Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

Do you have any microscopy questions, which you are afraid to ask? This is your place.
Message
Author
User avatar
Rossf
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:39 am
Location: Victoria Australia

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#31 Post by Rossf » Thu Apr 15, 2021 6:18 am

Gee MichealG that manual made me feel really dumb! Very complicated-so is it a camera that you need to be into coding and audino or raspberry PI computers etc? Or also comes with software that is user friendly? (I know hardly anything about such things-too old) -my camera is c-mount 1” sensor-pocket cinema camera which was designed so that old bolex 16mm film camera lenses can be used-I know Bolex made a stereoscopic adapter and will probably see if they can be somehow adapted to eyepieces so get two Standard def views on each frame and carve it up/reassemble in post production etc-so we may get to similar destinations but mine might be more low tech mirror splitting adapter or something-or maybe two iPods-I’ll only get a square per view (not widescreen) but I like the idea of the round cornered square almost like it’s an old view master-and the anaglyph glasses are pretty cheap to buy or could probably make them just for the odd demo day or online presentation-I’ll see where this idea takes me-but first I need to get a stereo scope-did you mention certain stereo scope design types would be less suitable as the camera would pick up distortions that the eye doesn’t?

MichaelG.
Posts: 3971
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#32 Post by MichaelG. » Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:59 am

Rossf wrote:
Thu Apr 15, 2021 6:18 am
Gee MichealG that manual made me feel really dumb! Very complicated-so is it a camera that you need to be into coding and audino or raspberry PI computers etc? Or also comes with software that is user friendly? (I know hardly anything about such things-too old) ...
It’s O.K. Ross ... That ‘manual’ is the data-sheet for the sensor chip :
Important for the camera manufacturer, but of only passing interest to us !

Ultimately, the camera is a driverless UVC device, which behaves like a typical modern webcam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_video_device_class

Their festival isn’t over yet, so I’m still waiting for a quote from Thailand

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

MichaelG.
Posts: 3971
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#33 Post by MichaelG. » Sun Apr 18, 2021 9:14 am

MichaelG. wrote:
Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:59 am
Their festival isn’t over yet, so I’m still waiting for a quote from Thailand
.

Meanwhile:
Although it doesn’t appear to be available in English, the Japanese Shodensha catalogue is worth a look
https://www.shodensha-inc.co.jp/digital ... ml#/page/1

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

MichaelG.
Posts: 3971
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#34 Post by MichaelG. » Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:36 pm

UPDATE:

I have received a formal quote from Shodensha in Japan, and unfortunately my idea of buying a pair of UVC cameras from them is not really practical for a rather whimsical project.

DN3UVC-130 cameras are 660USD each, plus a very reasonable 40USD for delivery to my UK address.

1,360USD, plus import duties and VAT is more than I can justify for this one :(

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

User avatar
Rossf
Posts: 363
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:39 am
Location: Victoria Australia

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#35 Post by Rossf » Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:45 pm

MichealG -dagnamit son of a monkey spank! If it wasn’t for that extra 0 on the price...It’s good though to know ones financial limits on a experimental project unless someone else has done the hard work first to make it a working system and shares how they do it-do you have a plan B? Or dropping the idea for now-when I get a stereo scope in at least gonna try the dual iPod idea-borrow them form nieces and nephews for a day -thats what they’re there for! If I get good results I’ll post you the vids-you may need some anaglyph glasses.Either way was fun to discuss the various ways this could be done.
Regards ross

MichaelG.
Posts: 3971
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#36 Post by MichaelG. » Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:08 am

Rossf wrote:
Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:45 pm
MichealG -dagnamit son of a monkey spank! If it wasn’t for that extra 0 on the price...It’s good though to know ones financial limits on a experimental project unless someone else has done the hard work first to make it a working system and shares how they do it-do you have a plan B? Or dropping the idea for now-when I get a stereo scope in at least gonna try the dual iPod idea-borrow them form nieces and nephews for a day -thats what they’re there for! If I get good results I’ll post you the vids-you may need some anaglyph glasses.Either way was fun to discuss the various ways this could be done.
Regards ross
.

Thanks for your eloquent commiseration, ross ... I couldn’t put it better myself :!:

It’s particularly irritating because I have already proved that the optical arrangement works very nicely, and would be easy to implement as a stereo pair.

I have a pair of Computar C-mount lenses of 12mm focal length which couple to the Nachet eyepieces with a ‘just right’ simplicity that Goldilocks would appreciate. ... The eyepieces have a flat top surface and there is a flat surface in the lens body:
But, of course, these need to be used with a physically large-enough sensor, to avoid excessive cropping.

Plan B is currently to sit and wait for a while ... in the hope that a modestly priced alternative to the Shodensha camera will appear.

MichaelG.
.

Edit: Here [reduced in size and jpeg quality for posting] is a test shot using a Toupcam 5.1 megapixel camera

The specimen is roughly 3mm ‘diameter’ so I’m happy …
.
12mm Computar on Nachet eyepiece
12mm Computar on Nachet eyepiece
730FC52A-398D-4C27-AF4F-2488F754F512.jpeg (222.67 KiB) Viewed 1849 times

The optical arrangement looks plenty good enough for stereoscopic video ... I just need two suitable cameras.
Too many 'projects'

dtsh
Posts: 977
Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 6:06 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#37 Post by dtsh » Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:46 pm

MichaelG. wrote:
Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:08 am
The optical arrangement looks plenty good enough for stereoscopic video ... I just need two suitable cameras.
The Raspberry pi compute module supports two camera inputs and has a couple of camera options, a v2 camera module of 8MP which is relatively inexpensive and a 16MP HQ camera which is more. As a proof of concept, I think it would be around the $100-$120 mark, give or take a little.
While it's certainly not the highest quality one can get, the V2 camera isn't awful; I have been using one as of late since the DSLR has been occupied with other tasks.
The images from this post and after were taken with it: https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... 85#p102831

MichaelG.
Posts: 3971
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Using a pair of cameras with a stereo microscope

#38 Post by MichaelG. » Thu Apr 29, 2021 5:16 pm

dtsh wrote:
Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:46 pm
MichaelG. wrote:
Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:08 am
The optical arrangement looks plenty good enough for stereoscopic video ... I just need two suitable cameras.
The Raspberry pi compute module supports two camera inputs […]
Thanks for that ... Yes I did wonder about that module, and as the 12mm Computar works well with the Toupcam’s 1/2.5” sensor [with about a 2x crop factor], the Pi HQ camera’s 1/2.3” should also be a good match.

To be honest ... For the video streaming, I would prefer something with bigger pixels and less of them; and a global shutter.
But I can’t justify the Shodensha price tag ... so Raspberry Pi HQ might be the best option.

Lots of reading to do ...

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

Post Reply