Water flea

Every 30 days the site administrators will pick an image made through a microscope from the "Photography Through the Microscope Gallery" to be featured on the front page of the www.amateurmicrography.net website.

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Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Water flea

Post by Olympusman »

2 Zerene stacks stitched together in Microsoft ICE

Image
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Clado
Posts: 98
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Clado »

A very nice picture and a nice find.
It looks very much like Simocephalus serrulatus.

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Water flea

Post by Olympusman »

Clado,
Once again many thanks for your ID.

Mike
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

lilewis
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:49 am

Post by lilewis »

I just took an Iphone video of one of those yesterday but of course the quality is nothing like your photo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzOiyoq ... e=youtu.be

I have an Amscope B210B that came with a 1.3mpx usb camera. Even though I think the microscope is considered 'low end' I'm not unhappy with it what it sees and it's clarity. But the USB camera is really junk. I've been experimenting with different handheld cameras but am not happy with the effort required or the results as you can see in the youtube clip.

Can I ask what camera you are using here? And does anyone reading this know anything about the Amscope 10 MPX camera? I'm thinking of calling them and see if I can get an upgrade from the 1.3 to 10 for about $160.

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Water flea

Post by Olympusman »

Liliwis,
You'll notice the image is a stitch (composite) of two sets of focus stacks. Because of the limited depth of field, shooting moving subjects is difficult and it is not possible to obtain the detail obtained when shooting euthenized subjects that are focus stacked. Plus, the backgrounds can be cleaned up of clutter in Photoshop.
Any 1.3 megapixel digital camera will yield terrible image quality. I have an Amscope metallurgical microscope with a CMOS 6 MP sensor, which is pretty good, but the software that supports the camera sucks.
On my setup, I'm using an Olympus E-420 DSLR with a 50mm Olympus OM lens as a relay lens on the photo tube with a 10X photo eyepiece.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

lilewis
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:49 am

Post by lilewis »

Olympusman,
Thanks for your reply.

I am aware of DOF and stacking but thanks for the info.

I requested Amsco to upgrade me to the 10mp camera for $160 which is the difference I would have paid them if I bought the kit with the 10mp camera in the 1st place, instead of the 1.3 mp. I don't know if they'll do it because I'm 3 weeks over the return policy date for the old camera. The sales people have deferred it to 'management', which doesn't sound encouraging. I'm concerned that they'll come back with a 'counter" that will cost more and turn me off. I bought the 1.3 on a recommendation from their tech support but I should have known better.

I have an E5 (currently in for repair) and have not been able to adapt it well (mechanically) to the microscope. I bought a couple of adapters that just didn't cut it and since I don't have a (trinoculer?), I'm afraid the weight of the E5 with the battery grip would want to tip the microscope. Besides, I'd prefer a separate static setup because I use the E5 almost daily for other purposes.

But I'm curious about your setup. Would you have a photo of it?

Also when you say the camera software sucks, do you mean it degrades the image from what I see now in the eyepiece, in spite of being 10mpx, or are you referring to the options it offers ? Are you now using different software?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm new at this and hope not to make any more costly purchasing errors.

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Digital cameras on microscopes

Post by Olympusman »

I'm surprised using an E5 you can even get your eye close to the open eyepiece on a binocular scope. I'd leave the battery grip off anyway for microscopy.
Here are my setups:

Image

My main scope is one thr right. An Olympus E-420 is suspended over the photo tube on the trinocular on a stand fabricated from an old Omega 4X5 enlarger. The camera is tripped with a USB cable release and I stack manually using the fine focus knob.
The middle scope is set up for cross polarization and has an Olympus E-330 mounted directly on the photo tube.
The far left scope is a phase contrast scope. This one may be of interest to you since it is a binocular. An Olympus EP-1 is suspended over the left eyepiece on a stand fabricated from a Zeiss macro copy stand. With both the E-420 and the EP-1, I use a 50mm f1.4 Olympus Zuiko OM manual 35mm lens as a relay lens.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

lilewis
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:49 am

Post by lilewis »

You've just blown me away with your equipment! I don't mean to be nosy but is this just a hobby for you or is it a part of your profession?

I've actually had my best success using an old C5050 with a small achromatic triplet lens taken from deep inside a $25 Sigma Zoom-master I bought on eBay years ago. I have to remove the eyepiece and use the 5050 as an eyepiece but I haven't found a good way to marry the camera to the scope. I'm going to have to spend some time looking at your photo to see if I can adapt any of your methods.

I now understand and wish I had bought a trinoculer.

I'm still waiting for Amscope to let me know if they'll honor my request, but I'm also still curious what you meant regarding their software. I have the software that came with the 1.3 mp camera installed in a laptop. Is the software for the 10 mp the same program? Is it just the options that you are not satisfied with - or does it degrade the image as compared what the eye sees live through the eyepiece?

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Hobby?

Post by Olympusman »

Microscopy has been my avocation for quite some time and I pursue it very seriously. Since Olympus "retired" me (along with the entire repair department) in March 2013 I have a great deal of time available for microscopy.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

lilewis
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:49 am

Post by lilewis »

It appears that Olympus has outsourced all repairs. They had me bring my E-5 to Precision Camera Repair in Enfield, Ct.

This morning I found a better way to apply the C5050 by setting it up on a tripod at the edge of the table and line it up with the microscope. Once I've got it right, I'm leaving the tripod /camera in place and I plan on dedicating them to only the microscope. I discovered that instead of trying to move the tripod, it's easier to just move the microscope into alignment. It slides a lot smoother than the tripod does on the floor.


Do you have a public web gallery of your microscopy shots and videos?

Olympusman
Posts: 5090
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:31 pm

Olympus camera repair

Post by Olympusman »

In March 2013 Olympus shut down its camera repair unit. It then sent repairs to a receiving unit in El Paso Texas that trucked the cameras across the border to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to a Mexican service center. From what I was told by my former associates at Olympus, that was not working out so repairs were moved to Precision Camera in Connecticut.
To my knowledge, Precision Camera used to repair any Olympus camera they had parts for, but because of the "seven year" warranty policy they may have some restrictions on repair.
I used to work for Olympus and I can't get most of my cameras serviced at this point.
I don't think you will ever get your C-5050 repaired.
What I do is buy replacements at www.shopgoodwill.com
That's where I got my three C-7000s, one of the last great models Olympus produced.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

lilewis
Posts: 60
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:49 am

Post by lilewis »

I used to send Oly cameras to a place in NY. I was aware they had changed to Tx but didn't know about the Mexico connection, and didn't know until last week that hey had changed again to Precision Camera, only a 30 min drive from me.

I'm fully expecting my 5050 to die soon, I owes me nothing. And I will likely buy a used 5050 at that point, because with the achromatic triplet it is a great macro camera at low cost. (Example HERE.)

[Admin edit (RL) to conform with posting guidelines for inline image.]

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