I'm a software engineer in my mid-50's. Just starting out with microscopy.
I bought a USB microscope a couple years ago to help diagnose problems with my 3D prints, but wound up using it a lot more than I had expected, to look at random things around the apartment and bugs the cat finds!
Finally I broke down and bought an AmScope M150C when it was very, very on sale at Amazon.
I was intially thinking about a somewhat more expensive microscope, but finally decided it would be better to start small and learn a bit before buying anything expensive.
I had an 8MP webcam laying around from a previous project, so I designed and printed an adapter to attach it to the microscope. It only works on the 25X eyepiece at the moment.
I'm hoping to learn how to collect samples, prepare them, and then identify what I'm looking at!
Some pictures below, all but the first one are from the M150C. The last one (mystery creature) I also posted in the "Identification Help" section, since I have no idea what it is!
- I think this was a black-wing fungus gnat. Found dead in my bathtub one morning. Taken with Plugable USB microscope.
- fungus_gnat.jpg (62.09 KiB) Viewed 1264 times
- Pumpkin pollen from a commercially prepared slide.
- pumpkin_pollen.jpg (41.57 KiB) Viewed 1264 times
- Fly leg from a commercially prepared slide.
- fly_leg.jpg (37.29 KiB) Viewed 1264 times
- First attempt to stain something: chunk of mold from a strawberry.
- moldy_strawberry.jpg (38.52 KiB) Viewed 1264 times
- Don't know what this is yet!
- mystery_creature.jpg (101.57 KiB) Viewed 1264 times
