SONY ALPHA A7R

[shawngibson]

Hi all,

Am I correct that to mount this camera to a scope I need only to buy a Sony to Canon converter and a Canon mount to connect to my microscope?

[apochronaut]

I assume you are trying to replace a Canon DSLR with the Sony? Maybe not , or you would already have a Canon mount.

I have an E to T2 adapter and from there you can go to whatever you want. It is full frame, so the tube may have to be fiddled with a little.

[shawngibson]

I'm suggesting this converter because my Omax has Canon and Nikon to eyepiece adapters. Is there a better way?

[apochronaut]

So you need an afocal attachment?

[shawngibson]

I've never connected a camera to a microscope before, I'll have to figure out what afocal means before I answer:)

[apochronaut]

It is the term used to denote when the lens is left on the camera and the image is taken through the microscope eyepiece.

Through a trinocular tube , usually an eyepiece or tube lens is used there which allows you to remove the camera lens and shoot direct to sensor with excellent correction and a flat field.
With certain objectives your sensor can capture a fully corrected image directly from the objective.

[shawngibson]

Thanks Apo. I hadn't planned on using any camera lenses. Something like this:

http://www.microscopenet.com/microscope ... p-223.html

However, all of their adaptors are for APS-C and micro 4/3s (or at least they don't mention any full frame cameras).

What would your suggestion be for mounting the A7R to a microscope directly, i.e. no camera lens?

I currently have a cheap binocular, but will be augmenting it with decent objectives, and will also most likely be getting this in the new few months, as funds allow:

http://www.microscopenet.com/40x2000x-p ... -9156.html

[apochronaut]

I guess the ideal from the standpoint of photographers is to have the microscope circular field cover the camera frame. Compensation for the size of the subject etc.takes place with objective choice and ideally the microscope field circle, should JUST cover the camera frame.

Adapters such as the omax one you linked to are for sure not made to cover a full frame camera sensor plus they have some curvature of field, so you will end up doing a lot of cropping, so your image will be degraded as a result. Better to head towards flatter field camera adapters or eyepieces but these can tend can tend to be more expensive.

Personally, coming from the microscope side of things first and photography second, I tend to see photography ,with it's rectangular frame condition as a separate thing from photography through the microscope, which I see as having a circular frame, with the objective to capture the entire flat microscope field, rather than a cropped version of it. After all, it is what's in the microscope you are capturing, not, what's in the camera field of view.

To get full frame coverage, with sharp undistorted corners, you will need one of the tried and true microscope eyepieces or a tube lens, such as a Raynox, or other larger process lens.

The other thing is, without knowing what you are using for a microscope, or objectives, I can't put forward any ideas. I would look carefully into that OMAX microscope, with respect to whether the plan feature is solely an objective mediated specification or a composite objective/eyepiece function, or is there a compensating lens in the tube, somewhere. Depending on what is going on in that optical system, you may or may not be able to get full frame coverage with crisp edges and undistorted corners.
In my opinion, for what you are trying to do, there are better and cheaper options in the second hand market.

[shawngibson]

I'm definitely coming from a photography-first perspective, because one of the main reasons I'm doing this is to create large paintings of these images, i.e. approximately 4x4 feet in size.

I also just realized I need the A7II which has front curtain sync (the A7R doesn't).

The microscope I'm currently using (but will upgrade to the one above) is this:

http://www.microscopenet.com/omax-40x20 ... -9110.html

I have no problem buying things used, and hopefully I don't have to spend this kind of money:

http://www.lmscope.com/produkt22/LM_Mik ... e_en.shtml

(Well over $1,000 for the A7 series.)

Shawn

[gekko]

I also just realized I need the A7II which has front curtain sync (the A7R doesn't).

For what it is worth: first curtain sync does not necessarily mean first curtain electronic shutter that is needed to eliminate shutter vibration, so you may want to check that it has a first curtain electronic shutter.

[Alex H]

A7rII is supposed to have electronic first curtain shutter.

I have one of the LM-Scope adapters that I use at work. Note that they have two different versions, one for APS-C sensors, and one for full-frame. Quality-vise they are good.

[shawngibson]

Yep, it's electronic. Having gone through all this, would it in any way be better for me to get a Nikon D750 to connect to the scopes? I have been thinking mirrorless because, well, of it not having a big box slapping around.