Some 'microscopy' questions.

Thanks for further replies.

Raymond - thanks for further info about your Celestron. That model (suffixed with -C) is still available, albeit at ~£70, which is probably reasonable compared to the £47 you paid in 2012 given that the cost of tools imported from the Far East seems to be rising more rapidly than the general rate of inflation.

Robert G8RPI - thanks for your comment re the Amscope offering.

A couple more questions though. First is that the Celestron has a 2 megapixel camera, the Amscope 0.3 megapixels. What difference would that make, assuming (hypothetically) that the optics are the same?

Second is that the Amscope description says explicitly that device adheres to the UVC standard, so should be usable with my Linux machines, but the Celestron says that only Windows and Mac OS operating systems are supported. It may be that Celestron are referring only to ancillary image processing software supplied with the device - I don't need that, provided I can capture an image in a format the GIMP recognises. Is it just that everything is UVC these days, so no need to mention it?

The third (in my 'baker's couple'  of questions is about ndiy's explanation of the quoted magnification being the square of the 'actual' magnification. Is that just because they are talking about area magnification rather than linear, or is there some more subtle optical thing going on?

Thanks for your patience in answering my naive questions,

Robin.

Edited to get rid of an unintended 'wink'.

Edited By Robin Graham on 15/09/2022 23:39:57

.

My ‘rule of thumb’

0.3 megapixels might be just sufficient for ‘live’ inspection, but saved images are likely to disappoint.

2 megapixels is sufficient to put a useable image on a monitor or TV

5 megapixels would allow you to usefully zoom-in on the image.

BIG caveat … I am talking about genuine ‘native resolution of the sensor’ here, not the ridiculous numbers that are sometimes advertised for interpolated images.

MichaelG.

.

Please, Robin … take some time to have a look at the reviews by Pepler Optics [mentioned earlier] of the range of such products that they sell :

https://www.pepleroptics.com/infozone/usb-microscope-review/

This is a respected dealer, doing what a dealer should.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 16/09/2022 06:27:11

Postscript:

There is a useful video included in the Pepler review of the Basic Dino-Lite:

**LINK**

https://www.pepleroptics.com/dino-lite-am2111-usb-microscope-640-x-480-pixels-10-60x

For a 640x480 sensor it’s impressive.

MichaelG.

[ no, I’m not on commission ]

Hi, this may be of interest. I have two cheap USB digital microscopes, one which was cheaper than the other, but the better one is a Maplin Gadget one. It does take decent photos, but results are varied depending on how the light from the LED's is reflected of the item being viewed. The software includes measurements to be made, but they don't guarantee accuracy and the magnification ratio scale isn't truly correct, so I first took a photo of a "Precision Edge" X-ACTO square with inch measurements, divided into 1/32" and calculated the magnification ratio from that.

The next photo is a section of a Swan Morton No. 21 blade at about 20 x.

This one is looking at the actual edge with the point of the blade at the left, again at about 20 x, and you will notice how shallow the depth of field is, as only approximately 2mm at the tip is in focus.

The last Photo is a very close up portion part of the ground part which forms the edge, which is at the bottom of the photo, this was at the maximum of 400 x. which it claimed that the microscope could do, but was very difficult to achieve a decent result, with the edge just slightly out of focus. You may notice some grey and black small dots in various places, which are not actually on the blade, these are probably tiny specks of dirt on one of the lenses inside the microscope, which have developed over time, as I've had it a good number of years.

It's not a tool to do serious research with, but it is useful for a looking at things very close up, but because of its age, it won't work on any Windows system after Vista. Maybe I might try one of those lower priced ones that MichaelG linked to in his post above. The other one that I have is in some situations better, but the LEDs can't be dimmed, and so shine too much light at times, and that will also only work up too Vista system.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 17/09/2022 11:30:26

Hi SillyOldDuffer, thanks for editing my photos. I am in a quandary about uploading photos to this site. My pictures are the correct way up in my computer. When I upload them to my album on the site they become rotated. I cannot see tools to get them correctly orientated’ so am stuck with it on my postings. Please can you advise on DIY rotations so that I don’t have to bother editors.

Ray G

Thank you, Michael, for the recommendation for Pepler Optics.

I have always fancied a good quality digital microscope for general use, and now have an idea of a Christmas present for myself !

Not cheap though - I might see if a decent second hand optical binocular microscope would be cheaper, and buy an eyepiece camera for it from Pepler.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 22/09/2022 18:30:30