Rising Cam E3ISPM 20MP Test Run - A bit confused
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2021 1:38 am
Hello all,
I finally got my hands on the Rising Cam E3ISPM 20MP c-mount camera.
It surprisingly arrived in record speed, was due to arrive on April 10th, but's here already!
It came in great shape, and was pretty much ready to plug and play.
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.h ... 2768110112
I am using an Accuscope 3025, with a Surface Book 2 (USB-3 ports).
See this link for videos at the lowest and highest resolution (labeled accordingly), all filmed at the highest quality and frame rate available with the "Record" function of the software it came with:
Bitrate = 25 Mbps
Quality = 100%
Framerate = x1 (seems to control the speed of the video) - although the sidebar (see attached) has another frame rate setting which I have set on "High" (no idea what exact frame rate this is).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
My observations:
1. The focus is not the same as that viewed through the eye-pieces, despite using the correct 1x c-mount. It seems the camera is a bit too far (since moving it further away made the image even more blurry). I am not sure how to fix this without using a different c-mount that is shorter. Any advice?
2. Despite using a USB-3 port, the live view function is horribly slow (no matter what resolution I try to view in). The quality is acceptable, as you can see in the videos, but the frame rate for the live viewing is not usable for me. I need to be able to use the screen instead of the eyepieces and it's just not possible with such a low frame rate. The nematode in the first two videos was actually moving very slowly and I was quickly able to ID him through the eyepieces. But trying to decipher what his mouth looked like with a lag in movement and focus was very inefficient. I need to film fast-moving microbes. The way it looks it seems I can't with this.
3. I tried recording to see if that would be better in terms of frame rate, but I saw no improvement. The actual live view was slow to begin with.
4. The resolutions seem good (to me at least), however, not as crisp as I would have expected. And I see no major difference between the low and high resolution other than the massive difference in file size. I suppose photos are a different matter if viewed in detail.
Overall, I would like some advice. I've spent almost $500 on the camera and I can't seem to figure out how to live view in real-time speed. I suppose I should return this and look at alternatives?
Any thoughts?
UPDATE:
I've tested the scope again today and I found out a few things:
- If I open up my iris diaphragm and let more light in, the lower resolution of 1824x1216 live viewing is actually pretty smooth (go figure).
- The issue is, the more I increase my magnification then the slower the video gets (duh) because I technically have less light reaching the camera.
- The problem is, I mostly need the iris diaphragm closed to increase contrast and make bacterial counts. This isn't so much of an issue with still frames, but when it comes to IDing nematodes at 400 magnification, I need to open up the diaphragm to increase the frame rate, making the depth of field too narrow and forcing me to focus back and forth so often that the live view/video speed suffers. It's a catch 22.
See these updated videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
- In the first, I initially try following what looks like a cillate, but you can hardly see it speedily spiraling around. Opening up the diaphragm renders them invisible since the contrast goes away.
- In the second video I find a nematode. I start at 100x, with the diaphragm not closed all the way, the frame rate is actually pretty acceptable. But as soon I increase the magnification to 400x, the frame rate suffers tremendously. If I open up the diaphragm, again the depth of field makes it difficult to get a good shot, and also the contrast of the surroundings suffers.
Hmm... What to do now. Send this camera back and go back to the drawing board?
I finally got my hands on the Rising Cam E3ISPM 20MP c-mount camera.
It surprisingly arrived in record speed, was due to arrive on April 10th, but's here already!
It came in great shape, and was pretty much ready to plug and play.
https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.h ... 2768110112
I am using an Accuscope 3025, with a Surface Book 2 (USB-3 ports).
See this link for videos at the lowest and highest resolution (labeled accordingly), all filmed at the highest quality and frame rate available with the "Record" function of the software it came with:
Bitrate = 25 Mbps
Quality = 100%
Framerate = x1 (seems to control the speed of the video) - although the sidebar (see attached) has another frame rate setting which I have set on "High" (no idea what exact frame rate this is).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
My observations:
1. The focus is not the same as that viewed through the eye-pieces, despite using the correct 1x c-mount. It seems the camera is a bit too far (since moving it further away made the image even more blurry). I am not sure how to fix this without using a different c-mount that is shorter. Any advice?
2. Despite using a USB-3 port, the live view function is horribly slow (no matter what resolution I try to view in). The quality is acceptable, as you can see in the videos, but the frame rate for the live viewing is not usable for me. I need to be able to use the screen instead of the eyepieces and it's just not possible with such a low frame rate. The nematode in the first two videos was actually moving very slowly and I was quickly able to ID him through the eyepieces. But trying to decipher what his mouth looked like with a lag in movement and focus was very inefficient. I need to film fast-moving microbes. The way it looks it seems I can't with this.
3. I tried recording to see if that would be better in terms of frame rate, but I saw no improvement. The actual live view was slow to begin with.
4. The resolutions seem good (to me at least), however, not as crisp as I would have expected. And I see no major difference between the low and high resolution other than the massive difference in file size. I suppose photos are a different matter if viewed in detail.
Overall, I would like some advice. I've spent almost $500 on the camera and I can't seem to figure out how to live view in real-time speed. I suppose I should return this and look at alternatives?
Any thoughts?
UPDATE:
I've tested the scope again today and I found out a few things:
- If I open up my iris diaphragm and let more light in, the lower resolution of 1824x1216 live viewing is actually pretty smooth (go figure).
- The issue is, the more I increase my magnification then the slower the video gets (duh) because I technically have less light reaching the camera.
- The problem is, I mostly need the iris diaphragm closed to increase contrast and make bacterial counts. This isn't so much of an issue with still frames, but when it comes to IDing nematodes at 400 magnification, I need to open up the diaphragm to increase the frame rate, making the depth of field too narrow and forcing me to focus back and forth so often that the live view/video speed suffers. It's a catch 22.
See these updated videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
- In the first, I initially try following what looks like a cillate, but you can hardly see it speedily spiraling around. Opening up the diaphragm renders them invisible since the contrast goes away.
- In the second video I find a nematode. I start at 100x, with the diaphragm not closed all the way, the frame rate is actually pretty acceptable. But as soon I increase the magnification to 400x, the frame rate suffers tremendously. If I open up the diaphragm, again the depth of field makes it difficult to get a good shot, and also the contrast of the surroundings suffers.
Hmm... What to do now. Send this camera back and go back to the drawing board?