Hi All,
I was looking into imaging solutions for a labphot (that I don't have, fictitious dry run) to fuji xe2 (that I do have). LMscope says more than $1000.
Are there other solutions to be able to accomplish the same thing?
Thanks!
Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
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smollerthings
- Posts: 457
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:10 pm
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
Yes.
You can find used Nikon adapters (originally meant for full frame 35mm film) and various photo relay lenses/eyepieces for much less. If you want the 2.5x relay lens (best for full frame sensors) that typically went with it -- it might be included or sell separately under $100. If you want the 2x (better suited for a smaller than full-frame sensor like your Fuji) it will be hard to find and expensive. But likely less than half that price if you manage to find one.
This, incidentally, is one of the great advantages of buying something like one of the wonderful name brand scopes from the film era (Olympus BH2,BHT,BHTU,BHS, Nikon Labophot/Optiphot, etc.). There will be perfectly suited adapters available on the used market for anyone with a full-frame digital camera -- and not too far off for slightly smaller sensors. And if a 1" c-mount aperture can cover a digital camera sensor, there are typically plenty of c-mount adapters left -- sometimes very cheap used -- from the days of attaching video cameras.
There are also numerous new adapters and photo relay lenses, typically from China, for much less. Since the Nikon has "chrome free" optics, a good quality unit with "neutral" optics should work well. "Newhoper" (think I recall that name correctly) is one reliable Ebay seller. You might do a search for his listings, perhaps contact him directly if you need help.
You could also use a c-mount setup with a 1" sensor. The 1" is a bit misleading as a trade description -- it's a smaller sensor but now still in the 10mp to 20mp range. You'd have camera options ranging from something like a Nikon J1 for around $100 used up to the Rising Cam dedicated microscope camera reviewed earlier here for around $500. C-mount adapter lenses are available in .5x, .63x, .7x, .8x, 1x etc. along with cheap c-mount to camera adapters for most any camera with interchangeable lenses.
Others here will machine or 3D print their own adapters.
You can find used Nikon adapters (originally meant for full frame 35mm film) and various photo relay lenses/eyepieces for much less. If you want the 2.5x relay lens (best for full frame sensors) that typically went with it -- it might be included or sell separately under $100. If you want the 2x (better suited for a smaller than full-frame sensor like your Fuji) it will be hard to find and expensive. But likely less than half that price if you manage to find one.
This, incidentally, is one of the great advantages of buying something like one of the wonderful name brand scopes from the film era (Olympus BH2,BHT,BHTU,BHS, Nikon Labophot/Optiphot, etc.). There will be perfectly suited adapters available on the used market for anyone with a full-frame digital camera -- and not too far off for slightly smaller sensors. And if a 1" c-mount aperture can cover a digital camera sensor, there are typically plenty of c-mount adapters left -- sometimes very cheap used -- from the days of attaching video cameras.
There are also numerous new adapters and photo relay lenses, typically from China, for much less. Since the Nikon has "chrome free" optics, a good quality unit with "neutral" optics should work well. "Newhoper" (think I recall that name correctly) is one reliable Ebay seller. You might do a search for his listings, perhaps contact him directly if you need help.
You could also use a c-mount setup with a 1" sensor. The 1" is a bit misleading as a trade description -- it's a smaller sensor but now still in the 10mp to 20mp range. You'd have camera options ranging from something like a Nikon J1 for around $100 used up to the Rising Cam dedicated microscope camera reviewed earlier here for around $500. C-mount adapter lenses are available in .5x, .63x, .7x, .8x, 1x etc. along with cheap c-mount to camera adapters for most any camera with interchangeable lenses.
Others here will machine or 3D print their own adapters.
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Scarodactyl
- Posts: 2789
- Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
Lmscope, martinmicroscope, spot imaging etc adapters are mostly for institutional buyers who want a solution that works good enough, don't want to put in research time on it and have grant money to spend. Nikon is one of the chespest and easiest to put a full frame camera on without resorting to these third party options.
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
I know only about the current Zeiss range. I agree they are expensive, I dont know if they have a higher margin of profit or optics needed deserves the price. I do not like the idea of using additional optics for camera in infinite systems, so my solution is to use only a T2 adapter (no optics) and use an MFT mirrorless camera which has I believe a reasonable pixel size, and new (Panasonic) cameras can output 4K on HDMI even when in photo mode.
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
LMscope is insanely expensive with everything they offer.smollerthings wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 3:52 pm
I was looking into imaging solutions for a labphot (that I don't have, fictitious dry run) to fuji xe2 (that I do have). LMscope says more than $1000.
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
Thankfully, at least several sellers on Ebay have photo tube adapters for the main camera/microscope combinations at much cheaper prices. This full-frame adapter for the Labophot 2 is $95:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254254572022?h ... SwRWVa6xCm
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254254572022?h ... SwRWVa6xCm
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Scarodactyl
- Posts: 2789
- Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:09 pm
Re: Are photo tube adapters insanely expensive or am I doing this wrong?
I like the mechanical quality of newhoper's adapters. I am not sure about the solutions that include optics, as it seems like it's just using a generic eyepiece as a projective(?). I haven't tried them so I can't be sure, just my impression from the listings. For full frame on a Nikon I would either use a 2.5x photo eyepiece or direct project with a quality ~1.5x teleconverter to stretch the image circle across full frame if I felt like doing something more involved. Both are affordable options.