Is photo eyepiece the same as the microscope's eyepiece?

[Reza]

In the blog (http://www.microbehunter.com/connecting ... icroscope/) it's written that either we can perform afocal photography in which a camera (including its lens) is in front of the eyepiece of the microscope or we can directly connect a camera (without its lens and without the microscope's eyepiece) to a microscope.

I have a question about the second situation. In the second situation, we should use a photo eyepiece to project the image of objective onto the camera. Does the photo eyepiece perform the same function as the eyepiece of the microscope itself?
The microscope's eyepiece produces an imaginary image so there must be an extra lens (eye or camera lens ) to project the image on a sensor. Doesn't the photo eyepiece produce an imaginary image on its own?
If not, how we can magnify the image to large extents without the microscope's eyepiece? For example, a 10X microscope's eyepiece and 40X objective gives a 400 times magnification.

[MichaelG.]

... I have a question about the second situation. In the second situation, we should use a photo eyepiece to project the image of objective onto the camera. Does the photo eyepiece perform the same function as the eyepiece of the microscope itself?
The microscope's eyepiece produces an imaginary image so there must be an extra lens (eye or camera lens ) to project the image on a sensor. Doesn't the photo eyepiece produce an imaginary image on its own? ...

You have correctly deduced the key difference between a 'viewing eyepiece' and a 'photo eyepiece'.
A photo eyepiece is very similar to a viewing eyepiece EXCEPT THAT it is corrected to produce a real image at a finite distance.

That correction need not be particularly complex ... The Russian K7x for example, just needs lifting about 5mm to do reasonable service. ... "Perfection" as ever, is a little more expensive !!

MichaelG.

P.S. This is worth a look: http://www.alanwood.net/photography/oly ... ieces.html

[75RR]

That correction need not be particularly complex ... The Russian K7x for example, just needs lifting about 5mm to do reasonable service.

I used the same method with a 'normal' Zeiss KPL eyepiece. All it took was lifting it a few mm for it to project a real image directly on to the camera sensor. It gave very good results.

[Reza]

Can we consider the photo eyepiece as a combination of viewing eyepiece and a mini lens to mimic the human eye's lens so that at the end the image is covers the sensor properly?
Do we get the same magnification obtained through viewing eyepiece if we use photo eyepiece?

[75RR]

Have a look at this pdf by Charles Krebs:

"Some thoughts on selecting projection relay optics when using DSLR’s (and other “lens-less” sensors) for photomicrography."

http://krebsmicro.com/relayDSLR/relayoptics1.html

Then have a look through his website for additional pdfs on setting up a camera on a microscope and some very beautiful images

http://krebsmicro.com