MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Underneath the yellow cap is a second camera port for video and medium format. There is a spot underneath the turret towards the back where an EPI/fluorescence illuminator would go. Maybe in a month or so after my wallet recovers. I got into microscopy for doing fine art photography. The world of mi...

Answering some questions… I live in San Antonio,TX. I am fortunate that there is a microscope repair shop in an adjacent town which is factory authorized for many of the big manufacturers. This makes sense as San Antonio has a huge medical school and medical complex. This repair service has been aro...

I am finally getting around to sharing images of my setup. I don't have all the money in the world so the used and broken markets is where I tend to shop. I wanted a quality name brand microscope that I could find parts for and was upgradeable so I can add features in the future. I settled on a used...

Please correct me if I’m wrong. I think by ratio you are meaning magnification. If this is the case remember that magnification is a function of both the objective and the eyepiece. It is challenging for me to explain microscope optics because I’m most familiar with camera and telescope optics. Micr...

I will do my best to explain. It is easier to explain telescopes than microscopes because they use optical descriptions that more closely correspond to optical specifications in physics and most optical engineering. In telescopes resolving power is dependent on the diameter of the front element of t...

It should be made from spring steel. Looking at your pictures it appears that there was a fault in its manufacture. I don’t know what resources you have or have access to. You could take a piece of sheet spring steel, heat it so it can be formed to the right angle shown in the photos. After it is be...

I will admit that I am getting lazy in my old age and do get things professional serviced more than I use to. But I am a retired tv broadcast studio engineer and have a very complete electronics lab at home. Electronics and amateur radio are still hobbies and interests of mine. Once I figured out ho...

Frustrated with customer service or lack their of at microscope companies. I haven’t been able to get a response from Zeiss for requests for parts or service manuals. I’m far from rich and can’t afford to send my stuff out to be repaired for major $€£¥. I save money by purchasing used and sometimes ...

There are pluses and minuses to all lighting technologies. I am a degreed professional photographer and electronics engineer. From a photography perspective the number of spectral lines within the bandwidth of a given light source is less important than the bandwidth and color temperature. Keep in m...

The previous posts cover a host of very good options. I am not familiar with your camera but many medium have a custom white balance option that augments the presets. You might want to check your camera manual and see if it does and try it. The best alternative has already been suggested is to shoot...

Here is an image of some ascorbic acid crystals under polarized light. I just wish I had a plan apo objective at this magnification. I really like the image.

As much as you can afford but no more

Seriously though, an average person will invest about the cost of an automobile in their hobby.

B&H photo sells good quality film from B+W. That is what I used initially before I got glass filters.

I just purchased four Zeiss neoflour plan apo phase contrast objectives for parts or not working. Most are in usable condition and need just minor cleaning. One has a couple of minor scratches but is usable. BUT one looks like the tip was immersed in something that when it dried it gives a sandblast...

Check out holographic websites. Making holograms require system movement less than 1/2 wavelength. One of the best solutions I’ve seen is using a gravestone on inner tubes.

Well, Here is my latest image. It was shot using my Canon 7D held over the front photo port on my microscope. The focus and clarity has definitely improved. Thanks to everyone for their assistance. I still have a few minor wrinkles to iron out but at least I know what to do. This is an image of Oran...

I just tried the inexpensive 4x Plano objective from Amazon. Going through the.5x projection eyepiece the edges are still very blurry. I removed this lens from the equation and gust held the DSLR in place. The image was sharp nearly edge to edge. I hope to get a proper camera tube later this week. I...

Fortunately I am a retired chief broadcast studio engineer that maintained the camera gear and optics for the headquarters of an international news agency. I have rebuilt lenses in the past. These are just a bit smaller than I normally work on. They also came with Zeiss KPL 10x W eyepieces. I would ...

For now I have ditched the astronomy camera in favor of a canon 7d coupled to a 0.5x eyepiece. This has made a very substantial improvement. But the objectives I initially purchased to get me up and going are definitely not the best. About their only redeeming value is the spring loading on the 60x ...

Update. I got the .5x lens in today. It has a much closer to parafocal distance than my previous method. Images still seem to be a bit fuzzier than through the eyepiece. I suspect some of this may be due to low megapixels. As funds increase I will be trying more things. Thanks again everyone for the...

Thank you for all of the fantastic information, advice, and support. I will keep my eyes out for the C mount adapter at a reasonable price. I have the taller chimney for the front port. I still need a camera adapter that will fit it and a suitable projection eyepiece. I have leads on both. The only ...

Is that adapter for the front or rear camera ports? Where can I get a generic one? What is a fair price? I have the chimney with the 42mm opening and and what I believe to be a place for a projection eyepiece inside the chimney. Eventually I want to have a dedicated microscope camera. Right now I am...

Both the camera and ordered reduction lens are C mount.

I was able to find a reduction eyepiece on Amazon. It will arrive tomorrow. I forgot to mention that I can adjust the focus and see the immediate results on my computer. It appears that I didn’t make that clear before. Next month I intend to get a dedicated microscope camera. Can anyone recommend on...

Thanks for all of the comments. I agree that a reduction eyepiece would help. I didn’t know they even existed. As for my configuration I am using the tall chimney on the front of the scope. I am using an astronomy camera. This has the benefit of not having any moving parts as vibration limitation is...

No, I must refocus when I use the camera. I display the image from the camera magnified 1:1 on my computer to focus. The camera is placed on top of the photo tube with the sensor directly exposed without any intermediate optics. I believe that the photo tube was originally designed to be used with a...

Greetings, I am new to micro photography but am extraordinary experienced and qualified in general photography. I have a Nikon Microphot-FX connected to a 6.4mp astronomy camera (ASI178MC). I have this placed on top of the trinocular photo tube of the microscope. I can't seem to get my images anywhe...

I just thought I would chime in on image editing.

For comprehensive basic adjustments I really like DXO photo lab. For a non subscription alternative to Photoshop I use Affinity Photo. It’s outstanding. For denoising and sharpening I use topaz AI suite.

The astronomy market has fringe killer filters that are basically a band reject filter for the CA. They can be screwed into the bottom of eyepieces and On cameras. They come in a variety of sizes.

Hi Eric, It looks like the microscope you chose is fantastic and has the ability to expand with your interest and hopefully pocket book. My grandfather was from French Canada and spoke fluent French. Unfortunately I don’t. But I have driven through and even broke down in Quebec. Welcome to the forum...