Eyepeice camera?

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Ilikeplants
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Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:29 am

Eyepeice camera?

#1 Post by Ilikeplants » Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:20 pm

Sorry if this belongs in the Camera section of the forum (kinda new here).

I just bought a Nikon Labophot with plan objectives. It unfortunately does not have a trinocular head (maybe something to get down the line a bit), but I would really like to get some good images with it on the cheap. I heard talk of using something like a Nikon Coolpix or similar with an adapter. How do I find out what kind of adapter to use? Any good suggestions for cameras on the cheap? Should I just use my Iphone with a holder?
Or would something like this camera just be better?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185076213739?_ ... M4Mj119Nf

Thanks,
A

Scarodactyl
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Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm

Re: Eyepeice camera?

#2 Post by Scarodactyl » Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:32 pm

It depends what you mean by on the cheap. Some of the coolpix models were very well regarded as affordable microscope cameras, and adapters for them can be quite inexpensive at times. Unfortunately it's been a while and they're getting kind of long in the tooth as cell phines have eaten the point and click market. You may find your phone camera gets better results, and adapters to hold them in position over an eyepiece can be very affordable.

Ilikeplants
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:29 am

Re: Eyepeice camera?

#3 Post by Ilikeplants » Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:45 pm

Scarodactyl wrote:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 10:32 pm
It depends what you mean by on the cheap. Some of the coolpix models were very well regarded as affordable microscope cameras, and adapters for them can be quite inexpensive at times. Unfortunately it's been a while and they're getting kind of long in the tooth as cell phines have eaten the point and click market. You may find your phone camera gets better results, and adapters to hold them in position over an eyepiece can be very affordable.
Thanks for the response!
I am trying to stay around or under 100 USD, and looking for the best and more reproducible picture quality I can get.

MicroBob
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Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:11 am
Location: Northern Germany

Re: Eyepeice camera?

#4 Post by MicroBob » Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:30 am

Hi A.,
sub 100 USD and good photo quality is a nice challenge and not completely impossible. For good quality it is important to know how the color correction of your microscope optics are designed: In most 160/170mm microscopes the eyepieces are involved in this correction and can't be left away. Your Nikon might be one of the few where this is not the case though. I don't know the Nikon Labophot as Nikon microscopes are nearly unnown here in Germany, so you will have to find this out first. Options in your price range will be your existing Iphone or an old DSLR/DSLM which would have to be chosen carefully for good quality. The resolution of higher power microscope objectives is fairly limited so there is no real need for the most powerful cameras to get a good quality, maybe 80% of what is possible. The Coolpix 9xx adaptation came from the fact that these were among the few cameras with a thread at the front of the objective and it was the same thread as that on some (correcting, might not fit to your microscope's optics) Leitz Periplan eyepieces. By today's standards these old cameras had a small dynamic range and tiny resolution so I wouldn't bother to get one for practical use. But by now they are a nice collectors piece.

Bob

Scarodactyl
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Re: Eyepeice camera?

#5 Post by Scarodactyl » Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 am

MicroBob wrote:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:30 am
Your Nikon might be one of the few where this is not the case though.
For the record, it is. Nikon optics from this era and onwards don't need special corrections from the eyepieces. So most third party adapters will play decently well with it.

MicroBob
Posts: 3154
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 9:11 am
Location: Northern Germany

Re: Eyepeice camera?

#6 Post by MicroBob » Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:36 pm

In this case a non-correcting third-party adapter and a camera with electronic first shutter curtain will give good results. This could be e.g. a SONY NEX 5N (not NEX 5) or a Canon EOS 500D. The adapter would have to contain a lens group that projects the intermediate image onto the sensor in a useable size. The camera has to be used in the same focus position as when observing with only minor fine focussing needed. So it will be helpful if the adapter can be adjusted in lenght.

Dubious
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Re: Eyepeice camera?

#7 Post by Dubious » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:18 pm

It's probably best not have a heavy DSLR camera+adapter tube dangling from the eyepiece tube, trying to tip the microscope. If you already have a smartphone with reasonably good camera, I would probably just use that afocally (camera lens looking into the eyepiece). The adapter to clamp the phone to the eyepiece would be well under your budget, and you could also get an extra eyepiece to keep clamped permanently, to make switching back and forth easier. Cell phone cameras often give excellent results.

A USB camera would also work with a reducing lens (many are packaged with one), but I know nothing about the one you linked except that the price seems too low. Of course, you could always return if it doesn't work. You would probably need to buy a C-mount reducing lens separately. Amscope has a range of USB cameras. I have the 5MB Amscope MU503B USB camera, which is probably about the minimum MB to produce acceptable results. Packaged with a reducing lens, it's around $280. (A USB 2.0 version should be significantly less.)

https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-MU503B-H ... 222&sr=8-1

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