OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

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ecprimate
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OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#1 Post by ecprimate » Thu May 31, 2018 7:06 pm

Hi all,

I'm a PhD student on a very tight budget, and I bought an OMAX microscope with imaging capabilities last year (https://www.amazon.com/OMAX-40X-2000X-B ... op?ie=UTF8). I'm trying to use it for cell counts on blood smears (stained with Wright Giemsa) for part of my dissertation. While the slides look great through the microscope eyepieces (RBCs stained pink, WBCs stained blue/purple, background white) the images I capture with the imaging software once hooking up to the USB are really blue and completely obscure the nice coloring I see through the eyepieces (I attached a captured photo here).

I've tried everything I can think of and have played around with the auto white-balance features in the software, but nothing is working. Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm new to microscope use and don't know too much just yet.

Thanks everyone!
Attachments
omax1.jpg
omax1.jpg (201.13 KiB) Viewed 6513 times

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75RR
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#2 Post by 75RR » Thu May 31, 2018 9:19 pm

I've tried everything I can think of and have played around with the auto white-balance features in the software, but nothing is working.
Despite your efforts I would still vote for WB (White Balance) as the most likely suspect. Make sure you have a white background (or at least one that is as white as possible when you set the White Balance).
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)

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mrsonchus
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#3 Post by mrsonchus » Thu May 31, 2018 9:52 pm

Yes, as 75' says, focus your slide in the usual way then use the stage's X-Y controls to move the subject out of the field of view so you are just looking at a light/lit background. Then set the camera's white-balance to that and return to the subject and photograph - that should do it. Alternatively of course it's quick & easy to set WB post-capture with software.

Good luck.

John B.
John B

Hobbyst46
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#4 Post by Hobbyst46 » Thu May 31, 2018 9:56 pm

Possibly there is a color filter in your scope's illumination path?

MichaelG.
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#5 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Jun 01, 2018 9:14 am

It certainly looks like a simple White Balance problem.

May I just ask what computer operating system you are using?
... and what version of the OMAX software?

Although they claim compatibility with Mac OS X, it's pretty evident that OMAX is biased towards Windows:
http://www.microscopenet.com/omax-built ... 10018.html

MichaelG.
.

P.S. for comparison:
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-scien ... stain.html
Too many 'projects'

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mrsonchus
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#6 Post by mrsonchus » Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:03 pm

Hi, I've made a few quick changes to your image with Photoshop Elements v9 that may give you a rough idea of PP possibilities that are quick and easy - although not perfect of course,

The 'manually-fixed' image is just a colour-balance change very similar to the auto-colour fix and an additional tweak to the image's levels to enhance the mid-range contrast a touch..

Some alterations,
ws_multi-image.jpg
ws_multi-image.jpg (370.05 KiB) Viewed 6464 times
I hope it's OK to use your image.

John B.
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ecprimate
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#7 Post by ecprimate » Fri Jun 01, 2018 3:50 pm

mrsonchus wrote:Hi, I've made a few quick changes to your image with Photoshop Elements v9 that may give you a rough idea of PP possibilities that are quick and easy - although not perfect of course,

The 'manually-fixed' image is just a colour-balance change very similar to the auto-colour fix and an additional tweak to the image's levels to enhance the mid-range contrast a touch..

Some alterations,
ws_multi-image.jpg

I hope it's OK to use your image.

John B.
Thank you so much for this! The "manual fix" image you provided is exactly what I need. Would you mind telling me what parameters you changed to get that? I'm a photoshop novice and have only ever used it once or twice.

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mrsonchus
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#8 Post by mrsonchus » Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:07 pm

No trouble, the simple steps are:

1 - open the enhance/lighting/levels drop-down and click-on the white-point dropper
ws_small_snip1.jpg
ws_small_snip1.jpg (113.26 KiB) Viewed 6446 times
2 - 'drop' the dropper somewhere in the 'blue' bits between the cells (i.e. the areas that should be the light only) and the image will become 'pinkish' as expected with the red cells
ws_small_snip2.jpg
ws_small_snip2.jpg (111.3 KiB) Viewed 6446 times
3 - next, still with the levels settings, drag the little triangle in the middle-bottom below the histogram to a level (number) of about 0.7 - the image will increase mid-range contrast and gain a lot of definition
ws_small_snip3.jpg
ws_small_snip3.jpg (123.45 KiB) Viewed 6446 times
That's all for the basic correction - definitely all that's needed I'd say for this image. Hopefully it will now resemble more that seen through the eyepieces - although the camera in my experience never gets anywhere near to the eyepiece-view sadly, but good enough!
ws_small_manual fix blue image omax1 copy_edited-3.jpg
ws_small_manual fix blue image omax1 copy_edited-3.jpg (66.29 KiB) Viewed 6446 times
Give it a practice...

John B.
p.s.
If you'd like it a little more 'pink-ish' just increase the colour (all colours together that is) saturation by (for this image about 30-40) to give a pleasing look...
John B

Hobbyst46
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#9 Post by Hobbyst46 » Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:40 pm

Another option, if you are using Microsoft Windows, e.g. Win 7, one of its included software components is Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Although it is not on the same level as dedicated tools like Photoshop, you can use it to modify the colors. Open the image file. Press the top menu tab "Edit Pictures". A tool menu appears on the right side of the screen. Press "color". On the new menu that shows up, press "Enhance Colors". To perform the correction, point with the mouse at a location on the image that should be white, like between cells, and click. The color balance will change and your cells will become mostly pink on a very nearly white background. And in the same menu on the right hand side of the screen, you can manipulate Hue, Saturation etc with slider controls.

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mrsonchus
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#10 Post by mrsonchus » Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:52 pm

Hobbyst46 wrote:Another option, if you are using Microsoft Windows, e.g. Win 7, one of its included software components is Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Although it is not on the same level as dedicated tools like Photoshop, you can use it to modify the colors. Open the image file. Press the top menu tab "Edit Pictures". A tool menu appears on the right side of the screen. Press "color". On the new menu that shows up, press "Enhance Colors". To perform the correction, point with the mouse at a location on the image that should be white, like between cells, and click. The color balance will change and your cells will become mostly pink on a very nearly white background. And in the same menu on the right hand side of the screen, you can manipulate Hue, Saturation etc with slider controls.
That's a good idea - the basic image viewer/editor that comes with Windows 10 is really very good indeed. For most images using it's edit-enhance simple slider gives in all honesty results about 90% as good as the auto-fix of PS9!
John B

MichaelG.
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#11 Post by MichaelG. » Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:02 pm

Sorry to be late back to the discussion ... I have been away at the National Health Service's pleasure for a few days.

I think it worth highlighting the explicit [but unexplained] instructions in section 3.10 of:
http://www.microscopenet.com/Manuals/MD ... 789TYR.pdf

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Hobbyst46
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Re: OMAX microscope imaging problem - photos are blue?

#12 Post by Hobbyst46 » Fri Jun 08, 2018 5:34 pm

@MichaelG
Good health wishes!
Luckily I have learned how to use white balance with my camera, although it took a while.

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