an accessible front element surface of the camera lens.
When using a 10X eyepiece and an APSC sensor (e.g. Canon) the focal length of the camera lens should be ~40mm to achieve good coverage of the FOV on the sensor. I use a 8X eyepiece, and a 50mm prime camera lens to achieve the same multiplication result (400).

I'll be buying a 40 mm pancake lens for my canon soon, I'll also be keeping an eye out for a good tripod/stand. Thanks for the information everyone.