This is a micro double terminated quartz crystal that I mounted on a slide with tragacanth, thanks to Steve B for instructions.

-JW:

Adalbert, do they make image acquisition software like the EOS Utility for Fujifilm? On my Linux machine, I use Entangle. If not, that would be a deal breaker for me. I've exclusively use a Canon 50D (since it was released) and most recently the 90D. I would say 80% of the time with my microscopes a...

Pau,

I have absolutely no personal experience with the bino being discussed but willing to experiment with one if owned. I would much rather have the intermediate Petrographic POL Analyzer with the Bertrand lens that Nikon made for the Optiphot/Labophot.

-JW

Also out of curiosity: why did they make it? Was it just the ease of use, or does it have other advantages? Currently, I view petrographic interference patterns by removing the eyepiece and looking down the tube. With a binocular head with a built-in Bertrand lens you can see the back vocal plane o...

I am just curious. Has anyone tried the deconvolution plugins available for ImageJ? I haven't. I've read about them for a few years.

https://www.3dbiology.com/deconvolution-in-imagej/

-JW:.

Any suggestions on what to use for a smooth black opaque glass background, non-textured surface? Used to place a 300um to 400um crystal on for photographing.

I thought this was rather interesting. It's very impressive when viewed directly through the eyepieces, though. The stereo images were generated with Zerene. Larger version here; Parallel Stereo Pair https://squattingdog.smugmug.com/Stereo-images/i-GKsnhV4/A Crosseyed Stereo Pair https://squattingdo...

I am more interested in mounting it on a slide at the moment. With the help of Steve Beats I have a solution. I will also try mounting one on a tungsten needle with a microscopic dab of clear nail polish, then mount that on my ball stage.

That should be very helpful for those wanting to give this a shot. If using Blender to do this, I think diving into Blender's Sculpt mode drastically improves most extrusions. Zbrush, a stand-alone program, is more complicated but has more features. I found this Youtube video very helpful. https://w...

How would you mount a micro quartz crystal 450um or so long and 250um wide?

-JW:

Today, I measured the beard hair and crystal using ImageJ. Measurements in microns (um) are;

Hair = 150um in diameter
Crystal length = 456um
Crystal width = 262um

-JW:

I want to give you a sense of the size of the microscopic quartz crystals found inside a Geode. One of my beard hairs is tied in a knot with a doubly terminated quartz crystal below it. These crystals are microscopic and difficult to transfer around too. They seem to jump around like grasshoppers wh...

Thanks for the explanations. Yes, it was shot with a microscope epi DIC.

-JW:

I know this is a poor image stack, but I'm curious about what's causing the vertical streaks.

-JW:

Over the past several days, I have undertaken the task of photographing a collection of micro-double-terminated quartz crystals discovered within a recently fractured geode. These crystals are exceptionally small, measuring between 0.2 and 0.3 millimeters in length, and are often mistaken for dust. ...