Very poor image with Omax camera

[BingoRingo]

Hello!

I just purchased microscope/USB Camera kit from microscopenet.com. While I am more than satisfied with the microscope, the Omax camera/software that was bundled is giving me some serious trouble.

It is the type of camera you insert in the eyepiece and connect directly to the computer through a USB cable. It looks like this one except it's 1.3 megapixel.

http://www.microscopenet.com/10mp-usb30 ... 10164.html (didn't find any restriction to adding a URL; sorry if there is one)

I think it is also sold under the "AmScope" brand.

It came with a CD that contains ToupView, the software for both Mac OS X and Windows (I think it's the same for both platforms).

I plugged it in a Mac Mini and I after playing with the settings I managed to get a decent picture, but the colours were different (a slide that should be red/pink was blue). I then tried plugging it to a Windows 7 computer and had much worse results. The image is never even close to what I see with the eyepiece, everything is yellow/orange, if I change the picture settings I get no improvement at all. If the exposure is good, I lose the colours, if the colours are good, it's only for a small portion of the subject. Playing with the light intensity does not really improve anything, it just makes the subject disappear as if it was too bright (which was not an issue on OS X).

When I take a picture with my smartphone, it comes out very nice... so I was wondering, do you think the camera is damaged? Could it be poor quality so even a replacement would give me the same results? They're not that cheap (alone I think it sells for $89 which is far from professional equipment, but in 2014 should still give me decent pictures).

What software do you use, do you think it could make a difference?

In my opinion, the USB camera should at the very least see exactly what I see by default, and image settings would be to make it better. I understand the focus can be different, but that should be it. If my smartphone can do it well with a shaky hand, this thing should do much better.

Any help would be appreciated! I have no experience at all using a camera on a microscope so it may be a stupid mistake.

[The QCC]

I have had three OMAX microscope cameras and none of them give the results your have explained.
I also actively use the 10MP camera you have linked and the Toupview software.

A question.
What type of illumination does your microscope have? Halogen or LED?

Regarding the Toupview software.
Set the White Balance before you place the slide on the stage. Turn on the light. Select the 10x objective. In Toupview, select the White Balance tab and click on the White Balance button.
The Auto Exposure in Toupview works quite well and is recommended.
In the Color Adjustment tab, select the Defaults button.

If you want the latest Toupview software, download it from the ToupTek or Amscope MU camera drivers web sites.

If after setting the correct white balance and exposure you still have radically different colours from what you expect, you may have a defective camera.

[BingoRingo]

Thanks for replying.

I installed it on another PC and got better results, at least the image is the same colour as what I see through the eyepiece, but now I have issues with the background. There is no white balance option on the Mac version, it is very limited.

Following the instructions (I started with the 4x objective) didn't do any difference. The image is better but now the background is all blue/green. When I play with the settings, it becomes white but the rest of the image is affected.

I have a halogen lamp, I tried setting it at different levels of intensity and there is not a lot of difference. I get the best results with the highest intensity.

I attached the USB camera shot vs the Smartphone shot through the eyepiece.

[Oliver]

Hello,
Halogen will produce a more blue light at high intensities, the two images can therfore only be compared if taken at the same intensity. The left image shows both blue background and red specimen, I therefore think that the camera is able to show the full color range. If one of the color channels is missing, then this looks different. The whole image will then have a color change. I think that the blue background could be due to the blue filter in front of the camera sensor. sensors are too red sensitive and this is compensated with the blue filter. do an automatic white balance with both pictures in phtotshop and see if the images are then the same.
Oliver

[BingoRingo]

I'll try Photoshop; I did take the two pictures at the same intensity, one through the eyepiece and the other one with the USB camera.

If I can only get poor results, I may simply try to return the camera and use my smartphone or even better, purchase a mount for my wife's DSLR camera, although it is more expensive.

[The QCC]

Before condemning the camera, make sure the blue filter is on the halogen light.
Then take a photo of the light without a specimen on the stage.
The photo should be a neutral grey. If it is not, use Toupview and adjust the white balance or colour adjustment for a neutral grey. Now take a photo of your specimen.
It should show a neutral background and the specimen should be the correct colour.

[BingoRingo]

I will definitely try that, thanks for the help.

Edit: The blue filter did indeed improve the way I see the specimens, even without the camera they often look better.

The company sent me the link to a new version of the software for Mac OS X, I'll post the link here if someone else has the same issue

http://www.microscopenet.com/Drivers/To ... -07-14.dmg

This is not perfect, but it is a major improvement over the previous version and gave me decent results once I played with the settings.

Thanks for all your help!

[gekko]

White balance notwithstanding, I thought your photographs were actually very good (at least to my eyes).